Deb Ozarko interviews Guy McPherson

This was recorded on Guy's recent visit to British Columbia

Human Extinction, Right Action, and Living Fully Now with Guy McPherson

Listen to podcast HERE

September, 14, 2016

Deb Ozarko’s notes:

When I first started the Unplug podcast in the fall of 2013, I believed we still had time to create a better story for the world. I knew the odds were slim and that the will of the collective were against me, but my passionate love for the Earth combined with my stubborn persona encouraged me to do everything in my power to try.

Three years have since passed and things are exponentially worse. We’ve crossed tipping points that don’t bode well for humanity—or any species for that matter. Because I’m a fighter by nature, I’ve had difficulty making peace with this fact. But in my grief, my rage, my despair, and my pain, I’ve found a release that has brought me to a profound state of acceptance that has been nothing short of liberating. This doesn’t mean that I’m exempt from the pain of bearing witness to a collapsing world. It also doesn’t mean that I no longer care. Quite the opposite actually. It does mean that I’m now willing to explore conversations that I previously thought would not be needed.

This week’s guest is Dr. Guy McPherson: author, activist, grief recovery specialist, and award-winning professor emeritus of Natural Resources, and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona. He’s also the only person who openly speaks about the extinction of species homo sapien—not in some distant timeline, but in our lifetime. That’s not only a stark reality, it’s a massive pattern interrupt.

Homo sapien has proven to be an exceedingly destructive species skilled at causing the extinction of 150 to 200 species daily…daily! That’s a sickening legacy. With the arrogant destruction of the natural world for greed and profit, relentless, unconscious consumption to feed our selfish egos, and our predatory addiction to the animal flesh and secretions of billions of sentient beings every single year, we are killing machines. The blood soaks our hands with every choice we make that promotes the destruction of life.

This stomach-turning reality has prompted me to ask: “If we’re proficient enough to cause the extinction of so many others on such a monumental scale, how can we possibly be delusional enough to believe that we’re exempt from bringing about our own extinction?”

When you look at the overall picture of the collective reality we’ve created, there’s little working in our favor for a rosy future. We’re destructive. We’re separate. We’re infected with fear. And we’re disconnected from our own souls. Not a pretty picture.

Do I believe humans will become extinct in my lifetime? Let’s just say that I don’t doubt this very real possibility.

I discovered Guy McPherson’s work when I was writing my essay. I’ve since explored his message and there’s a resonance with our respective work. Although his background is scientific and mine is intuitive, we unite in the sense of urgency we believe is necessary to inspire in these very dark times.

His recent Cascadia tour included a stop in Vancouver. When I discovered this fact, I felt compelled to invite him to the Sunshine Coast. Much to my surprise, he accepted the offer. My partner and I had the honor of hosting his stay, and despite his whirlwind visit, we had the opportunity for some wonderful intimate time with him. This week’s podcast was birthed in our living room. It’s a conversation that will alter your worldview. If you’re new to this information, it may bring up shock, numbness, denial, anger, grief and a host of other emotions. I implore you to stay with it because even if you disagree with the content, I think we can all agree that we are collectively on a crash course for collapse.

This week we explore topics such as:

• What is near-term human extinction?
• What is anthropogenic climate change?
• What is abrupt climate change?
• In depth knowledge about positive self-reinforcing feedback loops.
• How humans are driven by “short-term’ism” at the expense of the future.
• How we are all born into captivity.
• The dreaded “D” word: denial.
• The link between hope, fear and denial.
• Living with a sense of urgency.
• Living fully until the end.
• What we see is not always reality.
• Living as a societal walk-out.
• Integrity and courage in the face of impossible odds.
• An important conversation about grief and love.

Brace yourself for a powerful conversation that will forever alter your world.