We’re in near election mode in the US, UK and here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Politics is making as much sense as fashioning underpants out of scorpions.
Thanks again Andy. Your point regarding the eagerness that many await catastrophe is interesting. I'm embarrassed to say that I think that might even describe me. Living in a system that is causing such great harm and which, as you point out, is most probably only going to change after a series of massive shocks that cause its collapse, for me means that every day it is perpetuated is another day lost, another day of grinding ecological damage, another day and so another 192K additional humans on this creaking planet. That's not to overlook how much progress can be made on various sub-issues under the current system and we may well need a great deal more progress on alternative systems if we're to take as much of the knowledge and basic benefits of our civilization into the next iteration, but I think the evidence makes clear that hastening the end of the status quo is likely to be more beneficial to the ecosphere and our future prospects within it than any unnecessary delay and a few more widgets. What provides small comfort to me is that acknowledging this makes some degree of ecological sense. Collapse is a natural ecological force, with more beneficial properties than adaptation once a system is as imbalanced as ours currently is. I see no evidence for us to be able to radically adapt human ecology based on our behavioural susceptibility to abstract understanding, natural systems don't work that way and we've failed the test of being anything other than just another species following its natural instincts even when they are clearly leading us to catastrophe. Our key trait of adaptability seems locked into activating only as a response to short-term stimuli. Our best hope is that the unfolding climate disasters, minor conflicts, and public health issues can be those stimuli, but all evidence suggests that for every individual that is awakened, a dozen more are pointing a proto-fascist finger in denial. It seems inescapable that the growing instability in the rules-based international order is as predictable a trajectory towards warfare as our species has ever seen given the over-population and diminishing resources. So, a strange sense of urgency for destabilizing shocks that might seem deeply misanthropic are maybe (I hope) anything but. It feels akin to going for a nasty medical procedure, you either delay the appointment and then chant mantras and try to pretend it's not happening, or you want to get it over and done with as soon as possible. The mantras don’t work on some of us anymore.
Aotearoa Keanu Reeves and Ben Folds (middle aged) fanboys unite! Great piece by Andy Kenworthy on our weirding times...
Best again Andy - perceptive perspective
Thanks again Andy. Your point regarding the eagerness that many await catastrophe is interesting. I'm embarrassed to say that I think that might even describe me. Living in a system that is causing such great harm and which, as you point out, is most probably only going to change after a series of massive shocks that cause its collapse, for me means that every day it is perpetuated is another day lost, another day of grinding ecological damage, another day and so another 192K additional humans on this creaking planet. That's not to overlook how much progress can be made on various sub-issues under the current system and we may well need a great deal more progress on alternative systems if we're to take as much of the knowledge and basic benefits of our civilization into the next iteration, but I think the evidence makes clear that hastening the end of the status quo is likely to be more beneficial to the ecosphere and our future prospects within it than any unnecessary delay and a few more widgets. What provides small comfort to me is that acknowledging this makes some degree of ecological sense. Collapse is a natural ecological force, with more beneficial properties than adaptation once a system is as imbalanced as ours currently is. I see no evidence for us to be able to radically adapt human ecology based on our behavioural susceptibility to abstract understanding, natural systems don't work that way and we've failed the test of being anything other than just another species following its natural instincts even when they are clearly leading us to catastrophe. Our key trait of adaptability seems locked into activating only as a response to short-term stimuli. Our best hope is that the unfolding climate disasters, minor conflicts, and public health issues can be those stimuli, but all evidence suggests that for every individual that is awakened, a dozen more are pointing a proto-fascist finger in denial. It seems inescapable that the growing instability in the rules-based international order is as predictable a trajectory towards warfare as our species has ever seen given the over-population and diminishing resources. So, a strange sense of urgency for destabilizing shocks that might seem deeply misanthropic are maybe (I hope) anything but. It feels akin to going for a nasty medical procedure, you either delay the appointment and then chant mantras and try to pretend it's not happening, or you want to get it over and done with as soon as possible. The mantras don’t work on some of us anymore.
Brilliant. Thanks Andy.
Thanks - great insights.