However, all this rapid evolution was only possible because we have been blessed with a stable and moderate climate as the planet emerged out of the last ice age about 12,000 years ago. There are now clear signs that our present lifestyles are destroying the planet on which we live. The glaciers are disappearing, and our polar ice caps are shrinking. In addition to these obvious signs of climate change, the world’s oceans are slowly rising and becoming warmer and more acidic. The world’s global temperature is rising. All of this is having a clear impact on the world’s climate. We have more intense heat waves, more wildfires, with both more droughts and more floods. Mass migrations will follow.
What is causing all this? Simply put, our over consumption of the world’s resources at a high technological level is filling up the planet with our wastes – carbon dioxide and methane in the air, more toxins of all kinds and single-use plastics everywhere, especially in the oceans.
We cannot keep this up. If we continue on our present path, the present moderate and stable climate that we have been blessed with will go into a downward spiral. The climate will become unlivable and then we will all be part of a doomed species.
The way out of this coming crisis is clear. We need to put a break on population growth, lower our excessive consumption and move from a wasteful end-use economy to a circular economy, based not on fossil fuels but on renewable energy and recyclable materials. And we need to do it NOW!
What we need to do is known to us, but are we capable of doing it? In my view, probably not. Let me describe my personal dilemma. I have been fighting single use plastics for several decades (www.owsagottawa.org). However, I still buy some foodstuffs in plastic. I eat foods that come from afar in fossil-fueled airplanes. In many ways I am engulfed in an affluent society with all of its seductive pleasures.
I am trying to put into practice what I preach. I have solar panels on our roof and have an electric car (Chevy Volt). I ride my bike and walk everywhere I can. I am a vegetarian. I no longer take airplane flights, etc. etc. But I am still trapped in the comfort and convenience of the affluent society.
All the above are just my efforts as one individual, in a vast consumer society. Of course, the corporations which are making a fortune from the affluent society have even more reasons to resist change. They are in control of the means of production and the sales of their products. We, the consumers are their willing slaves. Can this system ever be broken up and changed to a more sustainable one? If a government were to propose massive changes based on lower consumption and gut-wrenching alterations, would they ever get elected? I doubt it. We are probably a doomed species.
In spite of all of this, I am not depressed. The vibrant life force that gave birth to me, and indeed to all of creation, throbs on. The will to strive onwards and adapt will not die. Participating positively in this onward thrust is my best therapy for the terrifying times that are coming.
For more on this, see the attachment above which ends up with a plea for “radical hope”. In a similar vein, Victor Frankl who survived the horrors of the holocaust, still emerged with “tragic optimism” as explained in his book, Man(kind)’s Search for Meaning.
Rebellious Seeker
Ottawa
June 13, 2022
What is causing all this? Simply put, our over consumption of the world’s resources at a high technological level is filling up the planet with our wastes – carbon dioxide and methane in the air, more toxins of all kinds and single-use plastics everywhere, especially in the oceans.
We cannot keep this up. If we continue on our present path, the present moderate and stable climate that we have been blessed with will go into a downward spiral. The climate will become unlivable and then we will all be part of a doomed species.
The way out of this coming crisis is clear. We need to put a break on population growth, lower our excessive consumption and move from a wasteful end-use economy to a circular economy, based not on fossil fuels but on renewable energy and recyclable materials. And we need to do it NOW!
What we need to do is known to us, but are we capable of doing it? In my view, probably not. Let me describe my personal dilemma. I have been fighting single use plastics for several decades (www.owsagottawa.org). However, I still buy some foodstuffs in plastic. I eat foods that come from afar in fossil-fueled airplanes. In many ways I am engulfed in an affluent society with all of its seductive pleasures.
I am trying to put into practice what I preach. I have solar panels on our roof and have an electric car (Chevy Volt). I ride my bike and walk everywhere I can. I am a vegetarian. I no longer take airplane flights, etc. etc. But I am still trapped in the comfort and convenience of the affluent society.
All the above are just my efforts as one individual, in a vast consumer society. Of course, the corporations which are making a fortune from the affluent society have even more reasons to resist change. They are in control of the means of production and the sales of their products. We, the consumers are their willing slaves. Can this system ever be broken up and changed to a more sustainable one? If a government were to propose massive changes based on lower consumption and gut-wrenching alterations, would they ever get elected? I doubt it. We are probably a doomed species.
In spite of all of this, I am not depressed. The vibrant life force that gave birth to me, and indeed to all of creation, throbs on. The will to strive onwards and adapt will not die. Participating positively in this onward thrust is my best therapy for the terrifying times that are coming.
For more on this, see the attachment above which ends up with a plea for “radical hope”. In a similar vein, Victor Frankl who survived the horrors of the holocaust, still emerged with “tragic optimism” as explained in his book, Man(kind)’s Search for Meaning.
Rebellious Seeker
Ottawa
June 13, 2022
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