"VISBY MASSACRE 2" by Jeremy Herndl
PEGI EYERS
The worldview that drives our civilization is one of endless growth, which is impossible on a planet with limited resources. Already we have pushed the natural world to the extreme limit of what sustains all life, with the pollution of water and air, the destruction of ecosystems, and the surface temperature of the globe itself being altered beyond natural law. And what is the main driver for climate change, the most destructive force of all? It is our high-carbon economy, our addiction to a massive fossil-fueled industrial transportation network, a nature-crushing grid of highways that supports this mess, “anthropocene” changes to the land with agricultural mega-business, and the manufacture of millions of objects, technologies, plastics, consumables, gadgets, luxuries and amenities that we take for granted. Throw in an out-of-control population bomb and the human infrastructure required to support the explosion, and the chaos we face is grave indeed. The looming disaster is human-induced, and increased greenhouse gases are leading directly to extreme weather events and massive global warming.
In terms of solutions, we are far past the point where individual actions like “recycling” will make a difference, and the only way forward is to dismantle our civilization by mobilizing the citizenry like in times of war. Yet do we see this happening? Are we collectively turning back from the worldviews and technologies that are killing the planet? Are we finally coming to understand that our humancentric worldview will destroy us in the end? Are we not just one interconnected part of Earth Community? Yet human beings are experts at cognitive dissonance, and it seems likely that we will remain in denial right up until the four seasons turn into one, the drought intensifies, water shortages increase each year, and the landscape re-arranges itself into strange corroded places we have never seen before. We cannot be absolutely sure what the future will hold, but the data projections on rising global temperature do not lie.
The worldview that drives our civilization is one of endless growth, which is impossible on a planet with limited resources. Already we have pushed the natural world to the extreme limit of what sustains all life, with the pollution of water and air, the destruction of ecosystems, and the surface temperature of the globe itself being altered beyond natural law. And what is the main driver for climate change, the most destructive force of all? It is our high-carbon economy, our addiction to a massive fossil-fueled industrial transportation network, a nature-crushing grid of highways that supports this mess, “anthropocene” changes to the land with agricultural mega-business, and the manufacture of millions of objects, technologies, plastics, consumables, gadgets, luxuries and amenities that we take for granted. Throw in an out-of-control population bomb and the human infrastructure required to support the explosion, and the chaos we face is grave indeed. The looming disaster is human-induced, and increased greenhouse gases are leading directly to extreme weather events and massive global warming.
In terms of solutions, we are far past the point where individual actions like “recycling” will make a difference, and the only way forward is to dismantle our civilization by mobilizing the citizenry like in times of war. Yet do we see this happening? Are we collectively turning back from the worldviews and technologies that are killing the planet? Are we finally coming to understand that our humancentric worldview will destroy us in the end? Are we not just one interconnected part of Earth Community? Yet human beings are experts at cognitive dissonance, and it seems likely that we will remain in denial right up until the four seasons turn into one, the drought intensifies, water shortages increase each year, and the landscape re-arranges itself into strange corroded places we have never seen before. We cannot be absolutely sure what the future will hold, but the data projections on rising global temperature do not lie.
"THE BURNT FOREST" by Vasily Polenov, 1881
So what do we do in the face of the massive change that is coming? The environmental movement that created so much awareness at the beginning is essentially a failure. For the sake of the bottom line, governments and corporations continue to cling to extraction capitalism and toxic technologies, and the population is obsessed with consumerism, escapism and entertainment. Yet for all the tragic news, movements everywhere are seeking to “shift the paradigm” before it’s too late, to reduce emissions, install renewable energy, resist the lure of civilization with degrowth and voluntary simplicity, and seek out bioregionalism and the support that local community can offer. Alternative currencies, solidarity networks, localvore, rewilding, the ancestral arts, and reviving our bond with the natural world are all activities we can be pursuing right now, in our own place and in our own time. And as we experience Empire collapsing right before our eyes, there is a guideline we can all share.
“Decolonize now, voluntarily, intentionally, with full awareness and the selective use of resources, OR, decolonize later under duress and hardship, as a dramatic response to traumatic conditions when the current economic paradigm reaches the limits of its sustainability. But decolonize you must, or fade away with the memories of a lost civilization.”
“Decolonize now, voluntarily, intentionally, with full awareness and the selective use of resources, OR, decolonize later under duress and hardship, as a dramatic response to traumatic conditions when the current economic paradigm reaches the limits of its sustainability. But decolonize you must, or fade away with the memories of a lost civilization.”
Presentation by Pegi Eyers for the 10th Annual Community Movements Conference at Trent University, February 4, 2017. From Climate to Culture: The Complexity of Change
 | Pegi Eyers is the author of "Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community," a new book that explores strategies for neurodecolonization, rejecting Empire, social justice, ethnocultural identity, Apocalypse Studies, building land- emergent community & resilience in times of massive change. |
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