Hmm,
When I started this blog, I thought I'd be helping people to "make it through the bottleneck" and build new culture on the other side. I don't feel like this is possible anymore. I think the bottleneck is too tight. I'm not saying this to be a downer. This is self-therapy and an attempt to help anyone who is dealing with the possibility of inevitable short-term human extinction.
Why do I now feel that humanity won't make it through the collapse of industrial civilization?...
1. Fatal release of nuclear, biological and chemical threats when the specialists stop showing up for work, or when the grid fails long enough to thwart containment of NBC threats.
2. Runaway climate change will make Earth uninhabitable as tipping points are crossed and feedbacks go into overdrive.
3. We are in the middle of the latest mass extinction. Yeah, it's pretty much caused by human activity. An ecological holocaust is now taking place. Hundreds of species go extinct EVERY DAY and we humans are but a strand in the delicate web of life! We are SO not immune to this phenomenon.
So why do anything? Why not drink yourself into oblivion or shoot your brains out? Transition Towns, permaculture, prepping and primitive skills education are totally worthless in helping us survive these ultimate near-term challenges. They are too large. There's no place for humans on a biologically bankrupt, toxic, overheated planet. None. Transhumanoid borgbots might have a great time here, but not humans. TOAST. Uh oh!!
I'll tell you why I still do what I do...
'Cause it feels good. 'Cause I notice that I get excessively sad when I'm inactive. 'Cause I enjoy the company of others doing the same stuff. 'Cause everybody dies anyway and like I said before, ALL SPECIES will eventually be toast when the Sun goes goofy in a few billion years or whatever. It's all temporary. All you ever really have is this moment. I'm serious! The past doesn't exist and neither does the future. Society's concept of time messes with our souls. I do what I do because it feels lame to go along with the customary flow. I don't like feeling lame! I am fulfilled by what I do. No, it won't save the world. It still fulfills me. My own quiet non-rebellion of simple, earthy living. As much as I can. More feels better. Dominant culture still gives me the creeps. I can't go whole hog with it even though it surrounds me, permeates me, affects me in more ways than I understand.
Does this make any sense? Hope so. Comments are appreciated. Might update/follow this post up later. Take care.
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http://guymcpherson.com/2011/08/three-paths-to-near-term-human-extinction/
ReplyDelete[cross post] The life expectancy of humans is ultimately 0% anyway. Good ole Geo. Carlin: "The earth is gonna be just fine. The PEOPLE are fucked. The earth has been here a long time before we showed up, and is gonna be here a long time after we're gone." So just live life... fuck it. Getting wasted all the time as one gets older doesn't stop the inevitable anyway. It just makes the inevitable more painful. The extinction of humanity isn't depressing. Humanity continuing to be assholes to each other: THAT's what is depressing.
ReplyDeleteWell said, stormy. I'll be busy doing cool shit with people I dig for as long as possible. ;-)
ReplyDeleteRight there with you. I doubt we can make it through the bottleneck. So the gift here is an acute awareness of mortality and the beauty and pleasure of the present moment. Since we are all going to die anyway, we had better enjoy the time we have left, live with integrity, and not put off the things that matter. Time to let go of the notion of "saving the world." For me, this doesn't relieve me of my obligation to live with integrity; of course, I will still help others, to the bitter end. But that's different from saving the world. There is what we can control, and what we can't. I intend for the remainder of my life to be as beautiful and kind as possible, in the midst of grief and suffering.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Hartley
Awesome, Jen. You just brought a smile to my face this morning. :-)
DeleteFor sure, at this level we are toast.
ReplyDeleteAs I have seen 'healers' for the body;
our last chance is 'healers' of planet.
I think it is possible!!
have a look at this :
http://awakeningasone.com/
Thank you, cduhamel!
ReplyDelete