When Ernest Shackleton's ENDURANCE sank, his actions assured that EVERY man in his crew made it to safety. As we evaluate various responses to the climate crisis, I believe hard edged sensitivity analysis must come into play. For a state the size of Vermont a fierce political battle over a carbon tax proved that the whole crew will NOT be well prepared for the horrendous upheaval in our near term future. How will we make sure all Vermonters have a shot at making it to that far safe shore, however uncertain and scary that destiny may be?
Clearly, we’ve blasted through the tipping points and the destructive momentum of climate crisis is fiercely underway and a thousand human reactions from greed to grief to fear to disbelief to plain ole inertia will never be overcome to mobilize to stop its mayhem.
Sadly, the WWII type mobilization with turn on a dime response will not happen. Basically, humankind has taken the path of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) and now exists at the far far end of a limb based on FINITE forms of plant based energy. Every aspect of our cultures assume the endless presence of the miraculous embedded energy of fossil fuels. When fossil fuels become less abundant, climate change's chaos will simply be another colossal readjustment for humanity. As a friend visiting the from a region suffering from the worst drought in history succinctly said:
"Massive starvation in the near term future."
What keeps the human psyche intact? Where's the nobility of the human experiment? Surely, Americans will be OK. Tech will save us — the web will never go silent. Siloed wallets will be large enough to build bunkers to protect loved ones. 🙄 My friends, please rethink — the cash dance we have been taught will mean nothing, but a really really bad nightmare and wasted life if we don’t start sharing and caring soon.
Comfortably through the first half of life feeling a bit like Shackleton concerned about getting his crew to the next horizon. How do we invest what we have left of a precious life time (two words)? At the moment step-by-step making the farm a low energy, increasingly self sufficient, interdependent cluster of neighbors and friends as we build back the Singing Bridge community together. Drought resistant grains, fruit trees of all kinds, stainless steel hand pump. Attic water storage tank to serve whole house - also hand pumped. Inserts in kitchen wood stove fire box to provide hot water for kitchen and baths via attic tank's pressure. Ongoing consistent study of the science base for rich hummus in our soils. A composting toilet? A windmill not for energy, but for water. And Sunday suppers with our community, songs, poetry readings, shared harvests, fall clean-ups together, and lots of walking in the woods. Biking not driving, meditating, yoga, helping our neighbors, and slowing way down to plant more trees and make time for each other. Lots of hugging, grieving and the authentic joy we feel when we truly connect, share and belong to a community who cares about each other.
I read ENDURANCE a couple of years ago. Your analogy is spot on. I am all in on “Singing Bridge.“ while you have reached the halfway point of life, I now find myself entering the extra innings of the fourth quarter. It is really important to me that you and your big, messy heart find a place where you and I (US) can spend our time together.
I think we need to design more empathetic communities to demonstrate how we may live more generously together. Machine learning and climate will change the landscape faster than we know it -- time to lift up the models that we know will work and expand our social imaginations. As my friend just said, how do we become species survival specialists in the era of AI and the survival crisis -- I would start with caring about and trying to find a way to build communities that care for each other -- foster a wellbeing economy. It may not be as exciting as discovering a new planet to live on, but we know it does work right here right now. People centered design within planetary limits -- what a wild and wooly concept ; )