Exactly who is it that will Save Us?
These days I spend a lot of time thinking about the scientists warnings about impending consequences to our wholesale disregard for the natural system that created and sustains us. So I end up reading a lot of articles about what we are doing to the planet and how we can fix it.
I think I can count on one hand the number of these articles that do not hold out hope that we can turn this dreadful situation around. Me, I’m a bit pessimistic about our odds of righting this ship. And the reason is because I look around me and wonder who exactly are going to be the ones doing the righting. I sort of break it down into my own arbitrary varying groups of people and what their role may be, and wonder what percentage of the population they may represent. In my mind it goes something like the following.
Some of my work is in construction, so I am around construction workers quite a bit. I see A MIND BLOWING AMOUNT of wastefulness (I often wonder if more perfectly new usable material gets thrown out than used in the project! Really! It is A LOT! And it is a problem!). I see a lot of thoughtlessness too. There is truly a generally pervasive attitude of eschewing thoughtful work and promoting a disdain for almost everything in the entire work environment. Trust me, this is not a demographic demonstrating a high regard for the environment around them. Will these people be on board to participate in the tough work of righting our ship? What percentage of the world do they make up and what percentage of them will be on board?
How about minimum wage workers? Seems this demographic has more of a focus on just getting by, much less what their role might be in humanity averting catastrophe. Are they on board? Many may be, but what steps are they likely even able to take to contribute?
How about large companies, the execs and armies of upper and mid level management — the ones taking home great to decent salaries? Most of these people most likely are on board in theory. But since their jobs consist of making the machine of their particular business churn out product so that they can sell as much of it as possible to get their money to go out and buy lots of stuff……not so sure we can really count this as being on board. After all, aren’t these the very people doing the vast majority of the consuming — which is the main cause of environmental degradation?
What about recently arrived immigrants? They seem to make up a decent percentage of the population. I have this perception that they are so busy adapting and trying to get established in this rat race, that they may not be on board so much, simply due to the adjustment. And it is likely that one of the very reasons they are here is to actually participate in our bountiful orgy of consumerism in the first place. Not all, but a lot. Maybe I am way off here and new immigrants are more enlightened and active in environmental causes than I know.
Politicians? Seems clearly at least a handful are on board. Unfortunately they get very little support and have a daunting challenge of making progress with their peers in any meaningful legislation. In general I don’t think they are on board.
How about the Christians? Many of them appear to be Trump supporters these days. Trump completely denies the existence of any problem. Also, will god just take care of it? Hmmm… not convinced they are on board.
On a side note, I live in Portland, a bastion of liberalism and environmentalists. I feel certain that the citizens and local government are on board, but at the same time we are suffering a tsunami of ever increasing garbage throughout the city, general destruction, burned and stripped cars, sprawling homeless camps surrounded by filth and all manner of litter. So, even though Portland is on board, they seem to be actually working against the cause. The photo and caption above represent to me how even people with the right goals and intentions, very often have no actual success in solving difficult problems……whether you want to help homeless people or save a planet from becoming uninhabitable.
What about the right side of the political spectrum? I realize this is not a separate group from those listed above, lots of overlap here. But almost half of the USA are right leaning, and most of those are Trump supporters. Not on board. So right there represents I’m guessing at least 35 percent of the American population, maybe as much as 45. How many people worldwide fit this demographic?
What about the left side of the political spectrum? They seem to be the ones promoting environmental causes and generally accepting the reality of climate change while promoting causes to address the problem. Yet, I am certain that a visit to most of these peoples homes would involve some equivalent of tripping over a pile of Amazon delivery boxes in order to get in the door. They aren’t trying to change the mindset of consumerism. They seem to simply want to get credit for caring.
I suppose I could go on about the Chinese and Indians, and the rest of the world but I don’t think that would shed any new light. Basically it seems to me that we have become a planet full of humans mostly transfixed on more and more “stuff” and “ease”, and leisure and celebrity and ego etc. Who is it among us that truly want to slow down, read books, watch the insects (what is left of them anyway…oh, you are unaware that we have completely decimated the insect population….hmmm.) and the plants and the weather, turn off the gadgets, rake the leaves by hand, engage each other, raise our children, learn more and more and more, build things with our hands and mind, stop traveling anywhere and everywhere on a whim, walk a mile or three to get to a place we might need to go, participate in local community for a wide variety of human endeavors, etc. etc.? It seems obvious that “human as animal (a quite smart one albeit) and part of nature, slowing down and learning the long game”, is likely the only mindset that is conducive to an indefinite and sustainable existence. How many of us have this mindset and are ready to enact it? I, for one, see almost none.
I am glad that people are so optimistic about the future, it makes humans so very capable of real magic. But we also collectively suffer from huge blind spots…….this one is going to mean so very much. Nothing short of some kind of divine miracle is going to get us out of this one. Hold on folks, it’s just going to get uglier and uglier. But at least some advertisers still think it’s good business to suggest, “shop till ya drop”….my my..
