Walking Away and Opting Out
Montgomery St. Waterfront Park, Rouses Point, New York
This is going to be a short article, as most of the details I have made available in my other articles, especially on my page regarding Living Now. Let's start it off with a song from Information Society, going back to 1988 (Walking Away):
This post was inspired by a post from Peter Carter, which relays information regarding the collapse of public financial systems and the tax base caused by extreme weather events and climate change in general, similar to an article I wrote several years ago about Sea Level Rise (SLR) in Florida. His post is based on a new study published earlier this month. The humorous part of this study is at the end of the Abstract, quote:
"This synthesis offers actionable strategies for cities’ adaptation plans and governance frameworks to disrupt this loop and strengthen municipalities’ financial resilience."
Apparently, the authors can't see that there is no plan that can disrupt that loop. Civilization has been unsustainable since it was developed, it's unsustainable now, and it will always be unsustainable. All the systems that are subsets of civilization are likewise unsustainable.
I've been spending a considerable amount of time reading other people's articles to gather more insight on what I should be writing or where I should direct my efforts or even if I should be making efforts. What exactly is the point of all of this? I read this today from somebody I've never heard of and was instantly depressed. This guy is just waking up to the fact that focusing on climate change instead of ecological overshoot is somewhat a waste of time. I can also tell him that focusing his energies on anything economic and/or governance when the entire system that supports both of those entities is unsustainable and is crashing as we speak is likewise not going to be very productive. But he's learning, and so those areas aren't what depressed me. What depressed me was further down where I noticed that he and his partner are going to have a baby in May. I feel so much sorrow because I know that their child will likely never grow to be as old as I already am.
That is quite a gut punch, and yet me must forgive ourselves for all of this. This is how it was always going to turn out based on the same deterministic qualities that lead every species which has the ability to fully utilize the Maximum Power Principle, develop psychological mechanisms to deny reality and optimism bias to think we can achieve things which in truth we cannot. In other words, most of society is bargaining with the predicament of overshoot rather than accepting it. It appears that he doesn't yet comprehend that he has made many assumptions that "the economy" and "governance" (along with life as we know it itself) will continue long into the future when in reality it is already collapsing, along with the ecological web of life surrounding us. How long until industrial civilization has collapsed completely? One expert claims that the date is in 24 years.
I see so many different blogs just like his discussing all kinds of activities that one can get involved with - at least if one is naïve enough to do so. I see talk of "solutions" every day, most of which are complete crap that can only increase overshoot, not reduce it. As long as society is still doubling down on attempts at bargaining to continue civilization rather than realizing that it can not and will not continue, all the other [real] efforts being made to reduce overshoot, restore nature, and save species will have little if any effect. Jeff McFadden summarized it this way:
Well, no reason to read this. “Since we've learned to fly by flapping our arms…”
“Since I've walked across the Atlantic Ocean…”
Yeah. Things that never happened make up well over half the “news”. Leave me out."
He's not the only one wishing to be left out...I, too, have grown tired of reading hype, nonsense, and pure garbage. Too many people simply do not understand our lack of agency about all of this. The bottom line is that one cannot be in an extreme state of overshoot and propose long-term requirements of continuing the same unsustainable systems that we currently live within, so the idea of establishing "economic reform" or "getting rid of capitalism" or "making government more efficient" or "establishing food forests/regenerative agriculture/permaculture/vertical farming" are all prime examples of incrementalism that accomplishes nothing other than attempt to keep this set of arrangements humming along. The big trouble here is that this set of arrangements CAN'T be kept humming along. So, people hoping to make a few adjustments here and there will have to go back to the blackboard and start all over, beginning with the very thinking that got us into this mess to begin with.
Brent Molnar recently added a very poignant article regarding what would happen if Greenland was "taken" by the US. Sadly, most all of that will happen anyway, albeit much more slowly if the US were to develop a more reasonable stance. My efforts at getting others to understand the stark difference between a problem with a solution and a predicament with an outcome continues exponentially becoming worse as time moves forward. Art Berman explains in this hard-hitting article regarding precisely where we are now, quote:
A lot of people are still judging today’s leaders against the backdrop of an expired world: surplus energy, cheap materials, deep trust in institutions, and enough cooperation to negotiate trade-offs without everything turning existential. That period is over. The old playbook assumed there was slack in the system. Now there isn’t. Choices are being made in the moment, under pressure, with imperfect information and context, and the penalties for mistakes are rising.
Some decisions will be made poorly. But it’s also true that no one has a reliable yardstick for the world that is forming. The measures and mental models we inherited were built for a different time and different circumstances. Many leaders understand what few outside the halls of power are willing to admit: we’re entering a harsher phase where nations compete to offload costs, secure essentials, and protect internal stability. It’s a race to the bottom, and it won’t be pretty."
In other words, these ideas that we're all going to sit around the campfire and sing "Kumbaya" and regenerate nature and save everything is a comforting narrative that has no basis in reality. It's a comforting narrative because that is what we are naturally drawn to - we like stories that end well. Unfortunately, the historical evidence points to us being rather tribal, with many issues ending in violence.
One last point before I begin to wrap this up. If you are familiar with my article about pollution loading and what it implies for humans and non-human flora and fauna, then this article about burning plastics will bring a sense of urgency to the table. As higher-quality sources of heat begin to cost more than people have to spend on it, they will resort to lower quality sources such as wood, charcoal, and plastics that are plentiful and often cheap or even free.
Now, what to do with this information? Don't waste your time arguing with fools like I have done. Start opting out now. Simply learn how to opt out of the hype and instead begin Living Now.
Here is some inspiration for you from Brush Ridge Fire Tower and Delt Church Park and Sylvan Cellars Event Center and the Kneipp Springs Sanitarium (Hospital); enjoy!
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