Me, nine years
ago:
We need a spiritual transformation that will make the necessary
changes acceptable and how to achieve that I have no idea; globally we are in
such a horrible state of paralysis that it is hard to get many of us to accept
even minor change.
The spiritual transformation is under way.
People are being publicly shamed, told to scourge themselves
and advised to undertake solutions that will not work. Veganism, not flying –
these things will not stop climate change, they are not major parts of the
problem. Relying exclusively on wind and solar power will not work; this alone will
not be enough, unless we are willing to accept poverty as a norm.
It is not necessary to create an egalitarian socialist
paradise to prevent the world from roasting or drowning under the risen seas.
Shaming people is popular. People listen to the fire and
brimstone sermons. It brings them catharsis. Then they go home and keep on
sinning.
No amount of blaming ourselves, no amount of hurting
ourselves will change physical law. The seas will rise regardless of how much
we scourge ourselves or pray or beg the Almighty.
Human civilization must stop using fossil fuels, the sooner
the better. There will be privation, but no one individual will be able to
escape or choose this privation. It will be imposed. Doing it willingly,
proactively, reluctantly, or forced will not make a jot of difference.
People will have their bonfire of the vanities and, in the
end, go home and wait for the storms and the rising seas.
Humans are clearly preparing for this transformation. Good.
But we are also lost and wondering what to do and which way to go. And there are
all these people ready to offer solutions which place the blame on the people
in the street, in the factories, in the fields. The blame belongs on the people
who are striving to squeeze the last few dollars or riyals out of their fossil
fuel holdings before it all becomes worthless.
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