I was just walking the dogs & had a moment to gauge the reaction of a stranger to the notion that we need non-currency based economics, and while he acknowledged yes, he said we need to be there in 30 years … so I couldn’t help wondering: “what fucking planet are you on?” … we don’t have 30 years we need to be well on the way yesterday, but failing that (as we’ve done), well on the way in 5 not 30 … this is urgent!
- Is it just me?
- Is it just Australia?
- Is this apathy global?
I just don’t understand how people can fail to grasp how urgent this is … do they not understand the meaning of the word “extinction”? We are causing the extinction of many species every day, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year … these species don’t have 30 years to wait for us to get our shit together … do people think these other species are just irrelevant inanimate objects & neither their existence nor suffering is all that important?
What is wrong with you human kind? Don’t you care that you’re wiping out entire species never to be seen again? This is not urgent to you? It’s not urgent that you’re additionally causing the collapse of entire ecosystems? The loss of beauty is not important to you? The reduction of biodiversity & thus reduction in biosphere stability is not important to you?
At what point does this become urgent to you? How far do we have to dumb the conversation down? Does it not matter to you until it affects yourself or someone you know in a manner somehow simpler to understand than the notion of killing the very planet you live on? I thought that would be simple enough, clearly I was mistaken.
I’ve heard people get more upset about the football, more upset about potholes in the road, more upset about the cost of some meaningless trinket … more upset indeed about being asked to give a shit about anyone but themselves … more upset about anything else than they’re upset (or aware for that matter) that we’re fucking up the very planet we live on.
Quite frankly, a big part of me hopes we do not manage to travel to other planets before we cause our own extinction on this one … because our extinction is not inevitable IF WE ACT, and the fact it’s so fucking hard to get help to solve these problems when there’s trillions of dollars racing around global financial markets, just proves the intention to solve these problems isn’t really there (merely a facade, an act, pretence for PR & marketing purposes) … So if we can’t be bothered saving ourselves on this planet, the last thing we should do is spread our apathy, insanity & stupidity to other planets.
Maybe my view is jaded by the fucked up political environment of Australia, where bigotry and fascism are “just another political perspective” these days … gone is the egalitarian nature of most, replaced by toadying up to whoever has the most money, fame &/or power … but it seems what I’m asking should not be an unreasonable request, it should be the bare minimum standard we’re willing to expect from ourselves and each other … yet a lot of people seem to look at me as if I’m from another planet. If only that were true & I could go back there!
I truly cannot relate to the majority of people in my own country … not even close … and it’s getting that way for a big chunk of our species altogether.
What will it take for humanity to recognise that our civilisation is based on flawed assumptions & principles?