THE END OF CIVILIZATION AND THE NEW DARK AGES

Change is slow, particularly the kind of change that is needed if we are to avert global catastrophe. Everywhere inertia reigns- ‘debate’ rages on in the media while the foundations of our prosperous, safe, and healthy way of life begin to crumble away.
We are addicted to our own ignorance and the promise of a quick fix technology that will swoop in to save the day.
By the best estimates from a variety of reality-based sources we have between ten and fifteen years to turn things around. This means a cessation of our entire industrialized economy and infrastructure in favour of low-impact sustainable alternatives. It is not enough to switch to compact flourescent bulbs and recylcle bottles and newsprint- the deadly fiction of unrestrained growth must be purged from our minds and our actions.
The problem is, people are stupid. I don’t say this to imply that they lack intelligence, although a great many of them do, but merely to point out the fact that almost no one is capable of seeing and understanding the incredibly complex sets of interrelationships between actions, organisms, and environment on this planet. This is what i mean by stupidity; we lack the very cognitive capacitites to grasp the whole picture. We constantly see ourselves and our actions in a vacuum, our self-reflective consciousness forming an insultated bubble separating us from the rest of nature.
But human beings are, biologically speaking, no different than rabbits or bacteria. We all operate according to the same fundamental, inviolable rules, despite the political and economic fairytales we tell each other.
And any species which multiplies unrestrained, consumes all its available resources, and pollutes its environment goes extinct. There is no other outcome.
Of course, our technology provides us with a window of opportunity, where we can seemingly pursue our dreams of growth while mitigating the negative consequences. However, this is an illusion, at least in a strict sense. The terrifying reality is that there is no concievable way six billion human beings can live on this planet at anywhere near the level of quality we take for granted.
And so the urgent call for change, real change, goes out. But it is not answered, at least not on anywhere near the level needed to fend off mass collapse. Politicians and pundits argue on endlessly, or throw out legislative sops- foolish and useless compromises meant to give the appearance of proactive action while in reality serving as a cover for the continuation of suicidal business intrests.
We are constantly pacified, told that if we make a few painless lifestyle changes we can do our part for the earth and avoid destruction, but it is all a lie.
There is nothing any one individual can do to prevent catastrophic climate change, indeed, there are many who feel we may already have crossed the threshold of irreversible damage.
All we can do now is to collect together as many likeminded individuals and implement rational strategies for the creation of new societies in those areas of the globe which will be the least physically affected.
Human beings do not respond well to crises. Cut off from support and denied basic resources we turn savage, reverting to a state that expresses the worst aspects of our tribal instincts. This thin veneer of civilization we have built up for ourselves, founded as it is upon ‘cheap and abundant’ energy and a stable environment, peels away as quickly and easily as a sticker on a piece of fruit. To see the most likely future of the american continent one need only look to the most pathological and desperate failed states of africa, and glimpse what is in store for us unless the strictest measures are taken immediately.
Only one thing is certain beyond any doubt: radical change will come. Whether this becomes an opportunity for a new world of justice, abundance, and intelligence, or spells the end of civilization and the start of a new dark ages remains to be seen.
Personally, my feeling is that the weight of rabid nationalism, pannicky apocalyptical fervor, and selfishly ignorant reactionism will overwhelm the capacities of more balanced individuals to deal with these global threats.We must put into motion plans to preserve both the literal and metaphorical seeds of civilization- preparing for the unthinkable, but doing everything we can to stop it.