Well, if you aren't, I surely am, as any reasonable, truth acknowledging person would be. No, not those who deny the nose in between the eyes, but rather those who understand truths, realities, as opposed to wishful thinking, hateful thinking, that has brought us to the current state of being. I totally dislike that my called-out warnings about this were correct, for I and mine are equally as subject to the same chaos. There is no escape. It is what it is, our real time situation we must address. To ignore, to deny, to continue our present paths is just plain stupid and harmful beyond all description. If we are to somehow pull that proverbial rabbit out of our now shabby hat, we had better do it NOW, PRONTO. Doubtful, though, very much so.
Headline: Physicists Predict Chaotic Earth.
Ho-hum you say. We know that already. We are already dealing with the crazy weather, with 500-year storms arriving almost monthly or more, with weather out of season, whacked beyond all understanding. Exactly? There is no understanding this phenomenon, a global one, unless we acknowledge that we, the people of earth, in our blind search for more, more, more, we have just about cut our lifelines to the future.
"If the Earth System gets into the region of chaotic behavior, we will lose all hope of somehow fixing the problem." ... "we are now entering a new phase, one driven by human activity. As humans pump more carbon into the atmosphere, we are creating a new Anthropocene era, a period of human-influenced climate systems, something our planet has never experienced before."
Are you shivering in your shoes yet? You certainly should. A new kind of era, driven by human behavior - totally hair raising and fright inducing. A possible extermination event? Maybe, but at the very least, a life changing situation for all. Mad Max off the screen and into reality.
Can we, do we, have the time necessary to fix this, to head it off at the pass? Some say yes, while others say no. I am pessimistic, find myself in the no camp. Factor in the behavior, - self destructive - of mankind through the ages. Join me? The same people who deny this truth, this rapidly growing danger, are the ones who are following the Pied Pipers of our times through a hole in a mountain with nothing good awaiting, neither there nor outside.
We have chosen badly again. And again. We never learn our lessons, the catechism of sanity, of appreciation and recognition of the good and bad, the brilliance and the foibles and inanities of mankind. The need to accept others as we wish to be accepted. The need to share this earth with all, to recognize the rights of all. And we do not, manifestly so. Sad to say. Actually, no. Make that tragic. Even more tragic, the insistence time and again that we travel down the dangerous road.
At the crossroad we ignore the clear, clean swept road which offers opportunities to do the right thing, to achieve good for mankind. Instead we pick that rock strewn, rutted road, the one with the scattered bones of those who passed here previously, falling victim to their foolish choices. We pass wagon after wagon, overturned. We find possessions abandoned along this dreary, dark road. Instead of turning back, we pick up the possessions, burdening ourselves even more, and the darkness of mankind's doom grows darker yet.
Turn back and assess what we have left behind. Scorched earth. Stark forests of burned trees, the air growing heavy with Carbon for lack of trees and greenery. Ditto for the temperature of the earth and its changing climates. We wreak havoc on those we deem our enemies, use barbaric weapons upon them, ignore every legal definition and posit which govern international relations. We encourage others to do the same as the sinner is rewarded for his egregious sins, if only he will go away. So he does - for now - and soon is back for more, even as others follow his behavior. Why the hell not? What is the downside? A few thousand deaths? Bah! Not important in the scale of benefits!
I look at my older grandchildren, hear their innocence, their optimism, their deep, earnest desire to fix this world. The clean innocence of their belief in that possibility. I recall when I, too, felt the same, long, long ago. I shouted, I marched, I protested, and as I look back, I see that we are back where we began, perhaps even more so, more enmeshed in the detritus of our behaviors.
We have scorched the earth, burned out the possibilities of reform, in man's behavior and decisions, and for the earth to once again, heave to and fro, and allow us yet another chance. To blow it all again? To do right by Mother Earth? Who the hell knows at this point.
And yet there remains the faint hope that there is another way; we only have to hitch up our pants, use belt and suspenders, and for the sake of all, do the right things. Here are two recent songs, written and sung by their composers, one young, one almost 70. Both contain words of hope, plaintive, almost pleading for people to pay attention. Check them out. Listen to the words; hear the music; feel the voices. Easy enough to find both song and lyrics on YouTube.
One is "Sparrow", by Jordan Smith
The other is "Beautiful World" by Michael Bolton.
I must confess that I continue to fall under the spell of such hope, such prayers, that we can pull that reluctant rabbit out of our shrinking, ever more ragged hat. Maybe, though growing dimmer, ever dimmer.
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