I am doing two "Community Education" courses at Canterbury Uni at the moment. They are both 5 week series of talks with no assessment, so no stress really. So far I am finding them both very interesting and thought provoking. Only thing is that, as with so many other areas of life, the more you learn the more questions there seem to be, and the less answers to feel sure of.
The first one is called "Ethics and the Environment". Click here if you want more info.
There is so much doom and gloom when we start to think about the future of the ecology that sustains us, and hard to find hope. Certainly I whole heartedly agree with the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle mantra and am aiming to keep improving in this area. But are the doomsayers right? Is it really too late for our current societies? And are all our "green" efforts pointless.
The idea of "Climate Refugees" and the proposition that we shift our focus to creating safe havens for those who will need them, is gaining momentum. I suspect that James Lovelock and Co are at least partly right (hopefully not totally correct) and that this may be necessary. However I hope that these theories do not distract us from still doing our best to preserve and protect what we can. Or, perhaps even worse, engender so much hopelessness that the ostrich-like "eat, drink and be merry" lifestyle seems the only option to the majority.
4 comments:
I certainly know the feeling of thinking that's it's too late. The more areas of the world you understand about the more ruined it seems. Water tables in the US that take 1000s of years to refill being depleted in 50, Fish in the ocean.
Is there even an answer, or is the earth just going to end up reverting to a more primitive form where microorganisms rule once again?
Sounds interesting though! I'm glad you're doing it.
-andrew
In terms of whether our green efforts are too late, I think it is one of those "as if" situations.
It's like the question of free-will; even if we aren't free and are totally causally bound we cannot actually know and must behave "as if" we have freedom.
It's the same with our ecological practices. We must behave "as if" it is not too late. We must act, we must strive, we must greenify, we must sacrifice and downsize, and we must develope sustainable technologies, business practices, and socio-cultural mindsets.
If it is too late we can never know until the world is shrivelling up around our ears, but in any case we can only ever proceed survivalistically and optimistically with an eye on the future of humanity and the earth.
The alternative is to give up and crawl under a rock somewhere.
That's my two cents.
I agree Iain that we have to act "as if" it can make a difference.
But more what I was trying to get at is whether we need to completely rethink the actions we take. Whether our focus needs to shift from just tinkering with the edges of our lifestyle with a bit of "green" change, to perhaps much more radical change.
If the *radical* (~realistic) climate predictions are correct then perhaps the best way to "proceed survivalistically and optimistically with an eye on the future of humanity and the earth" is to look at organising safe havens that will serve us better than a rock to crawl under.
I am interested in the concept of "transition towns" and think that this may be a good proactive/positive approach.
http://www.transitiontowns.org.nz/
Of course this kind of thing can only work if enough people "buy in".
Wowwww huge
That's a really interesting idea that I haven't heard about.
What you say is wise, kemo sabe. It fits well into various conversations that I have been having with other friends lately. I'll have to weave it all together and see what pops out.
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