No Reset Button

December 13, 2021 Jerry King Comments 0 Comment

There’s no
“reset button” for civilization,
and no viable plan
for transforming global infrastructure,
agriculture, and energy networks
in the next ten to twenty years.
And while smart, dedicated, and thoughtful people
fumble with political machinery
that doesn’t work,
such as carbon-pricing markets,
protests and the United Nations,
all of us in the Global North
go about our business,
driving, flying, leaving lights on,
running heaters and air conditioners,
eating meat, charging our devices,
living unsustainable lives predicated on
easy consumption.

The problem with our response to climate change
isn’t a problem
with passing the right laws
or finding the right price for carbon
or changing people’s minds
or raising awareness.

EVERYBODY ALREADY KNOWS.

The problem is that the problem
is too big.
The problem is that
different people want different
things.
The problem is that
nobody has real answers.
The problem is
that the problem is
us.

Excerpt, Learning to Die in the Anthropocene
By Roy Scranton

A disturbing statement of truth. Truth is an expression of Reality. To recognize the truth is to become aware, conscious. T. S. Eliot wrote that our enchainment with past and future protects us from very much consciousness, a shield from too much ecstasy or too much agony. There’s no question that most of the time we are occupied with imagining our future or wondering how different our life might have been, if…

Scranton’s description of our condition is borne out with each of the morning news reports received from the New York Times via email. This is not mere reportage but a harbinger of forces that impel this time in which we live.

These lyric lines speak to our situation. What’s Up by 4 Non Blonds

And I scream from the top of my lungs
“What’s going on?”…

And I pray
Oh my God, do I pray
I pray every single day
For revolution…

What’s Up?

By 4 Non-blonds

25 years and my life is still
Tryin’ to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination

I realized quickly when I knew I should
That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man
For whatever that means

And so I cry sometimes when I’m lying in bed
Just to get it all out what’s in my head
And I, I am feeling a little peculiar

And so I wake in the morning and I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream from the top of my lungs
“What’s going on?”

And I say, hey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey
I said “Hey, a-what’s going on?”
And I say, hey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey
I said “Hey, a-what’s going on?”

Ooh, ooh
Ooh
Ooh, uh huh
Ooh, ooh
Ooh
Ooh, uh huh

And I try
Oh my God, do I try
I try all the time
In this institution

And I pray
Oh my God, do I pray
I pray every single day
For revolution

And so I cry sometimes when I’m lying in bed
Just to get it all out, what’s in my head
And I, I am feeling a little peculiar

And so I wake in the morning and I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream from the top of my lungs
“What’s going on?”

And I say, hey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey
I said “Hey, what’s going on?”
And I say, hey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey
I said “Hey, a-what’s going on?”
And I say, hey-ey-ey
(Wake in the morning and step outside)
Hey-ey-ey
(Take a deep breath and I get real high)
(And I scream)
I said “Hey, a-what’s going on?”
And I say, hey-ey-ey
(Wake in the morning and step outside)
Hey-ey, yeah yeah yeah
(Take a deep breath and I get real high)
(And I scream)
I said “Hey, a-what’s going on?”