tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post4238987780889646717..comments2024-03-08T14:23:31.503-05:00Comments on A Puff of Absurdity: On The Sixth ExtinctionMarie Snyderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13872774009526266579noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-25095011070348290832014-04-12T00:13:45.894-04:002014-04-12T00:13:45.894-04:00And I also like this what this McKibben dude/dream...And I also like this what this McKibben dude/dreamer has to say:<br /><br />excerpt: " I get up in the morning and do what I can, as much as I can, to try and change the odds of this wager that we've undertaken."<br />http://grist.org/climate-change/2011-07-18-bill-mckibben-avoids-the-fetal-position/<br /><br />=============<br /><br /><br />"It's been described that in a few hundred years people might be huddled near the poles, hoping that nothing further bad happens to them.<br /><br />I really do think it's probably best not to indulge our worst fears. The job now—I mean, it's going to be bad enough no matter what we do. The job now is to do the work to make sure that it doesn't get any worse than it has to get. It's going to be a difficult century in any event. Our job is to keep it from becoming an impossible one."<br /><br />http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/bill-mckibben-talks-about-the-fight-against-climate-change/Content?oid=3192190Sam Gunschnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-14440764249039315552014-04-12T00:06:44.834-04:002014-04-12T00:06:44.834-04:00Wendell Berry's view of what an ethical life e...Wendell Berry's view of what an ethical life expects of us, is what keeps me going:<br /><br />"WENDELL BERRY: We don’t have a right to ask whether we’re going to succeed or not. The only question we have a right to ask is what’s the right thing to do? What does this earth require of us if we want to continue to live on it?<br /><br />BILL MOYERS: For Wendell Berry, the defense of the Earth is a mission that admits no compromise. This quiet and modest man who lives and works far from the center of power on a farm in Kentucky where his family has lived for 200 years has become an outspoken, even angry advocate for a revolution in our treatment of the land.<br /><br />WENDELL BERRY: “A Warning to My Readers.”<br /><br />Do not think me gentle because I speak in praise of gentleness, or elegant because I honor the grace that keeps this world. I am a man crude as any, gross of speech, intolerant, stubborn, angry, full of fits and furies. That I may have spoken well at times, is not natural. A wonder is what it is."Sam Gunschnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-16348402579366264382014-04-11T11:37:36.904-04:002014-04-11T11:37:36.904-04:00We always possess the potential to solve our probl...We always possess the potential to solve our problems, Marie. However, it's our willful ignorance which is our worst enemy.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-64887604114465731052014-04-02T14:40:50.458-04:002014-04-02T14:40:50.458-04:00I think we're definitely in the minority. I w...I think we're definitely in the minority. I wrote a post about that <a href="http://www.projectearthblog.blogspot.ca/2010/06/why-environmentalism-needs-to-be.html" rel="nofollow">years ago</a>. But I still do what I can. At the very least I can die feeling like I did all I could. Marie Snyderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13872774009526266579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-84680289236890181752014-04-02T08:44:08.998-04:002014-04-02T08:44:08.998-04:00I feel like there is a huge swath of humanity that...I feel like there is a huge swath of humanity that doesn't care and just wants what it wants. I notice there is a violently selfish swath that figures the best endgame is to use up the resources as fast as possible. I can't tell if the people who do care and are trying to make a difference outnumber the exploiters, but my hunch is not. And I think the largest part of humanity are those who don't care. <br />My own approach is just to do whatever I can. Maybe I can't really make a difference, but if I don't try I most certainly won't. <br />karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11131927710530023725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-91362005377866847722014-03-30T18:31:08.423-04:002014-03-30T18:31:08.423-04:00Yes, we can act effectively and prevent the worst....Yes, we can act effectively and prevent the worst. While it may be rapidly narrowing, there is still a window of opportunity available to us. Sorry to say this but we're giving that final opportunity a pass.<br /><br />Diamond's book is entitled, "Collapse, How Societies Choose to Succeed or Fail." His point is that history is littered with examples of societies that knowingly chose to pursue policies or actions that they knew would lead to their ultimate ruin. Think the Koch brothers, Wolfram und Gerd; think Harper. <br /><br />We will not succeed in arresting climate change because we're utterly resistant to acknowledging much less rectifying its companion issues. We aren't willing to entertain global action on over-population. We're not willing to arrest our insane levels of over-production and over-consumption. We won't ever, not ever, accept an equitable solution to global inequality. Worst of all, we remain utterly obsessed with our quest for endless, exponential growth even when we have already exceeded the planet's ecological carrying capacity by a factor of 1.5, soon to be 2.0. These are all existential threats that are tightly bound together. You cannot hope to fix one without rectifying all of them. To even suggest the practical solutions we would need to adopt would be considered radical, heretical, even subversive. <br /><br />Sorry, Marie. It ain't gonna happen.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.com