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https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-if-the-worlds-systems-are-already-cracking-due-to-climate-change-is-there-a-post-doom-silver-lining-213890>
Heard about the guy who fell off a skyscraper? On his way down past each
floor, he kept saying to reassure himself: So far so good … so far so good …
so far so good …
― La Haine, 1995
"If it felt to you like things started going off the rails around the year
2016, you’re not alone. Symbolically, the double blow of Britain voting for
Brexit, then the United States voting for Donald Trump, seemed like the “end”
of something. (The postwar liberal consensus? The Anglo-American order?)
For some – myself included – it also felt like the stirrings of a more
explicitly dystopian moment. If you count yourself in this category, buckle up:
Jem Bendell, former professor in sustainability leadership at the UK’s
University of Cumbria, and his research team are here with more bad news.
According to Bendell’s new book
Breaking Together: A Freedom-Loving Response
to Collapse, “the quality of life in most countries and regions of the world
[…] peaked around 2016 and [then] began to slowly decline”. There is no sound
reason to expect a halt to this deterioration, Bendell argues.
Rather, declining Human Development Index statistics are one of many signals
societal collapse due to climate change is not only possible, or even imminent
– but already happening, right now.
But what if collapse is an ongoing and slow(ish) process, rather than a one-off
mega-disaster? And what if the cracks appearing in the “cultural cement” of
modern society represent not only a crisis, but also an opportunity to
radically rethink how humans interact – with each other, and with the natural
world?
Breaking Together encourages us to think about collapse in ways that are
profound, possibility-expanding and startlingly original. Bendell’s “post-doom”
perspective has the potential to change individual lives, upend organisational
strategies and give birth to whole new social movements.
Bendell advocates for an ideal of “ecofreedom”. This moves beyond obvious
ideas, such as reconnecting with nature, to encompass supporting youth climate
activism and decolonial, resource-preserving movements in the Global South.
The post-doom approach also calls for embracing a “positive disintegration” of
self and values, to refocus one’s mind, and entire existence, on things that
really matter."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
