Green is the new black. No buzz-phrase better sums up both the excitement many of us feel about the blooming environmental and social consciousness around us and the essential hollowness of the answers being promoted by many newly-minted eco-pundits. The flood of environmental magazine cover stories, documentaries and advertisements has pushed us over a public-opinion threshold, which is great. But the solutions being touted by many of our new-found allies are themselves creating a new kind of problem -- people who should know better are selling a muddle-headed, style-over-substance, lite green environmentalism at a time when we need to be rebuilding our civilization to avoid disaster. To be blunt, were being sold out. People are being told to buy organic cotton T-shirts, keep their tires inflated and recycle their beer bottles. But the reality of the situation is that the impacts of these sorts of actions are totally out of whack with the magnitude of the planetary problems bearing down upon us. Those of us who care about the future of the planet need to reclaim this moment from those who would have people think that our biggest challenge is picking the most stylish vegan shoes. With every passing day, we are discovering that things are worse than we thought. Our climate is ripping apart at the seams at a rate thats surprising even the so-called alarmists. Natural systems are collapsing. The ocean seems headed towards a series of catastrophic tipping points. Economic inequity is producing a planet of billionaires and a billion desperate people. Our political systems are suffering a massive crisis of legitimacy, while insane fundamentalists, violent criminals and two-bit dictators (wearing both uniforms and Armani suits) are stealing or destroying everything they can get their hands on. Everywhere on the planet we find an empty consumer culture so accepted we barely speak of it, except perhaps to make an ironic joke. We have placed a Great Wager on the future of humanity, and the odds are getting worse. In the face of this reality, recycling a bottle is an act so insignificant as to be merely totemic. Paper or plastic? Who the hell cares? In the developed world, few of us, essentially none of us, currently live a one-planet life. The vast majority of us, even of those of us who have committed ourselves to change, consume more resources and energy than our sustainable share: indeed, it is very, very difficult to live an individually sustainable life, because the very systems in which we are enmeshed -- which enfold and make possible our lifestyles -- are themselves insanely unsustainable. Were driving our hybrid SUVs down the highway to the Collapse. Most of the harm we cause in the world is done far from our sight, created through the workings of vast systems whose workings are often intentionally hidden from us, and over which we have very little influence as single individuals. Alone, we are essentially powerless to change anything that matters. We cant shop our way to sustainability. We are bombarded with messages encouraging us to take the small steps precisely because those steps are a threat to no one. They dont depress sales of fashionable crap we dont need. They dont bring people into the streets or sweep corrupt politicians from office. They certainly dont threaten the powerful, entrenched interests who are growing fantastically rich off keeping us locked into the systems that make our lives such a burden on the planet and impoverish our brothers and sisters elsewhere. Buying a hemp hoodie is not a blow for better world, its at best a mere gesture towards the idea that the world ought to better. And, here in the Green Spring of 2006, we must finally admit to ourselves that gestures are no longer enough. That to be focused on lifestyle tweaks and attitudinal adjustments at this moment in history is like showing up with a teaspoon to help bail out a sinking ship. If the New Green degenerates into handing out more stylish spoons, were screwed. kapts Xander McDouall Violet Aura Yonatan Kahn Alexandrix Chakravarti Rockwood Darren Måxwell McCann Sean All Natural Susan Arnold Jeremy Rochelle Joy Stormer Kaitlyn Peake Wes Powers Oliver Warbucks Terry Sanford Jack Craig Jordan Hill Mars Noumena
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 02:45:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015