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Boxing Trained Me Not to Give Up. By Ignoring the Odds and Squelching Despair/re boatsie’s post [1]
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Date: 2023-03-21
Gloves on!
Boxing Trained Me Not to Give Up. By Ignoring the Odds and Squelching Despair/re boatsie’s post
I read boatsie’s critical post on the latest U.N. I.P.C.C. Report on Climate, but was more disheartened by some of the comments than the report itself…
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/20/2159257/-IPCC-Emissions-Must-Peak-by-2025-A-Survival-Guide-for-Humanity?utm_campaign=recent
I thought a revised and expanded* version of the comment I left to boatsie’s article worth posting, because it addresses a specific aspect of climate awareness I find especially troubling. This voicing of despair or what is often presented as a superior knowledge of climate ‘facts’ and their ‘consequences’, remains a major obstacle to environmental pro-action. More importantly, I am hoping to help give the report itself more exposure, as it is among the most critical information provided to us.
“I find many of the comments to this post to be disheartening. This is not because I am unrealistic about the chances of our survival, which I think are very slime, but because as long as there is still any possibility to save our wondrous planet, I am not willing to countenance remarks like “let’s face it we are fucked and we all know it”.
The truth is we are all culpable for this mess due to our participation in obsessive compulsive over consumption. We own this, so I find giving up at any stage in this ‘game’ unacceptable and while there is still time, counterproductive.
I personally don’t ‘know we are all fucked’ and recognize this take on things to have its roots in despair, but I have also come to realize that this ‘realistic’ view of our situation is the result of a partial and inadequately processed overview. I went through a long period of wrestling with climate despair, but as my knowledge and awareness grew I came to appreciate ‘the glass half full’ side of parsing it. In the same way many of you don’t trust the U.N. track record for prediction, I don’t trust the prediction of doom being put forth and the partial generalizations used to back it up. My experience has led me to understand that humans don’t do predictions well for a variety of reasons. In a crisis of this magnitude, the shear number of variables and unknowns alone make it nearly impossible, while a general lack of clear headed factoring takes care of the rest. What particularly concerns me is that this attitude has the effect of discouraging pro-action and is therefore is not helping anyone but the person venting.
I am extraordinarily connected to this world on a myriad of levels and so I possess a profound understanding of exactly what is at stake. This is something of a Cassandra affliction, but over time I’ve learned to cope with the pain and sadness it produces. I am heightenly aware that we are on the verge of losing all of the world’s cultural treasures and wealth, everything that stimulates and enriches our lives…food, sports, entertainment, music and on infinitum…not the least of which being the splendors and unfathomable mysteries of nature and life.
Just look around you and realize it is all in imminent danger of annihilation…not as an abstraction, but as an actuality most people can’t wrap their minds around.
Cognitive disconnect shields them for grasping anything this mentally incendiary.
My sense of connection makes me feel as if I am in the verge of losing my very soul and I will fight for survival against all odds.
During the pandemic shutdown, it has been determined that CO2 levels fell in a few months to the levels we need them to be at now if we are to begin to manage this crisis. This can be achieved in the same way now as it was then…through shutdowns. This would buy us the time to switch to sustainables, curb our consumption and apply political pressure to help spur meaningful legislation. All of these goals are completely possible, but not if we toss in the towel before the bell.
So I choose to conquer despair and patiently continue to work toward raising awareness and resolution. Even if it was proven to me tomorrow that our survival was scientifically no longer possible, I would choose to ere on the side of caution and would not give up.
I once held the hand of a dear friend as he died of aids. When his vitals flatlined, everyone got up and left the room. I did not because I knew I was facing a mystery that no one really understood and that I had no idea how clinical death was actually connected to the death of his inner spirit.
So I stayed with him and held his hand for at least 20 minutes or so, after which I sensed I could go.
I read recently that there is now speculation, based in our expanded abilities to pin point and measure brain activity, that a degree of what may constitute some level of consciousness can outlast clinical death…for about 20 minutes.”
*My revisions are for the most part made for clarity. You can read the original version, as well as the renarks that inspired it, in the comments thread to boatsie’s post.
Note: I have posted this shortly before leaving for the day and will not be able to respond to comments :-(
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/21/2159430/-Boxing-Trained-Me-Not-to-Give-Up-By-Ignoring-the-Odds-and-Squelching-Despair-re-boatsie-s-post
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