“To those who do survive
Find beauty in your lives
Don’t be afraid of love
Stand up and rise above.”
— Tommy Shaw and Styx
Could we please talk about the future?
Nobody really wants to talk about it, but it’s definitely coming. Whether or not we’re here, the Earth and its galaxy – probably the entire universe as we know it – will continue into the future. It’s difficult to imagine a reality where events in space-time do not continue to unfold in a linear fashion. Which means my children and grandsons, whom I love very much indeed, will likely experience those events. But we, the current elders of our tribes, will be gone. We care little to discuss the future, because we won’t be around to see it. What elders in human history haven’t planned for the generations to come? We are the first to turn our backs on the questioning eyes of our descendants.
Everybody knows the world is changing more rapidly than it has ever changed in human history, but nobody wants to discuss it. I guess that’s only natural, because it’s a rather depressing subject. Even optimists are mitigating their outlook for the future. Talking about the hard stuff is hard… I get it, but being afraid to face the difficulties and truly know them is a big part of what got us into this mess in the first place. What is needed is the moral fortitude – dare I say courage – to face the pressing issues head on. The toughest question left to ponder is: What will the world be like for our children’s grandchildren? Even tougher is: Do we really care, since we won’t be here?
“The most radical thing any of us can do at this time
is to be fully present to what is happening in the world.”
— Joanna Macy
There is, of course, a world of possibilities out there, including a multitude of variables, and nobody can predict the events of the future. However, with science it is possible to identify trends, extrapolate from current data, and hypothesize the general environment in which future events may take place. In truth, the scientists have already done this, and have been trying to warn the public for years, but they face massive competition for our attention. The greatest minds of our times are not engaged in trying to solve the myriad of urgent problems we face today. Rather, the best and brightest among us are brilliantly devoted to the singular task of creating powerful algorithms that influence us to buy more stuff. Don’t worry about the future, they say, just make sure you have enough money so you’re okay. Buy more things than the other guy, hoard them to protect you, and insulate yourself from the insidious fear of lack that our greed has created.
That way, you can avoid having to face your grandchildren, and inform them that things will never be the same as they were before. You’ll never have to tell them that the sterile seas will rise, displacing billions of people. Where will they all go? Storms, wildfires, and natural disasters of every variety will continue to increase in frequency and severity. (Think about that, with what we have seen already!) Entire cities will be abandoned. Trees will die by the square mile, and crops will fail. Clean drinking water will become scarcer. Pets, livestock, and poor people will perish by the millions, and most of the species now living will go extinct. The effects on the natural world might be mitigated, but only with swift and decisive action. Of course, the Earth will continue to evolve, with or without us, and will still be beautiful… in different ways. In response to a rapidly changing planet, what will happen to the artificial micro-environments we have created with our fragile human cultures, and on which we have grown to depend?
“As a society we are caught between a sense of impending
apocalypse and the fear of acknowledging it.”
— Joanna Macy
Certainly, the rich will get richer, and the powerful will gain more power, until even those shields won’t help them anymore. The vast majority of humans, with neither the money nor influence to help mitigate their situations, will have to work things out for themselves. There will be no government to bail them out, if there is no tax revenue to fuel the machines of public service. Those who live off the land, with a high degree of self-sufficiency, will be better prepared to deal with the unraveling of societal support systems. But if you have anything of value, there will always be others who want to take it from you, by force if necessary. It’s going to get ugly, people, and the sooner we accept that, the better we can prepare for it. I don’t mean this in the survivalist sense. We’re certainly not going to “survive” the future, because duh, everybody alive now will die eventually. And to a large extent, we have lost the ability to make things significantly better. Which means we’re going to have to deal with some rather painful consequences.
What happens when the avaricious economy of consumerism is no longer tenable? Financial markets and unstable institutions will fail at a faster rate than the extermination of species. Companies will go out of business by the millions. Commerce as we know it will cease. How will you pay your mortgage with no paycheck? Will you be able to stay in your house? What happens when income is no longer available to most of us? Think on this: what if we decided that money doesn’t matter anymore, and we all just continued to do our jobs – or not, as the circumstance warrants – and money was no longer needed for distributing our collective products of labor and industry? Is that even possible? Could we transition to a non-consumptive economy, and follow John Lennon’s imagination for our future? Is it plausible for humans to live on love as the primary unit of value, and simply take care of our environment… and each other? Small groups of humans, in so-called primitive societies around the world, have managed to create local, egalitarian models for a self-sufficient economy that requires no money. Could such a system be possible for a whole world?
If I could find the compassion to prepare my grandchildren for what’s to come, I would start by telling them they can still make the best of what’s happening now. Be grateful for the Earth, and the gifts it’s giving us every single day. Don’t get caught up in its demise, for nothing is permanent. All things change, including on an epochal, planetary scale. Celebrate the beauty that still exists. Find joy in your miraculous existence, and consult some good resources, such as the benign messages that religion has to offer, or The Work That Reconnects by Joanna Macy, and learn to accept the new trials. Better yet, embrace them as just another present reality that has intrinsic merit.
“Unless you have some roots in a spiritual practice that holds life sacred
and encourages joyful communion with all your fellow beings,
facing the enormous challenges ahead becomes nearly impossible.”
— Joanna Macy
Learn to trust and help your neighbors. If we let our communities fall apart from apathy or despair, we could lose our entire cultural histories, including works of art, music, horticulture, film, and literature. Nearly everything that has ever been created, unless it has practical value for survival, might no longer be available. Needless to say, your tech devices will no longer work. Most of the foods you love won’t be obtainable (unless you manage to grow your own in a changing climate), and countless millions will starve if basic foodstuffs cannot be distributed. The only commodities and tools available will be local ones. Treasured heirlooms, precious belongings, and other so-called “luxuries” will have no value in a barter economy driven by basic survival needs.
We need the courage to think (and act) outside the box, now. Because if we don’t figure this out, future generations are not going to be around to advise their future generations what to do. Humans may survive in isolated, militant, technologically-dependent enclaves, but our agenda will be to pillage, hoard, and protect what we’ve got at all costs. Come to think of it, isn’t that what our species has always done, throughout its entire history? It’s in our DNA. I could go on and on with this rant, but words are pointless. ACTION is what is needed. You so-called “Baby Boomer” generation, the tribal elders of society, need to leave the comfort zones that you have worked hard for all your lives, and use your influence to push for rapid, positive change. The middle generation, called by some “Gen X,” you need to abandon the erroneous pathways of your ancestors, stop buying into a system that is killing you, and devote your resources to finding new and drastic improvements. And you, the younger generation, your energy, social activism and democratic voices are needed more than ever, to get rid of the old, greed-focused habits of destructive leaders, and usher in a radically progressive paradigm. Can we all work together for once in our lives – the lives of the human race – and save us from ourselves?
“Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one.”
— John Lennon (1971)