Extinction and the Future of Homo Sapiens - Part II

In continuing with what I mentioned on my last post,  I want to examine the ways we can reimagine our relationship with our natural environment and begin the arduous process of divesting ourselves of the possibility of extinction.   We may even lessen some of the more immediate hurdles we face over the next century or so by making some of the suggested changes here.  

A warning:  some of these changes are radical.   All of them are painful.   But that is how we know that they are necessary.  Remember, we dislike having to adapt to change.  So it is in our nature to want things to say the same. That's why these suggested changes will be uncomfortable. 

Here are the first 3 recommendations on changes we can make now that will help round off the edges of the years ahead and help us focus on what's important.

1.  Start Long-term Thinking

On it's face, this likely doesn't seem that radical, and that's why I have it listed first.  It seems benign, but if we can't accomplish this, there's no point in doing anything else.   We have to learn to look beyond the span of our own biological lives.  We have to stop thinking as consumers who must get all we can now, because lack and scarcity wait just around the corner.   Our fear of these two hollow ghosts, scarcity and lack, are deeply rooted in our fear of biomechanical death, and I'll talk about that in another future post.  But this is something that every single adult human on earth, young or old, can do. 

Here is the challenge:  each time you make any decision about action or purchase, as yourself "How will this action by me affect the future?"  Not just your future, but the future as a whole.   

When you purchase a plastic two-liter bottle of your favorite drink, ask yourself this question. 

When you swing by the local Starbucks and purchase your favorite mocha that comes with a paper sleeve and wasteful straw, ask yourself this question. 

When you start throwing away food waste (like last night's dinner leftovers) ask yourself this question. 

When you purchase a gas-loving SUV instead of the more convenient and economically fueled hybrid, ask yourself this question. 

Learn to ask this question any time you consume anything.   You'll find that you consume way more than you ever imagined, and a great deal of it is superfluous and unnecessary. 

I'll take the words from the design & construction section of the Clock of the Long Now here: 

The biggest problem for the beating Clock will be the effects of its human visitors.   Over the span of centuries, valuable stuff of any type tends to be stolen, kids climb everywhere, and hackers naturally try to see how things work or break. But it is humans that keep the Clock's bells wound up, and humans who ask it the time.  The Clock needs us. It will be a long, out of the way journey to get inside the Clock running inside a mountain. But as long as the Clock ticks, it keeps asking us, in whispers of buried bells, "Are we being good ancestors?"

This begins a shift toward long-term thinking. 

Are we being good ancestors? 

2. Rethink Affluence. 

Again, this doesn't seem that challenging. But to accomplish this, we will need to intentionally peel away all of the cultural programming we have been fed over the expanse of many decades (it's likely encoded in our genes by this point!) and come to a new conclusion about what affluence means.  Right now, affluence is generally defined as having an abudance of property and money; in other words, material wealth.   But that is only the definition we have assigned to affluence - it doesn't necessarily stand that it has to mean that.   

What if affluence is instead defined as the flow of goods and services to all citizens in need of them? The word itself has its roots in the Latin word affluere, which means to flow freely or abudantly.  Flow implies movement; what we currently experience as affluence implies stagnation of resources into clusters of elite pockets; it does not represent the flow of resources/goods/services to all.     So the next time you look at your bank account with its lonely little balance of funds available, stop deciding that you're broke.   Instead, ask yourself: "Right now, in this moment, do I have all of the resources I need?" 

For some, the answer might be no.  In that case, there must be momentum to drive the flow; but that can't start until we ALL collectively reimagine the definition of affluence.  Only then can a redistribution or reallocation of resources truly get underway.  For others of you, if you really think about it, I bet you'll discover the answer is yes - yes, you do have all you need for this moment.  And that's the true definition of wealth.    Heidi Lorenzen did a great post on Substack about this and it's worth the read, but you might have to join to read it. 

Affluere is the Latin root of affluence; and it means to flow freely or abundantly.  Are all of the resources we have now available abundantly to everyone?  I think we all know the answer to this question. 

3. Start (and finish) a Personal Inventory.

Here begins the unfun business of our step toward renewing our relationship with our environment. From here on out, these to-do items will start to get ever more painful.     I'll end this post with this third step, but I will post again in a few days with more necessary (and still unfun) steps we need to take to get ourselves back into right standing with our planet.   

Start a personal inventory of all the stuff in your life.  And I'm strictly talking about stuff right now. Do you really need 38 pairs of socks?  How about the pairs of expensive designer shoes in your closet?  And what about those melamine dishes you ordered from Pottery Barn for the holidays last year?  And then what about the print magazines you subscribe to?   I could go on.  My point is: make a list.  Do you need all of that? I mean really need it.  Will your heart stop beating if you don't have it?  Ask that question about everything you own that isn't shelter or food.     

Start this list now, and update it often. Whenever you start to buy something, consider whether it might be a necessity or not. This list will helps us really examine the most basic elements of livelihood and how we interact with our resources. 

These first three steps can take us a long way toward rebuilding the relationship with our planet.   But they aren't the only ones we need to take.    I'll post again in a few days with more (and harder) steps we all need to take. 

Friends, I'm taking all of these steps myself. 

I hope you'll join me.