Trying to Prevent the End of the World

I mean, of course, that title is supposed to get your attention. And of course, it may not be completely true. Well, its a lie. The world will never end, the planet, planet earth will go on living forever. 

But what I am alluding to, for a human brain, could very well be seen as the end of the world. What I'm talking about is the climate and ecological emergency, the sixth mass extinction period in planet history, the murder of mother nature but also the disintegration and collapse of human society itself eventually. If that doesn't sound like the end of the world to human ears then I don't know what that even means anymore. 

As far fetched as all those events sound, they're true, they're completely true and happening now. Like literally now. It is unbelievable when you put it onto paper but I guess that's why we must do it. We must share what we know now. And I know this and it terrifies me. 

I am called insane for saying that I am worried about what my adulthood will look like but it is truthful to say that the world will be a very different and much harder place for a person to live in. What is the hope for me trying to find my one and only career or place to live if by the time my children are becoming teenagers, then jobs may not exist and the planet may have passed so many tipping points that it can't go back. 

But all the sane people are obviously the ones who are concerned with their own little lives right now and the gossip of their daily lives or little town and not this global crisis. And I am not trying to belittle or patronise anyone but I have come to this point where I neglect those things in my life over thinking about this planetary emergency. So how does this make sense? Maybe I have gone mad. 

However, I have done so much reading recently and just watching the news that I know how flawed humans are and I'm starting to lose hope with our species. I think the sixth mass extinction could include the extinction of the human race themselves. But I really don't want to paralyse you out of action or to just simply terrify everyone even if this is the reality we are living in now. 

Really, why I am here going on at you is because I can't just sit here and say nothing anymore. 

Maybe no one will read this, maybe no one will care, maybe one person will read this and think its a load of rubbish but regardless I still could not continue sitting here and saying nothing. 

I am a highly empathic person, I feel what others feel within me, their pain genuinely feels like pain to me but it's now apparent that my empathy stretches into that of non-human animals and also plants and our bloody planet. Because what could be more in pain than a planet that we have spent thousands of years exploiting for own our futile gain. 

Feeling someone else's pain has come up more times than I want to remember recently with the Black Lives Matter movement, the murder of indigenous people protecting their lands, the extermination of Muslims in China, the crisis in Yemen, the still too present anti-semitism, activists standing in the way of diggers and loggers at the site of HS2, the disregard for real human life over statistics in the COVID-19 pandemic... It makes me feel silly to even remind myself that I feel for fictional characters too when there is this much real hurt going on in the world anyway.

I just can't say nothing anymore. I hope that saying something will make a difference. I not only hope but I am bargaining on this working. Because this issue is not an issue about the natural world or about animals or a political issue. This issue is an issue of survival and what human does not want to at least survive.

It's funny, I hear people in the climate activist movement and not talk all day long about having to make such huge personal sacrifices for this silly little thing called climate change. If only they knew, if only they knew that the silly little thing they are talking about could end the human race and will drastically change their own lives in the relatively near future. If only they realised that the moon and mars are not options for planet b because we still can't get there and if humans don't change then we'd just drain those places dry of resources too. They haven't seemed to realise that this is real and this is now.

Personal sacrifices get to me too. They don't know personal sacrifice, and nor, may I add, do I. 

People who know personal sacrifice are the ones already on the poverty line choosing between food or shelter, between the essential needs of a human person. The ones who are already feeling the effects of the climate and ecological emergency, who have already lost their home through fire or flood or deforestation. The ones who are putting themselves out there and letting go of all hobbies and personal goals and simply using their powers to let others know what is going on because they feel this is their only choice. The ones who are putting themselves in harm's way when the loggers come and the builders and the people in business suits come to tell them that this land is not theirs, they can't stay here protecting the water or the land or the trees or the animals because they don't belong to them. Some greater corporation has taken ownership and is now in charge. 

Who is even in charge of the natural world, the planet, anyway. I would love to be able to say no one but also all of us, living in a mutual companionship with it, but I can't. Its certain people, people with money, people with more money and greed than sense. They think their money will save them from this emergency, they don't realise the only people who can save us are ourselves. 

I have heard some people cite certain personal sacrifices they have already made for the movement like missing out on beef burgers or not using aeroplanes for travel anymore. And as a lower-middle-class white woman living in the developed western world, I know that I have not and probably won't make that many substantial personal sacrifices and I do not always understand the privilege that being this person gives me. But I am passionate about helping people like me to learn and acknowledge their privilege and their place in the world because I think it leads to more empathy and understanding which is definitely needed. 

However, it does really annoy me that these people will say that they are currently making huge personal sacrifices and that their quality of life has diminished as a result of these changes because they are simply showing how little perspective they have about themselves and the world. These sacrifices are not small maybe but they are something that people only have the privilege to give up because of who they are and how much money they have. Most people I know and to some extent myself included, have never or hardly ever flown anywhere in their lives. That is a sacrifice those people made before they were even given a choice about the matter. I just think people sometimes need a little perspective. 

I joined Extinction Rebellion (XR) / Global recently. I felt like I had to do more, make a real difference. 

I am sad to say I got quickly involved in organisational politics. But also was able to attend some virtual sessions asking ourselves large questions about ourselves and the future and our place in the world. 

What has frightened me is the ease with which so many of us can now see societal and ecological collapse within our lifetimes, as something we will legitimately have to live through at some point. Some of us genuinely can't imagine the future or don't dare to imagine a future where we, the crazy tree huggers and people who care too much about the planet, have succeeded and actually won over the world and the human population hasn't literally driven themselves into the ground with our greed for resources.

And those phrases were not coming from scientists or old people who have had the time to do the research and work out how global warming will really affect human life. The people with those thoughts and feelings were children who had only just learnt about climate change in school, they were people who had spent their life flying and doing business trips with big corporations, they were people who have no understanding of the actual science but believe it and can see it regardless. This is so sad that people have to think like this and you can only feel sorry for the generations to come. 

I would like to add that XR is a brilliant group to join if you feel at a loss as to what to do now that you too know that the "world is ending". There are local groups and national groups and groups which focus on training or designing or rebelling so you can easily find your place. 

There is an informative training which the XR Rebel Academy have recently launched about the climate and ecological emergency which splits it up digestibly and gives all the key facts and projections about the future. This is one of the best resources I have found without having to find and read the primary research articles yourself. 

I would also recommend looking up what individual action you can take to curb the climate and ecological emergency. I have written a small amount about what I have done myself on this blog and I am trying to do more. Trying to simplify my life in a way that I get the most out of it without affecting the planet too much. There are plastic-free ideas, zero/low waste solutions, quitting fast fashion, adjusting your use of transportation, divesting your banking and investments, choosing sustainable and eco-friendly companies over others. 

My only hope for writing about the planetary emergency is that someone listens. 

Someone makes a change. Someone goes to work and tells their boss that they are going to have to change the companies practices. Someone goes over to a friend's and tells them all the cool planet-friendly ways to live life that they have discovered.

For now, I am going to try and spend as much time with the trees as I can before our natural world disappears before our eyes.

Credits: Extinction Rebellion & Markus Spiske via Pexels