Usually much more optimistic than me, my wife, for the past year or so, has insisted that humanity is a failed species. I, usually much more the pessimist, have resisted her conclusion, pointing out evidence that the human spirit is alive and well: the uprising against tyranny in the Middle East; the people of good will who work ceaselessly and passionately to right the wrongs they see in the world, or extending help to those who need it; the outpouring of humanitarian aid when natural disaster strikes.
I find I must now reassess that optimism. With thanks to The Disaffected Lib for providing the link, I read the article by Chris Hedges entitled “This Time We're Taking the Whole Planet With Us,” his thesis being that historical patterns, so ably discussed in Ronald Wright's A Short History of Progress (a book I highly recommend), suggest there is little hope for the long-term survival of humanity. The patterns of ecological and environmental exploitation, the pillaging and ultimate destruction of economies by the oligarchs, etc., once confined to individual societies and countries, are now occurring on a global basis, contends Hedges.
Having read two of Hedges' books and heard him speak while on a book tour, I previously thought that some of his analyses were rather overwrought and exaggerated. I now realize he is more prescient than I had imagined. For example, when I heard him speak over a year ago, he suggested that what he called 'Brand Obama' would ultimately prove to be simply more of the same old politics. It was an assertion that I resisted. However, even while acknowledging that Obama is constrained by the recalcitrance of both Republican and Democratic Senators, I think Hedges is right.
For example, the continuation of tax cuts for the wealthy, while it could seen as a political expedient and compromise, suggests an unwillingness to address the real problems confronting the United States. Similarly, after watching the film Inside Job, which just won an Academy Award for Best Documentary (a film I also highly recommend, providing as it does an accessible explanation of the 2008 financial meltdown), I was quite disappointed in Obama. I learned that some of the architects of that disaster, as well as those who had been in regulatory positions and could have prevented it, are either now part of Obama's administration or important advisers to him.
So what is my point here? I guess it is to suggest that time is getting very short; our world is in dire peril, and it is our moral duty, no matter how busy our personal or professional lives may be, to educate ourselves so that we can confront and oppose those who use the facade of democratic elections to dismantle our world.
There may not be much time or hope for success, but I don't want to go down without a fight.
I'm forced to agree. It seems to me that while protests like those in the Middle East are inspiring, ultimately they are limited for more than the reasons Hedges identifies. They're peripheral. Even if they succeeded fully and led to the semi-mythical "domino effect," the actual changes would be limited. Semi-democratic governments are more than happy to continue fueling the fossil fuel economy if it benefits them -- witness our own government, for instance.
ReplyDeleteWe are definitely running out of time. No real changes are likely to occur without massive change in America. The Obama administration has established that it will make no attempt to confront environmental exhaustion or climate change. It will be replaced by Republicans who are even more anti-democratic and environmentally irresponsible, either in 2012 (taking them to 2020) or 2016 (taking them to 2024).
At that time, even if there are any real democratic institutions left (current trends are moving in the opposite direction), we're talking another 15 years before any meaningful progress can be made.
Well said.
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