Professor Guy McPherson on transforming abstract hope into concrete action.
I held onto hope for decades. But I’ve come to see hope as wishful thinking, also known as hopium.
I’m not giving up, and I constantly encourage acts of resistance that will allow opportunities for the living planet to persist into the future. In so doing, I’m channeling iconoclastic Tucson author Edward Abbey: “Action is the antidote to despair.”
Hopium is the drug to which we’re addicted. It’s the desire to have our problems solved by others, instead of by ourselves. It’s why we keep electing politicians while knowing they won’t keep their promises, but finding ourselves too fearful to give up the much-promised future of never-ending growth on a finite planet.
Knowing we cannot occupy this finite world without adverse consequences for humans or other animals, but afraid to face that truth, we turn away. We watch the television, go to the movies, gamble at casinos, play on Facebook, and pursue similar avenues of using up our precious time. Many Americans applaud while the world burns and we take a flame-thrower to the planet. Nietzsche nailed it, as usual:
“Hope in reality is worst of evils, because it prolongs man’s torment.”
Finally, I’ve come to the conclusion that Nietzsche was right. I used to think hope differed from hopium, back when I had hope. Gradually, I’ve come to see hope and hopium as one. Let’s get off the crack pipe and onto reality. May Pandora release the final gift from her container (usually incorrectly referred to as her box).
Lest the reader forget, I am by no means suggesting we abandon (1) resistance or (2) joy-filled lives. Life, including human life, is a gift. Let’s live as if we appreciate the gift. Let’s live as if we appreciate the others in our lives, human and otherwise. Let’s live as if there is more to life than the treadmill onto which we’ve been born.
Let’s live.
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–This essay is excerpted and modified from McPherson’s latest book, Going Dark.
–Photo: Lemuelpoh/Flickr
It may be hopeless But we cannot be sure how long we have.
Hope can be translated into positive radical action of some kind.
NO hope and you are defeated before you try.
I think It’s better to try going down than not to try at all.
The climate conference in Warsaw ended with a joint proclamation called, “The War on Climate Change”. However, they could not agree on the meaning of “Change” so they just left it off. The new proclamation is now titled, ” The War on Climate”.
You inspired this essay, Paul: http://www.blazingkatproductions.com/?p=565
Opening paragraph: “The odds seem overwhelming. Those very few of us who take action on behalf the living planet are marginalized, disparaged, and ignored. There’s considerable money in planetary destruction, but neither fame nor fortune in seeking an alternative path. Why not take the easy route?”
I promote and practice resistance against industrial civilization. Deep Green Resistance and Idle No More are among the decent models. They promote life. the dominant paradigm promotes a culture of delusion and death.
I promote and practice a gift economy while living off-grid and pursuing agrarian anarchy. I try to live fully every moment. Your mileage may vary.
God (or the Devil, take your pick) is in the details, Guy. I, for one, would be interested in hearing what it is that you actually do to “practice resistance against industrial civilization”, and what you do to “promote and practice a gift economy while living off-grid and pursuing agrarian anarchy”. What’s working, what’s not working, what are the lessons learned, so far. Clearly, for example, you’re leveraging the fruit of industrial civilization by using the internet. How about transportation? Do you own a car? What about food, and shelter? How do you get those needs met? Details, details, details… Read more »
I’ll not get into details about my actions against the omnicidal machine. I pointed you to Deep Green Resistance. Keith Farnish’s free, online book, Underminers includes additional information. I’ve described my adventures in off-grid living extensively at Nature Bats Last and, quite comprehensively, in my 2011 book, Walking Away from Empire. I’ll not consume electronic space by repeating myself here. If you’re actually interested, you’ll read my writing elsewhere. Finally, I’m aware of Jevons’ paradox and the Khazzoom-Brookes postulate. As a result, I’m not especially concerned about my own personal conservation (aka austerity for the 99.9%). I’m asked to write… Read more »
Guy writes: I’ll not get into details about my actions against the omnicidal machine.
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Of course you won’t.
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Guy: I pointed you to Deep Green Resistance.
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Eco-terrorism. Anti-transgender radical feminism. Nice.
I think Guy has some important ideas to share. But I also think his advocacy of Deep Green Resistance (DGR) as a model for thoughts, ideas and behavior is deeply, even fatally, flawed.
I encourage anyone reading along to do some googling to see just how wrong it is. Here’s a substantial critique, to start, from someone just as interested in saving a dying world as Guy and I are.
http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/articles/deep-green-resistance-a-critique/
Paul, it seems you’ve taken issue with Guy, not so much what he says or does. I wonder what your agenda is? Deep Green Resistance is hardly eco terrorism, (nor are they anti trans gender, but they are full on supporters of women’s rights in all areas) not anymore than the underground railroad running slaves to freedom was a terrorist organization, or the any of the resistance fighters across Europe fighting Nazis were terrorists or insurgents. When an injustice against humanity is being done, rare are those who actually see the root of the cause and are courageous enough not… Read more »
What, exactly, are you advocating in place of the “hopium” you are deriding? Can you provide us any specific examples of what you personally are doing in the face of the environmental crisis that you believe is upon us? Platitudes about not abandoning resistance or joy filled lives are pretty vague and meaningless. Exactly what sort of resisting are you advocating for? Resisting who? Resisting what? Resisting how? Similarly, exactly what sort of joy filled life are you living, and suggesting others might live? Are you simply talking about not giving into despair? About making love with passion as we… Read more »