Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
what happens when the lights go out and don't come back on?
i stayed in town last night, went to a physio appointment after work, went for dinner with a union friend and then to firetrap’s place where i hung out with her and the two roomates – talking *late* into the evening. the general theme being the ongoing decline of western civilization and imminent ecological or economic collapse. somewhere in the discussion i realized that pretty much consistently for the past two years this has been a dominant theme in many conversations with close friends – at least those who are open to talking about it. but what also struck me was how little i really do get to talk about the end of civilization as we know it with others who also believe that eventuality is hovering somewhere not so far out of our peripheral vision.
always, i am reminded of the cartoon of the shabbily dressed protester on the street corner with the sign saying “the end is near”, presumably standing there day after day as the world didn’t come to an end…. and this is a fear of perception for me – that i, like that cartoon image am on a fringe, alienated and thus unable to relate to others, viewed as unstable (or at the very least, extreme) due to my unwavering belief in the end times. but then i sit, and talk with intelligent and well-spoken people, who have amazing and creative and unsystemic views and actions about the world – and am relieved to find my solace there (rather than with those coddled by consumption and mass media, who do believe that technology will in fact save us from our own diminished capacities). i am relieved to be a part of that, which i do understand, rather than of a system which despite my participation in it, i am constantly confounded by.
and what of the fact we have likely hit peak oil, that climate change predictions from the highest quarters are becoming more dire by the day (not to mention the salmon in the beaufort sea that do not belong there), that currencies are falling while the oceans are steadily rising? is it a trick of media that makes us passive spectators to our own world changing or is it a steadfast refusal to face the possibility of our own mortality that keeps us from seizing our world back from the corporations before it is too late?
although i have these questions, and sharing our perspectives on them last night kept me entertained for hours of good speculation – i do not really worry about these things so much as wonder about them – wonder about me in relation to them – wonder about these things and myself and other people and the relationship between all of them and really – how it will work out in the end for all the earth’s creatures. at the very least it will be interesting, if not exhilarating, frightening, heart-breaking, and ultimately – liberating.
“one begins to wonder… which will come first – the last barrel of oil, or the last big tree.”
greenink
One Comment on “what happens when the lights go out and don't come back on?”
Red Cedar 
You speak for many in this regard. My wife and I were talking about many of these same issues late last night, from the perspective of needing to impart to our children skills that we ourselves do not currently possess. Even if the lights don’t go out until we are in our dotage, it’s virtually assured that they will go out during the normal lifetimes of our children, and their children. It’s incredibly ironic that in these days when the educational system and conventional wisdom speak non-stop about the need for to increase technological and scientific education, the reality is that they really need how to hunt, fish, identify edible plants, predict weather changes and start a fire. They need to learn self-defense and cooperation, and they need to learn to think on their feet.
Of course, when you say things like this, even to the supposedly “progressive” parents in our homeschool group, they act like you have two heads. I sometimes wonder if they think about these things while waiting in line at Costco to fill up the minivan with $2.15/gallon gasoline. I wonder if there begins to be some nagging suspicion that maybe things really are changing for good this time. And then they no doubt shake their heads, fill up, and drive to McDonalds for lunch.
Anyway, thanks for writing. You are not alone.