Preparing for Collapse: Non-Attachment, NOT Detachment

[GliderGuider]

Here is a pitch-perfect assessment of the overarching issue of our times.

Preparing for Collapse: Non-Attachment, NOT Detachment

The message is two-fold:

1. Not only are we fucked, but it’s coming much sooner than we expected. It’s coming in the first half of this century, not the second. By 2050 life for all but the simplest and most well-protected species on this planet will almost certainly be impossible, except for small numbers in a few marginal areas.

2. The whole issue of mitigation and the need for activism is now more-or-less moot. Even if we were to collectively and massively change our behaviour starting tomorrow, it would only delay collapse by a few years, and quite possible make the collapse even more catastrophic. Until recently there was at least a chance that perhaps a combination of behaviour change and the reduced availability of cheap fossil fuels might combine to pull us back from the brink, or at least make a much-changed and simpler life possible for a much smaller population of humans and other creatures. That chance is gone.

The climate scientists, abetted by the ecological economists, have pronounced the certain and imminent (i.e. within most of our lifetimes) death of the vast majority of life on our planet, including the human species. Now, we can mourn.

What are the elements of non-attachment that might be applied to coping with the knowledge of the inevitable collapse of organized society amidst the chaos of economic collapse and runaway climate change? What makes sense to gaze at, and what should we, for our own sanity, leave unseen? How can we be, and act, in a fully engaged, joyful, curious, productive, useful-to-others way, without becoming either “detached” (emotionally disconnected or inured) or exhausted?

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I fee like a deer in the headlights....

More and more information is coming at me about how serious the climate shift is, on so many fronts, NONE of which we as a single or as a collective can do to stop it,or even to feasibllyprepare for more than a few months of survival, in reality.
I have felt pretty glum since Fukishima, as more news comes in from Japan about Tepco's criminal behavior, lack of safety measures, and inability to even figure out, as of today , a way to stop the damaged plants from continuting to spread their radiation into the sea and air.
Nobody has yet come up with a way to stop it.
And our government stopped measuring for radiation soon after the event.

No, actually, I have felt depressed since BP got away with destroying the Gulf of Mexico.
And THEN was issued MORE permits to drill in the artic and MORE well in the GULF.
That is when the message hit home.
TPTB DO NOT CARE.
They are a financial cancer, willing to eat their way thru this planet until they have killed it, just to have MORE.
The earth is their toy, and the people on it just minor obstacles, aside from the very small number needed to work till they drop at minimal wages.

Watch what they do....ignore what they say.

[GliderGuider]

3. Pretty much. But we have to find ways to keep from feeling paralyzed.

Finding a way to assimilate all this and still keep moving and feeling (some) joy is the hardest part. That's why I'm so big on the value of non-attachment. I know it works.

In case you didn't know, I'm the Paul Chefurka he quotes in the article. Dave and I share very similar worldviews, though he's not as non-dualist as I am (yet...)

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. So glad to "meet" you!

I have spent the last hour or so reading Dave's post, and your commets in it, then downloading and reading the "Gaze Even Here",
which is, by "co-incidence" partly about the Pac. NW of my birth..
THEN found where Dave has listed Morris Berman, who Chris Hedges speaks so highly of, and read Berman's piece on Japanese culture, which, by "co-incidnece" is also a favorite place..
and, realizing of course, that "co-incidence" is always a way of showing I am on the right path/place....or need to be...
So now have a few new and already favorite people/blogs/sites to explore.
Thank you.

[GliderGuider]

8. :-)

[Fridays Child]

10. Many thanks for posting this.

I'm kicking this so more DUers can read it and sharing the link, as well, with friends who don't read DU.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. that is a fantastic site, Glider...

adding it to my favorites.

[bvar22]

4. Ever read "On the Beach by Neville Shute ?

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/onthebeach/summary.html

At the very least, get out of the cities and suburbs.

[GliderGuider]

6. Yeah.

Suburbs - what an absolutely stupendous idea that was!

[Speck Tater]

7. "... activists for whom action is the inner imperative"

who "... still think that action is an answer."

Sometimes there is nothing to do but sit back and watch the show. I resigned myself to being a spectator (Speck Tater) long ago. Every once in a while I get all worked up and fly into a rage over what needs to be done. But then I come to my senses again and realize that all I can do is watch the show. And shed a tear now and then.

All beings are heirs to their own karma. All beings receive the fruits of their actions. Their lives arise and pass away according to the deeds created by them. We can deeply care for them, but in the end we cannot act for them nor let go for them nor love for them. If it is helpful in freeing the heart, you can recite:

Your happiness and suffering depend on your actions and not on my wishes for you.

[Fridays Child]

9. Kicking to give more DUers a chance to read this.

[Mojorabbit]

11. Amazing read and lots of wonderful links to follow. Thanks.

Part of me wants to move to Alaska but in the end I think I will stay put here in Fl and watch the show.