Wrote the following in my journal on June 24, 2015:
“Last night, one of
the dinner guests said something to the effect of, The biggest scourge of this
time is the New York Times-reading liberal, who is smug and conceited and
does not act on all the bad news they fill their head with.” I resembled that remark, to my shame.
Maybe still do, to a lesser extent, four-and-a-half years later. Less so now with the “smug and conceited” but still got the latter half going on. It is true that I, as a “New York Times-reading liberal,” do not “act on all the bad news” with which I fill my head, but how can anyone do that? You can only change what you know you can change, a proposition vanishingly thin when faraway events come into the picture.
Even so, I do not accept what I cannot change, as the so-called serenity prayer bids people to do. How can anyone accept the fact that there will be no social justice on a dead planet, or that entire generations endure a lower standard of living than their parents, or that we have a barely functioning democratic system? These are not etched into stone, but serenity in the face of an ecological/economic abyss is not an option.
Last week, I dreamt that a colossally tall tidal wave gathered force in the distance, and people did not seem to notice, worry, or care about it. Only until the tsunami began to crest and tower over us all did people begin to freak out, as soon as it was too late for action. There was no longer anything to do but get annihilated, and then I woke up. People talk a lot about being “woke,” after all, and maybe it is a good thing to not sleep-walk through impending catastrophe.
No one can do everything but everyone can do something. That seems to be the folk wisdom, and it feels right. Burnout is a serious problem, as critical as inaction itself. The revolution, in whatever form it may take, is coming. The tidal wave approaches. Everyone has to do what they can so that collectively we can brace for what we know is on its way. Not sure if massive street demonstrations are what is needed, but they would not hurt.
Happy New Year.