Hear the Call

 Have you ever stood alone in the wilderness, where the only sounds that break the silence are the breathing of the forest or the distant roar of the sea? Have you ever felt an unspoken kinship with the world around you amidst the rustling of leaves or the crashing of waves - a sense of belonging to a greater existence that thrives beyond the bustle of our busy lives? Reflect for a moment on this connection, this intimate dance with nature. Has it ever stirred within you a deeper calling, a quiet insistence that the natural world is not just a backdrop to human activity, but a living, breathing partner deserving of respect and care?

This call recognizes that every creature, every plant, every microorganism, and the ecosystems they inhabit possess an inherent worth, irrespective of their utility to humans. It's a call that echoes the innate value of life in all its diverse forms, challenging us to look beyond our anthropocentric worldviews.

It urges us to see past mere numbers and species lists, to understand that biodiversity is not just a resource to be managed or conserved for human benefit, but a complex tapestry woven from innumerable threads of life, each significant in its own right. These myriad forms of life, with their intricate interdependencies, craft the richness of the natural world, from the vastness of the ocean's depths to the kingdom within a single droplet of dew.

It asks us to embark on a quest for harmony—a desire to reclaim our place as respectful participants in nature rather than as domineering conquerors. It implores us to recalibrate the scales and to tread gently upon this Earth, our shared home, to fundamentally shift our sense of self and our values in favor of an ecological self, one that inherently recognizes our interconnectedness with the living world. We are invited to ponder the sacred essence of life itself.

Imagine the fulfillment that courses through us when we plant a tree whose shade we know we may never sit under. This is the essence of intrinsic action—it is doing right by nature for its own sake, nurturing a bond with the Earth that goes beyond what can be measured or quantified. It's an acknowledgment of a shared existence, intrinsic motivation that fosters a deep sense of purpose and connection with all forms of life.

This satisfaction is not just psychological—it's a profound realization that our smallest gestures towards the earth echo our understanding of its sacredness. The call urges us to defend and protect—it invites us to feel the pulse of the living world in our veins, to hold it dear, and to act in ways that affirm this fundamental truth of connectedness. Our intrinsic actions become our silent oaths to the continuity of life, a solace to our spirits, and a testament to the capacity for humanity to live harmoniously within the greater ecological community. By embracing intrinsic action, we honor not only the external ecosystems that sustain us but also the internal ecosystem that is our conscience—a timeless, gratifying alignment with the heartbeat of the world.

To plant a garden that nurtures biodiversity, to choose a lifestyle that treads lightly upon the earth, to engage in community action not for accolade but for the sheer rightness of the act—these deeds forge a deeper satisfaction, the kind that external rewards can never kindle.

Empathy, too, plays its part. When we gaze upon the natural world not as a stranger, but as a family member, our actions are no longer just decisions, but gestures of love and protection. This empathy extends beyond our human kin and unto the furthest reaches of life—an acknowledgment that we are all interwoven into this great, intricate web of existence.

And then, there's moral responsibility: the cognizance that our choices imprint upon the generations to come and the environments that cradle them. To act in accordance with the call is to accept a guardianship over the planet, a trusteeship solemn and profound. It is about living today with the foresight of tomorrow's hindsight—choosing a legacy of stewardship and respect over one of neglect and exploitation.

Motivation, when sparked by one's own value system and empathetic connection to life, radiates a purpose so profound that it transcends the mere act. It animates our spirits with an unbreakable resolve, fortifying our journey through the oncoming storms of change with a courage that is rooted, deep and true, in the very essence of what it means to be human. It brings a peace that descends when our actions are in sync with a profound respect for Earth’s myriad inhabitants; the happiness that bubbles up from living a life of deliberate simplicity and purpose.

The intrinsic reward of aligning with the call taps into something ancient, a primal and undiluted joy. It's the profound sense of 'rightness' that fills us when picking up trash along a riverbank, restoring a swatch of wetland, or whispering gratitude to the trees canopying above—a gratitude for the air they gift, the life they support. This joy stems from knowing that every small gesture is a verse in the grand ode to life, each one a stitch in the healing of the world's ailing fabric.

This spiritual dimension is not confined to traditional religious contexts; rather, it is a universal thread, capturing an essence of connectivity that binds us to the living tapestry. It's a daily communion with the natural world, a meditation upon our shared breaths with all that grows and glows, crawls and calls.

Listen then, to the symphony of those who have walked this path, to the testimonies of transformation that shine like beacons. Envision the man who built a sanctuary in his backyard, inviting butterflies and bees to flourish, finding in their dance a mirror of his own renewed vibrancy. Consider the woman who turned from consumer to conservator, who now delights in the art of repurposing, in the sanctuary of sustainable living, and feels a richer wealth for it.

Within these stories of alignment with the call, we uncover a common thread – the realization that we are not just protectors of the environment, but kin to it, woven from the same material, dancing to the same rhythms. This alignment is where the cerebral melts into the spiritual, where advocacy transforms into communion, and where action evolves into an enlightened existence—a life cradled by a love so palpable for this planet that each breath becomes an inhalation of joy, each step a signature of our deepest-held convictions.

To embrace the call is to tap into a vein of emotional and spiritual fulfillment that runs deeper than any river, and as eternal as the mountains—anchoring our ephemeral human experience within the enduring legacy of the living Earth.

Yet, even the most steadfast can find themselves shadowed by doubts and challenges. The colossal scale of climate change, with its vast and complex problems, looms large, and the contribution of any single individual can appear, at times, as a mere whisper against a storm. In this sobering light, we must confront the daunting truth that the ark of environmental change cannot be lifted by our hands alone.

But let us remember that there is power, undeniable and potent, in each environmentally conscious choice we make, in every seed of sustainability we plant, irrespective of its immediate impact on the grand tableau. In a world craving for change, the transformation of one life still sends ripples through the collective consciousness, and these ripples have a way of merging into waves.

It is here, in the recognition of our own agency and the potency of our personal narrative. Through individual acts of environmental stewardship, we not only cultivate an ecologically harmonious lifestyle for ourselves but also lay the paving stones for others to follow. In the quietude of personal conviction, we discover that the smallest actions carry within them the blueprint for a grander vision—a world where each gesture of respect for the Earth nourishes the roots of global transformation.

Thus, while we acknowledge the critiques and the complexities of championing a greener Earth, let us also reaffirm our belief in the cascading impact of individual efforts. Each of us can strive toward an existence that honors every facet of the planet we call home—asserting, through the power of personal example, a profound truth: every step toward ecological balance, no matter how solitary it may seem, is a solid stride toward a future enriched with the fruits of harmony.

The tapestry of life—a vibrant, pulsing thing—wraps the globe in a silent plea for attentiveness and care, germinating the seeds of individual change that can collectively breathe vitality back into the world's wilted corners. It invites us to look inward, to consider the deep-seated convictions that spur us into motion, and to cherish the intrinsic actions that manifest them.

In this spirit, let us heed the call to action—an invitation to reflect upon our daily choices, our beliefs, and our silent promises to future generations. Look upon your life as a canvas of possibility, each brushstroke an opportunity to enact change through simplicity, through conservation, and through a heartfelt alliance with the natural world. Let us rise above disheartenment and instead, embrace the inherent power of our deeds, no matter the scale.

May we move forward with a resolve as resilient as the ancient forests, as purifying as the mountain streams, and as boundless as the skies above—empowered by the knowledge that in caring for the Earth, we are truly caring for ourselves. In the delicate balance of the ecosystem, as in the whispers of our own spirits, lies the affirmation that to live in harmony with this planet is to touch the very essence of what it means to be alive.

 

 

 

 

 

We Can't Get There From Here

The thing about deciding to write a story set in the future is what to make of the present and how it creates a trajectory of plausible events, scenarios, and themes projected into the future. At the moment, dystopian futures seem to be the most likely setting. This shouldn't come as a surprise, given the gap between the promises made to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the results achieved. Every year, representatives of the world's nation-states gather to confirm that something must be done to stop the planet from sliding towards global climate catastrophe, while emissions increase every year.

In what has been hailed as a landmark agreement, 196 parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in December 2015 signed the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change that aims to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, GHG emissions must peak by 2025 at the latest and fall by 43% by 2030.

That ain’t gonna happen. We can’t get there from here.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2023 will already be the hottest year on record, with September 2023 being the hottest September ever. The Copernicus Climate Change Service also reports that on two days in November 2023, the global average temperature exceeded two degrees above pre-industrial levels. Finally, ahead of COP 28 in Dubai, the United Nations released a "chilling" report stating that the world is heading for a temperature rise of around 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, even if countries fully implement their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) or action plans to reduce emissions of planet-warming gases.

Obviously, something is amiss. It’s as if the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. Or maybe it does and doesn’t give a shit. For example, the United States is on pace to extract a record 12.9 million barrels of crude by the end of 2023, which is more than double what was produced a decade ago.

Here’s the thing.

We can’t get anywhere near the GHG emission targets as stipulated in the Paris Agreement as long as we remain in the existing global political economy. Following four hundred years of imperial conquest and the war that was supposed to end all wars, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of creating a peaceful global order. It failed to do so. Less than thirty years after its birth, the world was plunged into an even greater bloodbath, the Second World War. Out of the ruins, the United Nations took over the mandate of the League of Nations and sought to become the center where member nations could work together to solve international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian nature. As could be expected, it is failing miserably in the fight against catastrophic climate change.

The problem arises from the fact that the UN is a collection of sovereign nation-states that retain the right to govern themselves without external interference. As a result, the member nations can choose to simply ignore whatever UN resolutions they feel impinge on their right to self-determination, such as the USA’s desire to increase its oil and gas production, regardless of what this means for the likelihood of meeting agreed upon GHG emission targets. The same goes for the other major climate change culprits, China and India.

The crux of the problem is that the sovereign nation-state is a historical anomaly, born on European soil and then transplanted to the rest of the world with disastrous consequences. As an organizing principle, it came into being in a world that no longer exists.

Looking back, it's worth remembering that the rise of the nation-state coincided with the expansion of corporate capitalism and imperial conquest. This was because the return on investment was greatly enhanced by the capture of natural resources, and then emerging markets on foreign soil. In other words, corporations and nation-states co-evolved because they needed each other to expand their reach, economic power, and profits. For example, the rise of the British Empire was made possible by the unscrupulous practices of the East India Company, imitated by the Dutch and the VOC (United East India Company), and perfected by the Americans with their numerous corporate giants ranging from Coca-Cola, General Motors, Exxon Mobil to Microsoft and Apple.

Although in the eyes of the United Nations each member nation remains sovereign, in the realpolitik of the 21st century, the power of big money rules the nation-state. People elect their representatives, but big money calls the shots. In this political economy, the role of government is limited to providing the physical and social infrastructure that allows for commerce, as measured by each nation’s GDP, to grow and to keep the locals happy enough to continue working at their soul-sucking jobs that create incredible wealth for those at the top.

Indeed, when it comes to the power of big money to accumulate capital, nation-states and their governments have become a hindrance. So much so that huge corporations now register themselves in the jurisdictions that have the lowest corporate taxes. Likewise, their shareholders whisk their portions of the earned profits to offshore tax havens located in the "nations"—in reality, former or current colonies, like the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and the British Virgin Islands—in order to take advantage of the low or zero-income taxes, strict secrecy laws, and easy access to global financial markets.

In a sense, the legal fiction we call the corporation has evolved to the point where it no longer needs its host, the nation-state, and in the process has dragged its shareholders to live and function on a different playing field from those parties limited to toiling away in the landlocked nation. As a result, big money is free from the physical and social constraints normally experienced by most people.

Therein lies the problem. The global economy was built and continues to grow on the basis of extracting and burning fossil fuels from geographical locations located in spaces governed by nation-states in their various forms: democratic (Norway), pseudo-democratic (Canada, USA, UK, and Australia), family dynasties (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates) and the despotic (Venezuela and Russia). However, the companies that grew and prospered while protected by their national interests, British Petroleum, Shell, and Exxon Mobil, have become cash cows for private investors living in their havens, soon to be armed lifeboats, around the world.

In short, climate change creates catastrophic weather extremes that have the biggest impact on people living in land-locked nations with no means of escape, but limiting the probability of their occurrence means reducing the enormous wealth created by the global fossil fuel economy. Without oil and gas, the global economy will collapse, and with it, the revenue streams that flow to the richest .001% of the earth’s population.

Let’s not kid ourselves. The ultra-rich are not going to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Instead, they will organize media events like COP 28, a global conference on fighting climate change, hosted by the oil-exporting United Arab Emirates and presided over by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who is currently the chief executive officer of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, at which the keynote speaker was King Charles, the hereditary monarch and head of state of the UK, a nation that has recently approved yet another coal mine, expanded oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, and delayed a ban on the sale of fossil fuel-powered vehicles. WTF? It’s like hosting a Weight Watchers meeting at an all-you-can-eat buffet where the guest speaker is the CEO of McDonald’s.

This does not bode well for the future.

The other thing to bear in mind is that the power of big money has an institutional lock on the way the world's political economy operates. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the so-called end of history, there are no alternatives to the way life is organized on the planet, notwithstanding the continued existence of indigenous communities in the remaining isolated bio-diverse regions where, for one reason or another, corporate invaders are not allowed to exploit the natural resources there.

So, it looks like humanity, or at least most of it, is royally fucked.

As I sit down to start my next novel after Christmas, I can only foresee a future setting in which the current global industrial consumer civilization collapses, leaving behind a few scattered individuals trying to pick up the pieces of what remains, while trying not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Inevitably, my audience will be dispersed in space and time. Hopefully, my grandchildren will read the novel and say that Grandpa’s heart was in the right place.