You are wiser than most of men, especially the ignoramus breeds of the past century of nonstop Imperial abusers. We should take some heart that; lots of observers will affect some change and maybe, just maybe, it will have a big momentum. I for one, really hope your words and thoughts and the wise words and thoughts of similar, caring people, will gain an active voice.
Derrick Jensen is clever but I sometimes wonder if he trusts his head too much more than his heart. Not to imply that he doesn’t care enough. I’m sure he cares deeply. An over-reliance on reason can be a trap.
As tempting as it is, a top-down approach won’t work. Neither will thinking of (waves arms around) all this as a problem to be “solved.” As Dougald Hine says it’s a predicament to engage with, imaginatively using all our senses, values and allies. His book, “At Work In the Ruins,” explores these ideas with remarkable clarity and efficiency.
Thanks, Julie. Hine's book sounds excellent. I know Jensen's work primarily through a few essays, so I don't have a deep sense of him, other than a deep passion and a clear view of just how far down the wrong path we've gone. Looking forward to your related piece.
Jason, your fabulous image, “lyrical bomb,” made me think of the phrase I keep seeing on t-shirts at protests: “not fragile like a flower, fragile like a bomb.” I always find so much to admire in these essays. I think of the parable of the blind men and the elephant often. It’s so wise.
This is helpful and encouraging. I'm a writer--that's where I feel I can best do my part. So I'm trying to tell new stories, and so often it's the old, malfunctioning stories that I come up against in my work.
That's right, Thomas. Often I think all we are is stories and a microbiome. And we're in the midst of a story (i.e. culture) with the arc of a big wave heading toward a rocky shore. Glad to have you here. Thanks for the note.
LOVE this post, Jason! The quotes are gold too. The aliens hoovering up the ocean only for humans to advocate the three Rs in response (i can’t actually recall what it was exactly) is so on point. A real scale mismatch is going on!
Thank you, Jonathan. That aliens-as-us hypothetical of Derrick Jensen's has always stuck with me. It reveals so much. His writing is well worth your time. He has several books but I know him mostly through his essays published in Orion. That quote comes I think from his essay in the anthology Moral Ground.
I think you said it all with “The destruction is everywhere and it hurts.” Bearing witness is quite the task, especially when people like Dick Cheney exist (that quote made me nauseous), but you’re right, something does shift in the swing from more focused lens to a wider angle, to seeing the “one large intractable thing”. For me it becomes clearer that change is needed from all directions, top-down, bottom-up, inner, outer (dare I say material and spiritual?). “Find what you’re good at, what you love to do, and that helps shift the culture.” Yes, exactly that. Thank you, Jason.
Thanks so much, Chloe. Material and spiritual and from all directions, yes. Which I think is another way of saying we need to remember where and who we are within a more vital reality.
Thank you for this thought provoking essay. I think that the elephant in the the room that no one wants to talk about might be death.
Chloe Hope had a good refrain that I returning to. She said “ If I have learned anything about death it is that nothing lasts, and life goes on.” The world has collapsed many times, and civilizations have fallen over and over again. Death may the one constant in life as the Buddha observed.
It seems ironic that as I face my own mortality, I am also confronting the end of a world that I love so much.
And both personally, and as another being in an infinite cosmos, I find some comfort that life will go on, always and forever.
In the meantime I will remain observant, aware, appreciative and grateful for all the grace this sweet earth offers. May all beings be
free of suffering, may all beings know true happiness.
Much appreciated prayer Sandy. It appears you are an elderly Buddhist as am I. It is my belief that the teacher of all the Buddhas is suffering and from that lesson comes compassion and even though all life may someday come to an end Compassion will not. It is woven into the very fabric of reality and we are in its palm and the Earth is in ours.
Thank you, Sandy. Chloe is right, as always. I don't worry so much about the rise and fall of human societies, since we are mayflies in Earth history. It's the collateral damage across the living world that haunts me about this particular failed cultural experiment. It's the unnecessary suffering and loss of so much complex, enduring, beautiful life. The Buddha has something to say about suffering too, I know, but when it's all so easily avoidable, and when the reasons for the suffering are so foolish... That said, I too know that life will endure in new forms under a familiar sun.
Julia, thank you for telling me this. I worried that the piece didn't have quite the clarity I'd hoped for. But I'm happy to offer something that you can carry forward. Be well.
You are wiser than most of men, especially the ignoramus breeds of the past century of nonstop Imperial abusers. We should take some heart that; lots of observers will affect some change and maybe, just maybe, it will have a big momentum. I for one, really hope your words and thoughts and the wise words and thoughts of similar, caring people, will gain an active voice.
Thank you, Diane. Very kind of you to say.
So much to wrestle with here. Thank you for taking it on. Your point made with Kafka’s help took my breath away.
Your point about this being a cultural problem is spot-on. I wrote along similar lines here: https://juliegabrielli.substack.com/p/whats-the-best-most-effective-way
Derrick Jensen is clever but I sometimes wonder if he trusts his head too much more than his heart. Not to imply that he doesn’t care enough. I’m sure he cares deeply. An over-reliance on reason can be a trap.
As tempting as it is, a top-down approach won’t work. Neither will thinking of (waves arms around) all this as a problem to be “solved.” As Dougald Hine says it’s a predicament to engage with, imaginatively using all our senses, values and allies. His book, “At Work In the Ruins,” explores these ideas with remarkable clarity and efficiency.
Thanks, Julie. Hine's book sounds excellent. I know Jensen's work primarily through a few essays, so I don't have a deep sense of him, other than a deep passion and a clear view of just how far down the wrong path we've gone. Looking forward to your related piece.
Jason, your fabulous image, “lyrical bomb,” made me think of the phrase I keep seeing on t-shirts at protests: “not fragile like a flower, fragile like a bomb.” I always find so much to admire in these essays. I think of the parable of the blind men and the elephant often. It’s so wise.
Thanks for articulating our challenges so well. This is hard work which, most days, overwhelms me.
Thank you, Lorne. Everything about this is hard, yes. We need to pace ourselves, right?
This is helpful and encouraging. I'm a writer--that's where I feel I can best do my part. So I'm trying to tell new stories, and so often it's the old, malfunctioning stories that I come up against in my work.
That's right, Thomas. Often I think all we are is stories and a microbiome. And we're in the midst of a story (i.e. culture) with the arc of a big wave heading toward a rocky shore. Glad to have you here. Thanks for the note.
LOVE this post, Jason! The quotes are gold too. The aliens hoovering up the ocean only for humans to advocate the three Rs in response (i can’t actually recall what it was exactly) is so on point. A real scale mismatch is going on!
Thank you, Jonathan. That aliens-as-us hypothetical of Derrick Jensen's has always stuck with me. It reveals so much. His writing is well worth your time. He has several books but I know him mostly through his essays published in Orion. That quote comes I think from his essay in the anthology Moral Ground.
Nice -- will have to dig in! There's just far too much to read!!! Cheers
I think you said it all with “The destruction is everywhere and it hurts.” Bearing witness is quite the task, especially when people like Dick Cheney exist (that quote made me nauseous), but you’re right, something does shift in the swing from more focused lens to a wider angle, to seeing the “one large intractable thing”. For me it becomes clearer that change is needed from all directions, top-down, bottom-up, inner, outer (dare I say material and spiritual?). “Find what you’re good at, what you love to do, and that helps shift the culture.” Yes, exactly that. Thank you, Jason.
Thanks so much, Chloe. Material and spiritual and from all directions, yes. Which I think is another way of saying we need to remember where and who we are within a more vital reality.
Amen to that, my friend
Thank you, as always, for another crystal clear essay, Jason. Take care.
Thank you, Eduardo. I'm glad you found clarity in it. It took me a while to put it all together.
All that’s green and good,
under colonialist siege.
Transform in time, we?
...
Loss, harm, hurt, ache, angst.
Awareness brings gifts, and grief.
Domination, death.
...
Elephants in china shop!
Loud call heed. Joint action need.
“Don’t be one person.”
Thank you for this thought provoking essay. I think that the elephant in the the room that no one wants to talk about might be death.
Chloe Hope had a good refrain that I returning to. She said “ If I have learned anything about death it is that nothing lasts, and life goes on.” The world has collapsed many times, and civilizations have fallen over and over again. Death may the one constant in life as the Buddha observed.
It seems ironic that as I face my own mortality, I am also confronting the end of a world that I love so much.
And both personally, and as another being in an infinite cosmos, I find some comfort that life will go on, always and forever.
In the meantime I will remain observant, aware, appreciative and grateful for all the grace this sweet earth offers. May all beings be
free of suffering, may all beings know true happiness.
Peace 💕
Much appreciated prayer Sandy. It appears you are an elderly Buddhist as am I. It is my belief that the teacher of all the Buddhas is suffering and from that lesson comes compassion and even though all life may someday come to an end Compassion will not. It is woven into the very fabric of reality and we are in its palm and the Earth is in ours.
Thank you, Sandy. Chloe is right, as always. I don't worry so much about the rise and fall of human societies, since we are mayflies in Earth history. It's the collateral damage across the living world that haunts me about this particular failed cultural experiment. It's the unnecessary suffering and loss of so much complex, enduring, beautiful life. The Buddha has something to say about suffering too, I know, but when it's all so easily avoidable, and when the reasons for the suffering are so foolish... That said, I too know that life will endure in new forms under a familiar sun.
Truth.
Thank you for this. It helps clarify things and guide my direction.
Julia, thank you for telling me this. I worried that the piece didn't have quite the clarity I'd hoped for. But I'm happy to offer something that you can carry forward. Be well.