Looking Forward

Looking Forward Alton C. Thompson (My title here obviously alludes to the utopian novel Looking Backward (1888),1 by Edward Bellamy [1850 – 1898]. Whereas Bellamy’s book had an optimistic perspective on the future, however, the current essay does not!2 But . . . read on!) Earlier this month (on February 2, 2020), a friend called, asking me if I would like to attend a movie with him. The movie: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood—with Tom Hanks as the late Mr. Fred Rogers [1928 – 2003] and Matthew Rhys as “Lloyd” (actually, the real-world American journalist Tom Junod). I readily agreed to go to the movie with my friend, and must say that I found the movie both enjoyable and moving— and with excellent acting (being especially impressed with the performance of Mr. Rhys). Prior to seeing the movie, I had known about his Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood program (which our three children had watched while young), and the fact that he had been a Presbyterian minister (a fact not mentioned in the movie.) I wasn’t, however, knowledgeable about his out-of-church “ministry” with adults, such as Mr. Junod—and feel fortunate to have learned that fact about Mr. Rogers. Because of my own contact with Christianity (including Presbyterianism) over the years, I feel a connection to Mr. Rogers. I get the impression that some of the passages in the Bible that most impact me—such as the “sheep and goats” passage in Matthew 25:31 – 46 (which echoes Job 29), and the Good Samaritan parable in Luke 10:25 – 37—were also important to Fred Rogers. I don’t know if Fred Rogers would have agreed with me on this, but I find the story in John 8:1 – 11 as having especial relevance for today. In that story a woman who had been caught in adultery was brought before Jesus (where was the man involved?!), Jesus was informed that the Law demanded that she be stoned to death—and Jesus was asked if he agreed with the Law. Jesus “bent down and [pretended to start] . . . to write on the ground with his finger.” The conclusion of this story is utterly brilliant: When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and [allegedly] wrote on the ground. 7 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first . . . . 1 Here’s the book in .pdf format. Here’s a discussion of the book. 2 For reasons, see my Is There Any Reason for Hope?, for example. In this story Jesus not only contributed to the well-being of this woman. He was not just kind to her (to allude to Ellen Degeneres). He saved her life! The reasons that this story means so much to me today: 1. This information from 2019: Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history – and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely, warns a landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the summary of which was approved at the 7th session of the IPBES Plenary, meeting last week (29 April – 4 May) in Paris. “The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture,” said IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson. “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.” The article goes on to say (bolding in original!): The Report finds that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history. 2. The strong possibility that we humans as well are on the verge of going extinct!3 This article by Robert J. Burrowes, also from 2019 says: I have previously written a summary of the interrelated psychological, sociological, political-economic, military, nuclear, ecological and climate threats to human survival on Earth which threaten human extinction by 2026. See ‘Human Extinction by 2026? A Last Ditch Strategy to Fight for Human Survival’. Rather than reiterate the evidence in the above article, I would like to add to it by focusing attention on three additional threats – geoengineering, medical vaccinations and electromagnetic radiation – that are less well-known (largely because the evidence is officially suppressed and only made available by conscientious investigative activists) and which, either separately or in combination with other threats, significantly increase the 3 See, e.g., “Could Humans Go Extinct Within Years?,” published in January 2020. 2 prospect of extinction for humans and most (and possibly all) life on Earth by the above date, particularly given the failure to respond strategically to these interrelated threats. What I do in this essay is present my thinking about what to do, and why, in addressing what is clearly the primary problem facing us humans at present—global warming4 (rather than Donald J. Trump!). I present my thinking here as a series of points— presented, I would like to think, in logical order: 1. Global warming is occurring—the direct reason that it’s occurring being the increase in concentration of “greenhouse” gases that’s occurring. The main “greenhouse” gas in the atmosphere for which humans are responsible is carbon dioxide (CO2). By the way, the recent report that the temperature reached 60° F. in Antarctica, on February 9 of this year, is proof that global warming is occurring—and should be extremely worrisome! 2. That increase (in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere) is occurring as a result of human activities: a. Our burning of fossil fuels. b. Our deforestation activities. c. Our reproduction—with a consequent huge world population (over 7.7 billion at present). The graph below (source) shows the variation in carbon content in the atmosphere over the past 800,000 years; although most of the variation over the past 800,000 years has been caused by natural factors, humans have played the dominant role since the Industrial revolution—and (as the graph shows) the concentration level is expected to be far above any previous level in the near future! That’s not “good news”!! 4 Not to be confused with “climate change” (see this). 3 3. The graph below (source), in contrast, shows global warming over geological time. Note that temperatures have not only varied considerably over geological time, but have been much higher in the past than they’ve been in the more recent past. This graph (below, source) is, however, more relevant for my purposes here, for it shows the trend in warming since 1880: Whereas it’s obvious from this graph that the upward increase has not been a steady one, the trend has definitely been upward. 4. Despite the fact that global warming has been occurring (since the Industrial Revolution), and scientists are well aware of that fact,5 the above facts have not 5 For example, see this website maintained by James Hansen, perhaps the most famous climate scientist in the world. 4 been well publicized. In fact, several years ago I sent an email to the lead meteorologist at one of the local television stations here in Milwaukee, asking why they never talked about global warming. His response: Our management forbids us from doing so!! That is CRIMINAL!!! 5. Next, I offer (what may seem to be) a “radical” statement: Because few today sense that a crisis is upon us—and given the abstract nature of global warming—even if the evidence for global warming were widely known, knowledge of that evidence would likely have little or no impact on behavior—so that global warming would continue, and our species would, at some point in the near future, join the many other species “scheduled” to go extinct soon. 6. Now if that’s the case, it should be obvious that if a course of action is to “save” our species from extinction, it must use an approach other than that of information dissemination. 7. Of such approaches, here’s the one that I offer: a. Begin by recognizing that our society is highly unequal and that that fact carries with it many negative implications for our society (see, e.g., this book). b. Next, recognize that our “carbon footprint” can be reduced in various ways, including through certain institutional changes (with such changes possibly having, as one effect, decreasing the existing inequality in our society). c. In my 33-page A Road to Survival? and more recent (and shorter!) Viking Villages for Today I propose the creation of “company-town ecovillages”6—having a Viking theme, I suggest as one possibility. In a sense, this proposal responds to the statement—“To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live”—made in a recent letter signed by 11,000 scientists. (I added the emphasis in that statement.) d. Life in an ecovillage (here’s a map of ecovillages in the United States7) would involve a minimal “carbon footprint” for its residents. And if—as I 6 This article discusses the creation of ecovillages as a means of addressing the global warming problem. 7 Here’s an article on one in Milwaukee, and another on one near Milwaukee. 5 recommend—some of the residents of any given ecovillage were recruited from the homeless, ex-convicts, recently-discharged veterans, etc., these ecovillages would simultaneously address some of our social problems as well! Thus, I think that the creation of such settlements would not only be wise, but would please Jesus, and also Paul of Tarsus! Let me say why here! The basis for my claim about Jesus comes from this quotation from a book by Jean-Pierre Isbouts:8 [Jesus] was now ready to move on to a higher level of personal engagement: to try to restore [9] the socio-religious village society of Galilee and save the peasantry from the grip of the region’s economic elite. Now if Jesus wished to accomplish societal change in Galilee (via trying to “restore”), I think it likely that he would support efforts to bring about societal changes in our society today, were he alive now.10 As to Paul: Because Chapter 12 of his First Letter to the Corinthians—in its use of a body analogy—can be construed as having a societal perspective, I perceive it as supportive of my societal change proposal. Thus, because both Jesus and Paul seemed to recognize the necessity of institutional change, not just individual change (i.e., the sort of change given emphasis in the Bible—the Ten Commandments being an example), I find support for my ecovillage “plan” in both of them! 8. Were a proliferation of ecovillages to occur in our society, this should help prevent our species from going extinct, while also making a “dent,” at least, in some of our social problems. In this case “killing two birds with one stone” would be a good thing!! 8 Young Jesus: Restoring the "Lost Years" of a Social Activist and Religious Dissident (2008), p. 157. 9 I give my views relative to “restoration” in this, for example. 10 The fact of Roman occupation prevented Jesus from accomplishing that goal, of course. 6 9. Were this sort of institutional “reform” to occur in our society, the leaders in other societies might be stimulated to think in creative ways about how they, also, might address both global warming and their social problems. 10. Wouldn’t it be great if something reasonably close to utopia (or, former huntergatherer existence!11) were—finally—ON THE HORIZON?!! (Rather than the prospect of our extinction soon!) That was a rhetorical question, by the way! I perceive utopian writings as involving a “remembrance” of the “good old days” of huntergatherer existence! Here’s a list of utopian writings over the centuries. 11 7