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Let’s keep trying together

With climate defeatism, it’s OK to believe we’re not gonna make it. It’s OK to feel worn down and frustrated and unheard.

What I nix is when that defeatism makes you obstruct, or get in the way of, or hinder, us trying for a chance no matter how slim. When we’re trying to think of solutions and trying to come up with things we can do, and you come in with a hat mismatch and start flooding the conversation with your “it’s no use”. (As in, repeatedly.)

That’s not cool. For my own health and for the health of everyone with me.

And, I feel guilty about saying that. We all know that everyone we meet is fighting a battle we know nothing about, and I, you don’t have to believe me but I do know how it feels.

And maybe you and yours are exactly the kind of people we need to reach the most. Maybe the most. And if the way you feel is anything near what I’ve felt when I’m been at my most pessimistic, if that’s the case, then you’re the kind of person who needs our support, our comfort, our companionship here on the brink.

And I don’t know what to do about you, with you, for you but step one is that you please STFU with that kind of “race to the bottom” talk.

Can we please have some orthogonality between on the one hand the line stretching from “believing we’re doomed” to “believing there’s a chance if we haul our collective asses” (because no matter where you are on that line, you might still be one of us) vs on the other hand the line from “we’re gonna try to avert this doom” to “we’re going on one final gasoline-fueled binge because we might as well enjoy these final days” (because that’s when We’re Gonna Have To Have Words)?

And it’s OK to take breaks and we’re all in it together (kinda no getting away from that, either it’s 1🌏1♥ at least on this issue, or we’re dead as disco), but it’s not OK to be sabotaging our efforts or even our futile li’l dumb&desperate brainstorming sessions with your defeatist mind virus.

And it’s not your fault and I feel your pain, but a lot of us are also on the edge here so don’t clown around and drag us down there, instead let’s try to set this right.

I’m cool with being wiped out by an asteroid or earthquake or volcano but I’m not gonna be chill with standing in front of the scythe in shame knowing that as humanity was creating their own li’l man-made mess, I didn’t at least try.

The following is gonna sound morbid, but when I’m at my most pessimistic, I take some amount of comfort in: OK, humanity chose this. Or enough humans did. Maybe they didn’t know what the heck they were doing, or maybe it was because they were helpless as mere cells in a malicious organism probably better known as incentive-driven markets, or maybe they wanted it because they were like fuck the future I’ve got mine, or they were like excuses excuses excuses excuses, but either way, if we do flub it, it’s because they chose it. And there’s some comfort in that.

I sometimes think of it as we’re on a boat and I see clowns to the left of me and jokers to the right and they all whip out drills and start going ham on the hull. And I’m like OK I guess that’s the way you wanted it, that was the outcome of the big old CO2e election. That was the game and that was the outcome of the game.

But I’ll be damned if I join them. You’ll never get me to pick up that drill. I’m gonna work my ass off trying to pour water out from the boat, trying to fix those holes. Until my dying breath.

And as much as I know you’re in pain, please don’t get in the way of that, please don’t get in the way of us who are trying to fix the boat. Come join us when you can.

Six Thinking Hats - Wikipedia