Perhaps I read too many alternative articles on too many internet sites, but with all the counter-perspective information (counter to the MSM), my information addled brain is waiting for one of several events (or a combination thereof).
Essentially there are three ideas, all related, as to where the future of humanity lies. All the scenarios are negative from lesser to greater degrees depending on whose blog or news post is being considered.
Climate change
Science has clearly demonstrated through long observation of current events and by studying historical records (recorded in ice and sediment deposits around the world) that the climate is changing. Not only is the concern about ‘global warming’ as about all the consequences that are already meeting science’s predictions on an accelerated basis. Environmental concerns are also widespread about chemical pollution changing the parameters of existence for many life forms.
In one sense I am not waiting for climate change as it is already well underway. What I am waiting for is the point where the people in power realize there will be no easy fixes, no easy survival for either the poor masses or their huddled wealthy colleagues. Perhaps then something may be attempted to ameliorate the situation.
Or, climate change may simply continue its inexorable path, generally ignored by those in power (as demonstrated by the various COP meetings) until a major tipping point is reached (as it has in the Amazon basin [https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/the-amazon-at-a-tipping-point/and]. Adaptation at a local level will be the only means of survival. Mother nature will continue on in her own indomitable way regardless.
Economic collapse
There are many blogs and pundits theorizing that the enormous mountain of hidden debt and disappeared money (see Catherine Austin Fitts and Mark Skidmore for the latter [https://home.solari.com/the-missing-money-19-trillion-in-undocumentable-adjustments-and-counting-with-dr-mark-skidmore/]) will one day collapse into nothingness, leaving the US$, many other currencies, and the global economy seriously broken. The scenarios presented range from a week or so up to many decades to try and recover our current consumer oriented lifestyle (if indeed that became the goal).
That is obvious bad news for everyone, but it can also be considered to be good news. If the US$ loses its global fiat reserve status through a colossal debt collapse, its power to interfere and sanction other countries would be null and void. What remains is wondering if the initial response would be military, a terrible option leading to the third degree I am waiting for.
Nuclear war
With nine nuclear armed states and thousands of nuclear warheads (down from the approximate 70 000 during the first Cold War) ready for launch, any regional war, any coercive war, any simply belligerent power grab, would more than likely reach an active nuclear threshold. I’m not really waiting for that as it hangs over our heads (maybe literally?) all the time and has done so for seven decades.
India and Pakistan could start it off against each other. The US-Israeli empire could start it off against Iran. The U.S. could take out its rage at its decline by attempting a first strike attack. The U.S. may see its hegemony blocked by China and Russia and try to make a “limited” first strike, stupidly believing there would be no counter attack.
Regardless, the many scenarios are all deadly for the planet. Nuclear winter, high radiation levels, and the lack of any remaining technological society would mean the end for humans and most species on earth.
No easy fixes
For anyone digging deep into these scenarios it becomes evident that they are all related. The bottom line is the psychopathic drive for power, the unleashed greed of the corporate mindset, and the insouciant attitude of most western populations, carefully inculcated through a lifetime of media attention to infotainment, celebrity status, and consumer consumption.
There are no easy fixes to any of these although the actual solution to the problems are rather simple. It is people’s reaction to the requirements of the solutions that make it “difficult and complex,” a phrase politicians and corporate heads love to use in order to hide their lack of attention to any solution at all.
In the meantime….
While these scenarios swirl through my mind and I sometimes become very cynical and pessimistic about the human species and its chances for survival in the long run, I do not hide from the issues that are more common, more personal, more local. On a human scale, smaller projects are easier to deal with and perhaps with enough care and attention – and enough awareness – the smaller projects could coalesce into larger and larger benefits until a clean, clear way forward is available.
There are so many topical subsets to be concerned about: racism, homophobia, xenophobia, local environmental projects, drugs, crime, homelessness, poverty, militarized surveillance, and on. There are also larger projects such as militarism, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the colonial settler ideas still predominant in the so called ‘western’ and ‘developed’ countries.
Keep in mind that many of these smaller and associated larger problems are also essential for the corporate-military-bankster powers in order to keep people divided in ignorance and intolerance. The mainstream media is the manufacturer of much of that ignorance and intolerance.
Many options are available to help others and keep ones mind from going numb and/or insane. So in the meantime, write letters, make presentations, educate, donate funds, go to protests – whatever your personal comfort level is. Also in the meantime, lead an active life, whatever form that takes, personalize it. It will be different for different people – arts, sports, social groups, music, schooling or studies of some sort, or maybe simply getting out and walking around your neighbourhood and getting to know people.
Jim Miles is a Canadian educator and a regular contributor/columnist of opinion pieces and book reviews for The Palestine Chronicle. Miles’ work is also presented globally through other alternative websites and news publications.
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