Crisis and Inertia (2) β Climate Change
(This is part 2 in the βCrisis and Inertiaβ series.) Surprisingly many people seem to be under the impression that climate change wonβt really affect them. βSure, it will get a little bit warmer, but thatβs what air conditioners are for, and sea level rise doesnβt really affect me because I donβt live on the coast and it is slow anyway.β Something like that appears to be general idea. Unfortunately, that idea is wrong. Very wrong. Climate change will have much bigger effects than air conditioners and coastal protection can fix. The exact nature of those effects is uncertain, however,...
Armageddon and Utopia
Almost a decade ago two English writers, Paul Kingsnorth and Dougald Hine, published Uncivilisation: the Dark Mountain Manifesto, calling for a literary response to the βsocial, economic and ecological unravellingβ of our time. Surrounded by a nearly deafening silence about the now nearly (?) unavoidable collapse of civilization, this dissident voice seemed a pleasant diversion, and the idea to use literature and art to change the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and our relation with the world around us is a very sympathetic idea as well. However, the Manifesto itself raised several red flags, and made it very clear...