Toward Hope in the Anthropocene
The concept and lived experience of the Anthropecene — a present and future of our planet’s systems modified by human activity — has gone from a dream of civilization to a waking nightmare. The global dangers of ecosystem and biodiversity destruction, climate change and health threats are immediate, personal and will live longer than us. These and other challenges are, frankly, terrifying to our most basic notions of a good life. Combine this with the boiling tension of uncertainty in the myths of politics, economies, and society, and it’s a wonder how we carry on. The scope, scale and unknowns usually paint a bleak picture of the Anthropocene. And yet, humans are always capable of balance, so there is potential for repair, renewal, even redemption.
Following are some philosophies and archetypes that, if removed and remade, will help humanity move into this era with grace and ambition.
Dishonesty
Our experiment with global civilization is rife with dishonestly. For comfort, for fear, for lack of any viable options, I, you, we pretend that this charade is acceptable. But just be a bit honest, open that door a crack, and the dangers of lying will jam a foot, then a leg, now an arm in and will keep pushing. It will force you to think about what it means for billions of animals to die in flames. You will have to confront the white supremacy that seeps into every facet of our lives, inner and outer. You will have to admit that democracy, globalization and neoliberalism have failed all but the ones already in power, and that there is no viable alternative in the wings. Every day will bring a new torment, but when we repeat big lies, we are giving our power and imagination up. The more honest we can be as individuals, the more power we will have to confront our problems collectively.
Technological fixes
In the dominant cultures, there is a deep, collective tendency to trust that technology will solve all our problems- both the issues that are crushing us to dust and the most meaningless whims of the bourgeoisie. Technology and science are not fit for solving our most entrenched and haunting challenges. They have been created by people- individuals, communities, cultures, and nations. It is only by turning back to people where can we find resolution to racism, inequality, health (physical, mental and spiritual), colonialism, war, ecological destruction, and so, so many more. Yet we collectively, falsely believe that technology will step up to fix the many-pronged problems, with the right incentives. But there are no incentives- only a nod to some of the issues, particularly climate change, that have come after we realized we were in fact, big enough to change the world. These are only gestures to the status quo, not to a future where we are collectively healed and imagining, together, what comes next. To move forward, we need to lose our dependence on tech and learn to trust other humans again. That doesn’t mean that everyone sees things as you would like- but a forward-looking dream team is essential.
Obsession with self and the present
Obsession with self and the present is another collective malaise. This label doesn’t apply to everyone, but when it becomes a cultural norm, it creates a destructive pattern unlike any we have yet faced. It is no exaggeration to say that the minority rich of the world (to say nothing of the elite classes) live in ways that are detrimental to life and to the future. Combine this with the promise to others — in the order of billions — that they, too, can live the same way, and we have a recipe for destruction. While it is easy to be cynical about individual actions, I believe that if humanity were to collectively care more about our families, our neighbors, and everyone that we have dragged into our globalized web, then things would radically change. We changed them before, through action or inaction, collectively. We can change the course again. Add a pinch of care for the future beyond one generation and we will have a new recipe- how to be humane, with a side of hope.
Human superiority
Moving alongside the above is a meme that has grown, mostly quietly, over thousands of years- the paradigm of human superiority. This is the notion that human consciousness and intelligence is the superior force, not only on Earth but even in the cosmos. This plays out in ways that are obviously harmful, e.g. the destruction of vital ecosystems for human use. Our superiority also says that our lives are always worth more than any others, even at exponential scale. And what do we miss when we think we know everything, or that all value, all knowledge, all dreams, all joys belong to people? This is a challenge that is easier said than done- to give power, autonomy, respect, and an open heart to everything else around us. Yet this is a pattern seen in indigenous cultures, and so I choose to believe that it is possible. It demands more of us, but where we land will make us richer in the ways that matter most- heart, mind, and spirit.
The notion of leadership
All the premises I have shared start with me and you and move in a collective, inner journey supported by all the ways that people share ideas. This one, however, demands more from us both philosophically and practically. I see a world that has been failed by leadership. It doesn’t matter the type- political, business, religious, etc. Most leaders are concerned with matters of ego — money, power, networks, appearance of status quo, handwringing over lack of trust — rather than shaping a better future. What needs to happen, in every corner of our lives, is for us to ask where this so-called leadership is taking us to. I look out and see a world saturated with leaders that is both drowning and in flames at the same time. Since that model isn’t working, let’s start over. We don’t need leaders, we need to hear ideas. We need practical models for consensus. We need real representation. We don’t need capital, we need fairness. I can’t tell you what this will look like when it turns, but I promise it will feel better to hear and be heard and to discover creative ideas, questions and hopes that you have not yet encountered.
This is a start at making our way to leaving the apocryphal and loving the Anthropocene. We are told repeatedly that our doom is imminent, and that may be true. But if it is not (or even if it is!), do we want a future where we continue to hold on to the philosophies and cultural norms that are harming us and blocking our children, or do we step back, let go and reset ourselves, our societies, and our collective path to something with more promise, more richness and more hope?
My hope is that we will choose to let go.
