What to expect when you’re expecting the end of the world
Posted by relianceschool@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 37 comments
Jem Bendell had postponed his personal crisis long enough. For years, he’d been setting aside the worrying news about climate change he came across in a folder on his computer, waiting until he had the time (and emotional capacity) to look at it.
Bendell read more and more about unprecedented floods, devastating forest fires, and vanishing Arctic sea ice. It was all happening too fast. He became convinced that the rich world’s way of life — year-round strawberries, next-day delivery, flights across oceans — was nearing its end. That meant his life’s work had been, in his words, “all a bit deluded.”
He’d just spent two decades arguing that businesses could help fix environmental problems and heal the flaws of capitalism, writing books, organizing international conferences, and teaching MBA courses on corporate sustainability. That had left little time for his family, his health, and, you know, having fun. All those sacrifices, and for what?
“I felt raw, cracked open by all of this,” Bendell said, “and I had lost my previous sense of identity and purpose.”
So he tried to fill the cracks with something else, searching for meaning in a world that felt like it was coming apart. Bendell channeled his thoughts into a paper he self-published online in July 2018, titled “Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy.”
Normally, when people talked about adapting to climate change, they’d been looking for solutions that would allow their current way of life to continue. Bendell, instead, started from the premise that people will have to give up a lot, posing the question, “What do we value most that we want to keep, and how?”
Certain-Birch153@reddit
Year-round strawberries were always a bad idea, ngl. Maybe I'll try growing my own food again, since the grocery store's looking kinda bleak.
Certain-Birch153@reddit
Totally agree, u/relianceschool. Even small efforts add up and build resilience. Makes you wonder why more folks aren't doing it.
relianceschool@reddit (OP)
It would be very-hard to be totally self-sufficient food-wise, but our food networks would be so much more resilient if every backyard had a fruit tree, some berry bushes, a plot for annuals, and some chickens. Then we could get staple crops like grains from farms, which are better-suited for large-scale harvests.
Konradleijon@reddit
Yes I said about banning flying, personal cars, and milk and meat and people los other shit and act entitled
SignificantWear1310@reddit
Don’t forget babies 👶
tennezzee88@reddit
what about them
Extra-Painting-7431@reddit
If this were about me: "What to expect when you're still an asshole after being kept alive for forty-five years by brains that put yours to shame"
1st_sailonsilvergirl@reddit
I worked in public health for 25 years - a generation of life spent studying people in the U.S. and pattern recognition across safety issues. I studied people's behavior about things that can kill or seriously injure them or their loved ones. If you think they'd be easily convinced to change behaviors that can cause death and serious injury? Nope. Not enough of them. In fact too many rabidly fought us so they can do what they want to do. They want to drive 90 mph and nobody better try to put automated enforcement in place so they're guaranteed to be caught. They don't want to give up all their pleasures. They know there's a risk, but they think the risk won't happen to them, it will happen to someone else. So, someone else dying or being seriously injured is thus okay in their book. They think that person must have done something to deserve it. How ironic.
So, this: "Normally, when people talked about adapting to climate change, they’d been looking for solutions that would allow their current way of life to continue. Bendell, instead, started from the premise that people will have to give up a lot, posing the question, “What do we value most that we want to keep, and how?”"
... ain't gonna happen. Likely a few people like this author and a small percentage of others will sacrifice. Most will not. Given a choice, they will want to keep everything about their current way of life. They will see other people's lives changing radically. For example here in Chicago, the Palisades are far away. Wildfires aren't going to happen here. So ... why give anything up? We've seen floods in Pakistan. Closer to home, along the Mississippi River. They won't happen in my neighborhood. So ... why is it time to give anything up?
People are reactive. They will have to have it taken away from them, personally, from their own homes, their own families, their own lives, instead of making the choice themselves.
I left public health and now work in a different career due to becoming too cynical to continue after so long. Kudos to all the people who soldier on through it all.
I can say, it's true that birds of a feather flock together. So every small change can have a ripple effect. If people see others with close relationships to them start changing in visible ways, changing their values, beliefs, behaviors, this can spread. But they have to care what these people think. And social norms change can take a decade or a generation for widespread behavior change. And I think we're running short on time for that.
ideknem0ar@reddit
I just spent 9 hours today building shelves in my cellar using lumber I'd collected over the years and the basic carpentry skills my uncle imparted to me in the decade before he died. The messy prep hoard overspill is now organized and I did some work that is NOT my 9 to 5 keyboard jockey BS library job. I hurt all over, but feeling highly satisfied and will likely sleep like a gd baby tonight. Tomorrow, more non-keyboard jockey work for me and mine.
BayouGal@reddit
Well done! I need shelves 😁 I spent the whole lovely, sunny weekend starting seeds, setting up the lights & racks. Also potted-up my 2 big girls, a massive snake plant & a plumeria. I felt like someone beat me with a stick & got a light sunburn to boot 😂
Makes you feel good, though!
filmguy36@reddit
Slow decline, punctuated by moments of shear insanity and terror
old-legs-623@reddit
Planetary hospice can begin with sitting with a friend having a cup of tea.
teetah@reddit
I feel like its actually humanitary hospice.. the planet is gonna be just fine. It isn't septic, just pissed it got infected by a freaking parasite again
old-legs-623@reddit
Well put ... I have used "the planet will be all right" myself whenever I was feeling pedantic. We are now losing enough species that I think we might be excused for using the "planetary" shorthand for "planetary scale." YMMV.
teetah@reddit
Fair enough. It's all planetarily "unprecedented" I suppose!
old-legs-623@reddit
Yer all right. Tea? [lifts pot over cup]
GregnantMan@reddit
Of herbal tea from nearby herbs * :)
old-legs-623@reddit
In my yard we currently have rosemary, thyme, lavender, apple mint, lemon balm, dandelion, cat's ear, self-heal, cleavers, deadnettle, nipplewort, plantain, English daisies, sage, Douglas fir, western red cedar, willow, calendula, camellia, wild garlic, kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, beet, chard, pea, squash and bean foliage, blackberry and raspberry leaves, bigleaf maple, Oregon ash, and crimson clover to choose from. Oh, and herb Robert for me, as some say it's good for leukemia.
Today it's pear blossoms and deodar. I usually add a slice of dried apple or persimmon. ;)
Greenemcg@reddit
Just don’t look up. Greed won science lost. I blame saint Ronnie for the downfall…
Ree_For_Thee@reddit
Eh, it was always in our future. Even if science and rationality won this time, it'd just be a matter of time before heedless hedonism won out. We're only ~200 years into the industrial capitalism experiment after all, and there's virtually infinite time ahead of us.
I've recently begun to question if we've done literally anything good. Leaning towards "no, because you can't do good with innovations if you don't adhere to the precautionary principle, stupid!".
Evening_Grass_8073@reddit
I mean art has always been pretty cool. That's like the one good thing we have going for us. I guess it's kind of hard to mess that up in a practical sense though.
WileyCoyote7@reddit
Expect the unexpected. Except for a serious/total disruption of food or, more critically, water. Grocery stores empty, taps run dry, etc. Then, expect absolute anarchy for about 72 hours at least while those without stores set aside (prepped) starve or begin to die of thirst. The thin veneer of snivelization will be ripped bloodily off.
SignificantWear1310@reddit
Exactly. Scary times ahead.
NyriasNeo@reddit
"That had left little time for his family, his health, and, you know, having fun. All those sacrifices, and for what?"
For nothing, of course. Also ask Al Gore and Greta.
"As Bendell found out, you can’t stay in panic mode forever. "
Of course not. You can, however, accept, make peace and live as if the world is not going to end, until it does.
Konradleijon@reddit
Loved his video
Konradleijon@reddit
The road
Kahnza@reddit
There need to be some kind of pamphlets that can be spread around to make more people aware
psychetropica1@reddit
LDS style?
ApplesBananasRhinoc@reddit
Yes! Let’s start a movement!
Kahnza@reddit
Regime change style
RandomBoomer@reddit
The way you weather collapse is by putting your family and health first, with a generous side helping of joy.
He couldn't see what was right there under his nose.
relianceschool@reddit (OP)
A realistic amount of preparation, but a primary focus on these. If you don't leave time for your loved ones and your passions, there's nothing left to save.
verstohlen@reddit
I expect to feel fine, and listen to some R.E.M., Depeche Mode, New Order, and The Cure.
disclosureanticlimax@reddit
or as i like to call it
what to expect when youre faster than expecting
bipolarearthovershot@reddit
His paper about the extreme nature of climate change is proving more and more accurate every year, it’s way worse than the IPCC is saying
StatementBot@reddit
The following submission statement was provided by /u/relianceschool:
Submission statement: This article speaks with the author of "Deep Adaptation" on how to navigate life under the shadow of existential risk. Collapse awareness is a heavy burden to bear, and can also isolate us from mainstream society (which at large, doesn't acknowledge the possibility). The article also makes the case that we're in for a slow decline, rather than a sudden apocalyptic shock.
Rather than denial, hedonism, or nihilism, the authors advocate for forming collapse-centric communities and support groups to ease the suffering of this transition, help others in crisis, and find meaning and purpose in the face of shock and loss.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1sija6a/what_to_expect_when_youre_expecting_the_end_of/ofkipcw/
relianceschool@reddit (OP)
Submission statement: This article speaks with the author of "Deep Adaptation" on how to navigate life under the shadow of existential risk. Collapse awareness is a heavy burden to bear, and can also isolate us from mainstream society (which at large, doesn't acknowledge the possibility). The article also makes the case that we're in for a slow decline, rather than a sudden apocalyptic shock.
Rather than denial, hedonism, or nihilism, the authors advocate for forming collapse-centric communities and support groups to ease the suffering of this transition, help others in crisis, and find meaning and purpose in the face of shock and loss.