January Blues

We have coined a new Month at our house. It is Suanuary. pronounced like Swan...uary. I have sunbathed twice and we aren’t even halfway through the month yet. I live in zone 3-5 according to the gardening maps. This would have been completely impossible even one year ago. Do I need to articulate what I think the significance of this is for the planet or shouldn’t it be obvious? At what point do we decide to alter our behaviors? and what would it really take? Everyone is waiting for politics to do something, but the current regime is taking things in the worst possible direction all while manufacturing multiple diversions. I know you have heard it, but it up to us, all of us, each of us. Yet, the kinds of solutions that are being touted do not go very far, are not very imaginative and certainly aren’t encouraging participation in the problem solving process. We must maintain a business as usual mindset and not create too much unfathomable disruption, I agree. Yet.... So, you recycle, you walk more often, you take public transportation, eat local, buy less, support your community, donate to conservation. Would this be enough if everyone did it? First of all, dream on and secondly, isn’t that pretty much how people’s lives used to be and we called it Culture and it created the beauty and intriguing diversity of the world. But, going back is impossible and what is destroying culture in the first place is the human penchant for convenience (ask the French how their authentic baguette is holding up against the supermarket persuasion). Okay let’s add another layer: how about if everyone decided to mind the mycorrhaeza, truely conserve water, quit buying things that do not decompose in the first place, and converted to solar, not just solar, but passive solar? Would that be enough? I am not a scientist I am a philosopher so my pursuit is asking questions not so much as answering them, but I ask you to use your imagination and do a thought experiment. It would be even more inconvenient and it would take some concerted research. Research could become a favorite diversion. Or imagine if we actually heeded the words and ideas of those “backward” original peoples and brought them into the conversation to examine what kinds of societies and Solutions are possible. experimented with differeing underpinning and structures of society, lifeways. What if instead of looking for the best answer or a product or the right engineering or waiting for a savior, what if every one just Began taking this more seriously in whatever way appealed to them, started diversifying our perception of resources. Wait a minute I am seeing alternative solutions quite a bit, what would it take to puncture the popular monoculture media bubble? There are so many ideas and solutions, but they just aren’t connecting with critical mass. Could it be that our delivery system of the economy just can’t deliver such simple things? There would have to be patents and sleek products and celebrity endorsements and monopoly markets. Sigh