Warning: the use of humor in the following post may upset you even more. However, humor is key to surviving the apocalypse. I know, you may worry that if you're laughing, people will think you're not taking shit seriously enough. Laughter, after all, is a sign that you have enough privilege to not be weighed down by all. the. shit. Take a page from some of the world's greatest satirists, though, and take this use of humor as an invitation to get meta. Trust me, getting meta is subversive, radical, and utterly world-making.
Are you afraid of the end of the world? Do you mourn the loss of coral reefs, polar bears, krill, oxygen, seasons, and other miracles of nature? Is the permafrost under your house melting? Have you given up the hopes of having children, because, hey, what's the point? Are you thinking of taking the eco-mantra "leave no trace" to nihilistic levels of self-erasure? Do you feel helpless in the face of a faceless enemy? Are you feeling guilty because you, as an American, are the most likely to have created all these problems? Do you feel impotent and powerless because practical solutions are, let's just admit it, never gonna happen?
If this sounds like you, you may be suffering from eco-despair. Without proper treatment, eco-despair can quickly lapse into apocalypse fatigue. Once apocalypse fatigue sets in, you're not likely to give a shit anymore. Do something before it's too late.
Nothing works better to build your immunity against eco-despair than Zoloft. Just kidding. Neoliberalism almost bought me out. What I meant to say was that nothing works better to build your immunity against eco-despair than critical thinking.
Try the following forms of critical thinking, and see how you feel upon a regular dose of using your noodle:
1. Understanding the architecture of stories about climate change. A cultural analysis of narratives shows that 80% of news and mainstream media frame the problem of climate change using apocalyptic tropes. There's this whole field called "negative news bias". Look it up. The media we consume wants us to feel awful. Psychological research shows that doom-and-gloom narratives inspire emotions of guilt and fear in audiences-- emotions that have been shown to be passive. So it's no wonder that, on a diet of such news, people disconnect or even deny climate change. Psychology + media analysis proves that we need to get meta about our media.
2. Understanding that the neoliberal structure of American history wants us to feel we are individuals, wonderful unique creatures, that are disconnected from history, each other, the oppressive structures of family, culture, and tradition, etc. While there is so much to love about this impulse (I'm from California so I love pretending that nobody existed before me, and that I'm the most important person on earth), the myth of individualism also keeps us down. Nothing awesome that we love ever happened by the efforts of any single person alone. No historical triumph of progress over depravity ever occurred because of any one human. If we're going to get out of the apocalypse, it'll be because we are part of a collective, what Paul Hawken calls the "blessed unrest." Tune in to each other. Cultivate collectivity and relation. It's all that matters. I'm serious! Imagine the world does blow up. Don't you want to be with your peeps? And if it doesn't blow up, your peeps are the only thing that will get you through. Cultivate community. DO IT.
3. I'll let you in on a crazy secret: there are cultures and traditions in the world that have suffered a lot, and they have mastered the fine art of facing crisis. Look up "pleasure activism" and "misery resistance," for example. Read Adrienne Maree Brown's book, Emergent Strategy. It will change your whole worldview, if you're not already on board with her schtick. Think you're the first generation to suffer and freak out about the state of the world? Read the biographies of those who came before you. Your elders. They've seen it all. You live in a world of general bliss, in the relative history of shitty societies. If anybody knows how to face the apocalypse, it's our elders. Look to them.
4. Tell better stories. Stories make worlds. Literally. Don't just become a meta-reader of stories, deftly deflecting declension narratives in your sleep, or thousand-hand-slapping every jeremiad that comes your way, fiercely declaring "get back you devil!" No, you're not just a consumer, deconstructer, analyst. You also wield the super-powers of producing, creating, constructing. What will you do with this miracle of storytelling, which is available to all? Actively reject doom-and-gloom narratives in your own work, organizing, and telling of the story.
Other frames are shown to be more effective at engaging people over the long-term. Tons of research shows that the issue of human health makes your audience care a lot more about climate change than polar bears, much less krill. God, I love krill. Don't get me started. The way they provide the foundation of all ocean life. The way they are the unsung hero of all charismatic ocean critters. How they're the bellwether of ocean health, how Brad Pitt played a krill in Happy Feet. Breathtaking performance, don't you think? So. Freaking. Hot.
Where was I?
Oh, right, health. So, studies show that framing climate change not as an issue that affects Brad Pitt, I mean, krill, but rather as an issue that affects our communities, families, and loved ones, is more effective at getting more people to acknowledge it as a problem, and to overcome the barrier that climate change feels distant, in both time and space. How can we make climate change immediate, in both geography and temporality? If temporal and geographical distance is one of the reasons people have a hard time caring about it, apocalypse won't work. Know anybody experiencing the effects of climate change? Exactly. I thought so. Forget Brad Pitt. Think of your daughter, neighbor, classmate, yourself. It isn't six degrees of Kevin Bacon. Tell better stories about climate change that show the reality of how it's affecting YOU.
5. Never belittle the power of imagination. Everywhere you go, ask this question (from Brown), "what would it take to thrive in a climate changed future?" What does a smarter, healthy, thriving, just climate-changed future look like, exactly? Imagine it. Just take a few minutes and imagine it. If you find you cannot imagine it, ask yourself if you are a coward and have accepted the neoliberal doctrine that you are acting alone (see above). Or, ask yourself if you've bought the doctrine that you have no power. Get meta. Make new narratives. See research on "nudge" and, for starters, finish this blog post. Rebecca Solnit will teach you that the myth of powerlessness is a curse put on you by those in power to keep you consenting to being controlled. Get over it, for the love of the Goddess! That's just a cop-out, and yes I'm calling you out, in a gentle, loving, maternal way. See all above posts, read Brown and Solnit, and even Jensen, here. GET OVER IT and GET TO WORK.
Turns out, the radical imagination is like gold to the movement, in this day and age when the imagination has been "privatized," as Solnit puts it, by capitalism. Check out, as just one example, how others are cultivating the imagination. It's meta. It's so fucking meta.
Side effects of this treatment of critical thinking may include:
1. an increased love of krill
2. a radical awareness that you're not alone against the world, something that might be termed “collective efficacy”
2. mindfulness of your many blessings, such as potable water, literacy, and the beloved who always listens to you cry about how the world is going to hell, like this:
3. increased mindfulness of simple pleasures, such as petting a cute animal or laughing at terrible blog posts, without guilt
4. increased desire to cultivate community, friendship, and relationships with loved ones
5. radical empathy for others' suffering and conditions of their own efforts or lack thereof
6. development of utter immunity to and/or transcendence of negativity. Or at least, getting more meta about it. Ugly feelings? Yeah, it's a thing. Whatever.
7. increased stamina to stay in the movement for the long haul, not just burn out into nihilistic state of apathy and despair. Because you actively pursue research to inoculate yourself, you've already found this amazing movie, and this one too, oh, and this one. Movies. Why do they matter? They tell stories. CONSUME GOOD ONES. META.
And a whole host of other boring things that don't really matter, but which have been substantiated by research:
- improved sleep quality
- better relationships
- increased nonviolent communication skills
- fewer self-destructive behaviors
- improved general well-being
- acceptance of the paradox that the world is troubled, and we have to live fully in it
- radical imagination for thriving in a climate-changed future.
Those are things that you should put on your resume, write home about, and, seriously, put on your Tinder profile. Nothing's hotter than a krill-loving climate justice warrior who has the patience to sit in a chair and think through all these things before raging against the machine. Also, that's what the planet needs.
