Postcard from Earth
Rachel and I recently visited the city of sin, otherwise known as Las Vegas. During our trip we purchased tickets for the Sphere to watch a film titled Postcard from Earth. The filmmaker, Darren Aronofsky, wanted to make a powerful statement in grand style about the extraordinary beauty of our planet and what we stand to lose if we humans don’t pay more attention to taking greater care of our one and only home.
The theater seats over 18,000 paid attendees and in this showing my guess is that it was ½ full, which is still a lot of people. The message of the presentation depicted the history, landscape, diversity, and splendor of life on earth including our human contribution. From there the images took a turn towards a more dystopian view of what will happen if we continue along our current path. A trajectory of entitlement, overuse of natural resources, over population, climate change, and a general disregard for mother nature.
For many of us this message has been self-evident for decades. Scientists have been waving reds flags since the 1960s (and in some cases much earlier) about our laissez-faire attitude toward the environmental and social issues facing our species. Myriad articles in magazines, scientific bulletins, and on television news have warned the population of this planet about the pitfalls of the belief that all will be well, that somehow we’ll figure it out without too much trouble, or even that the issues discussed are just in the imagination of liberals.
And so the earth continues to spin on its axis as we chip away at everything precious heading towards a self-made Armageddon. At least this was the basic lesson intended from the film. Yet as much as I wholeheartedly believe in the film's message, so passionately portrayed, I had many reservations about what was shown. I came away more disconsolate than when I entered the Sphere. During the showing, I looked around the theater at the other 9,000 members of the audience and wondered if Mr. Aronofsky’s point would have the impact he so wanted to get across. I wondered if people would leave the theater, have intense discussions about our role in what is happening and change their behavior.
I wanted to believe that at least a few people would internalize the intent of Postcard from Earth, though perhaps I’m not giving my fellow planetary inhabitants enough credit for wanting to make a sincere effort to change their behavior. Or, on the other hand, maybe I’m being naïve to think that anyone would leave their seats and make a pledge to begin living a much more mindful life with a renewed understanding of the consequences of non-action.
The ending of the film also left me quite frustrated. The special effects people put together a science fiction scenario where humans, having desecrated the majority of our planet, selected numerous pairs of supposedly exemplary humans to be placed into stasis (extended sleep), secured them in a spaceship, and launched these couples towards uninhabited worlds where they could continue the species. A kind of Mulligan for Homo sapiens. This is neither practical in terms of current or even future technology, nor is it ethical for us to think we can solve the inherent behavioral tendencies of mankind by starting again. To me, this is the ultimate cop out by letting the audience off the hook with regard to taking responsibility for helping to solve the issues.
I am a self-admitted ranter. For those who have read my other essays, this will not come as a surprise admission. For years one aspect of our march towards extinction has been the sadness in my heart with regard to the fact that we are throwing away everything good people have accomplished over the past 5,000+ years. All of our curiosity, our kindness, our progress towards equality, our astounding ability to create art and music, our greater understanding of our earthly environment and the stars that grace our evening sky. I ask myself over and over: How can is it possible most people can’t or won’t see this path we are on?
What all of this leads to a rather deep despair over both the predicament we find ourselves fighting and my personal frustration with regard to an inability to help make the changes I so desperately want to make while I’m still breathing. Rachel often asks me to cheer up, which I try to do. If for nothing else so as not to bring a lingering darkness to an otherwise upbeat person. She puts up with my Eeyore tendencies well enough. But I can also fully understand her desire to live life without a constant cloud hanging over her. Amazingly she puts up with me anyway.
As previously noted in other postings, I just don’t know any other way to live my life. So I will continue to pound my fist, rant with my words, and help others where I can, because I know this is the right thing to do. There is no deity, nor fear of everlasting hell, nor doctrines from on high that drive me to be this way. I have, unfortunately for my own health and for the well-being of those around me, an overarching sense of right and wrong. Whether I’m justified in these personal beliefs will remain an unknown forever, but they are entrenched in my psyche regardless.
To end this post, I’m suggesting an odd juxtaposition in terms of what I’ve stated here and next week’s offering which is titled Letting Go. In that essay I look at the internal struggle about releasing the physical elements in my life (no, I’m fine) as compared to retaining my core beliefs as noted here.
Anyway, as always, I thank you for reading these words. I do believe that by working together we can make the world a better place. We just need to get busy.
i think we hope that things will sort themselves, or that the risk is not as severe as it appears, because otherwise we have to reconcile with our own helplessness and inability to affect forces over which we have no control. it’s possible to see a storm coming and yet still not be able to navigate it.
Yoni – Thank you for the comment. My feeling is that if we give into the idea that we have no control, then we definitely will not have any control. Even if it’s somewhat (or completely) delusional, I have to believe we can exert some influence over our environments. Or at least we have to try. My vision is laid out in the essay titled Cooperation (https://thecagedmind.com/cooperation/) where I think that if enough people push various organizations to coalesce around the critical issues instead of attempting to figure out solutions on their own, we just might be able to make a difference. On the other hand, perhaps my brain is just fried.
The bottom line is – are we really ready to give up our conveniences? I mean to a point where it hurts? Most of us still ride on planes that dump Co2 into the atmosphere. We still insist on using our computers that are the largest energy users with data centers that power cloud computing and internet services. Most of their energy consumption is used for running and, especially, cooling thousands of servers, which generate a tremendous amount of heat. I think until we all are willing to give up each step of carbon footprint and not use excuses as to why we still do, then no one is beyond reproach..
First, thank you for your comments. Always appreciated!!!!
To live in the world as it stands now, it is almost impossible to avoid a certain amount of hypocrisy in our daily lives. I’m hyper aware of what I’m doing when I step onto a plane to fly anywhere, but that doesn’t stop me from doing so. I turn on the lights and place our thermostat at a temperature that is comfortable. I drive a vehicle that gets around 140mpg but that doesn’t mean that it is carbon neutral. I don’t mean this as a justification for my lifestyle, but only to explain that I’m doing what I can within the confines of suburban living. I fully realize that it’s not enough.
The difference is that I’m working on doing what I can within that framework to mitigate that carbon footprint. Many people I know, even those who espouse greater personal responsibility, do not want to give up even a modicum of personal comfort nor will they take that responsibility to change their habits to make even a small difference. It’s very frustrating. My sense is that by the time climate change impacts all of us to the point of extreme discomfort, it will be well past a tipping point where we cannot go back. Our climate will spiral out of control and regardless of any efforts, our planet’s ability to sustain life for humans will be gone. Some insects and microbes will adapt because history tells us that these creatures mutate very quickly and can find sustainability within a wide variety of circumstances.
Ultimately I know that I’m not doing enough. I berate myself daily for this failure, yet here we are. So what’s next? I don’t have a clue.
Well said Tob. I suppose I just wanted to expose hypocrisy in all of us since it’s probably one of the things that bothers me most in the world. I know I stick my head in the sand with a lot of political goings on. But one thing that will always pull me out of that sand and make me rage is hypocrisy. I try my hardest not to be victim to it and don’t always succeed. But I do try and acknowledge it.
Jenny, I’ve been meaning to write a piece about the subject of hypocrisy. Perhaps this exchange will be a good impetus to do just that. Thanks!!