Living Simply Won't Save The Planet

Hold on. Did I just hear Professor Guy McPherson say that he believes humanity may go extinct by 2030?

Holy shit, people! 

But I guess I felt something like this would happen when I began to question whether I would die of capitalist ecocide before I could die of old age.

I always knew it was bad, and presently the planet is simultaneously burning, baking, and flooding at the same time, so it really does look like my concerns were real.

McPherson is of the opinion that we have waited way too long to respond to a crisis that Casandras have been warning us of for over a century.

But people don't want to hear bad news, so all those well-meaning warning signals were discredited, banned, shunned, and humiliated into silence and obscurity. 

For decade after decade after decade. 

And now it may be too late - we may be past the tipping point.

The predicting prof. thinks we have passed the point of no return, and that it will be almost impossible to do anything about the climate crises before it runs away and destroys all life.

Going to net zero carbon will not save us. Electric cars will not save us. Shifting to renewable will not save us. Small scale nuclear will definitely not save us. 

Too late. Too late. Too late. Too late.

Extrapolating from that, it can be said that reducing our consumption will also not be effective enough to make any difference.

So, in a nutshell, voluntarily living simply won't save the planet, regardless how honourable and earnest our intentions.

But, choosing a simpler lifestyle may save us personally, and what little time we have left. 

It certainly will not hurt anything, and the simple living folks can perish with the satisfaction of knowing they at least tried to be less toxic to our life support system.

I don't know if humanity has less than a decade left, or a hundred thousand years. No one can say with any certainty.

But what if humanity's remaining years were in the single digits?

Do we really want to spend the final days  on this earthly paradise shopping and needlessly accumulating things we do not need?

Do we really want to spend our last days before extinction padding our bank accounts for purchases and recreational travel that will never happen?

At this late point in human history we live simply because that is the way to maximize on the enjoyment of life, and of the people around us. 

It is the way to make the most of the time we have left, whether that is one decade, or several.

I still hope to die peacefully in my sleep of old age.

But it is not looking good. 

It is looking like the capitalist ecocide may kill me, and everyone else, before that happens.

Whatever occurs, I am going to make the most of what years I have remaining by living simply, intentionally, and passionately.

I implore you to do the same.