One of the most challenging aspects of these times is a sense of powerlessness to protect what we love, in my case, right at the top of that list, is this magnificent planet and the magical myriad of life she supports. I am finding that a solid and useful response to a sense of powerlessness is to redefine power and find new ways of wielding it.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court revoked the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate climate change pollution emitted by power plants. Given the insane trajectory of the radical rightwing in American politics, which is now the majority on the highest court, it is not a surprising event. Both the act itself and the fact that it seems par for the course are additional gut punches to those of us who want so much to end the desecration of nature.
I would like to add some perspective to the court’s decision. While it was clearly an ass-backwards, ideologically-motivated decision, it wasn’t a death knell for action to address climate change. The EPA still has power to regulate emissions from vehicles and other pollutants that exacerbate climate change including soot and nitrous oxides. In addition, the economic reality of falling prices for renewables is already moving the power sector away from coal. On top of that the Supreme Court ruling does little to block Congress from having tremendous power to enact climate change legislation and even President Biden has some authority through executive action.
While the court’s ruling was a frustrating example of leaders demonstrating willful ignorance and placing ideology over principled leadership, it was not the nail-in-the-coffin on climate action in the U.S. The actual nail-in-the-coffin on the current trajectory is the fact that no government on Earth is doing close to enough to address the climate crisis. This is because global leaders are all under the thrall of the economic paradigm based on limitless growth and rapacious consumerism. Global leaders are striving for, promoting, and exporting levels of consumerism, accumulation, and unchecked human activity across the globe that simply cannot be sustained. Those of us who have benefitted from such lifestyles, primarily North America, Europe, and parts of Asia, are now firmly addicted. Even those of us who long to change the trajectory have difficulty reducing our own consumption. In other words, we have met the enemy and it is us.
Nate Hagens and I have been colleagues and friends for many years now. He is a brilliant thinker on, and articulator of, the conditions, causes and challenges associated with our human predicament. I strongly encourage you to check out his podcast on Substack, called the Great Simplification. Nate recently aired an interview with psychologist and neuroscientist, Peter Whybrow, that offers brilliant insight into why humans in resource-abundant societies tend to consume excessively, how our brains have evolved for it, and why it is so difficult to change. This episode is much longer than most of Nate’s podcasts but well worth the investment of time -- I think many of you readers will appreciate this piece.
The long and short of it is that each time we are faced with a situation or decision our brains are flooded with chemicals like dopamine or cortisol. Dopamine is a super powerful “feel good” chemical and we tend to repeat actions that cause its release. Back in the day, finding a great berry patch or completing a successful hunt, popped the dopamine. Our brains were wired to find as much stuff as possible to support the life of the organism.
So, here we are, a species that evolved brains designed to acquire and accumulate and then developed technologies that enable us do so at staggering levels and pace. These two things combined have become a deadly force.
Our technology has outpaced our wisdom to deploy it. Our material wants are outstripping the Earth’s supply. Brains evolved to survive on leaner resources have not yet adapted to the sheer scale of stuff in the world’s wealthier societies. Many of the very traits that aided survival in times past are now destroying our planet and undermining our own health and wellbeing.
It begs the question, if our brains evolved to be literally wired a certain way, does that mean we don’t have any power to change them? Scads of scientific and real-world evidence shows that we can indeed rewire our brains because we all possess a trait known as neuroplasticity. I know from personal experience, after years of meditation and reflection (and a fair bit of therapy), I think very, very differently from twenty, ten, even five years ago. Along the way, many of my desires, likes and dislikes have shifted.
In nature, the evolutionary process nearly always requires pressure. When living conditions shift for a species, or certain populations within species, the organisms must evolve and adapt in order to survive. This leads over time to species acquiring different color patterns to blend into a changed habitat, necks elongating in order to reach higher food sources, etc. As biological beings, humans are continuously being shaped by the forces of evolution. There is now considerable pressure on segments of humanity all across the globe, and unease for many, many others who are still in relatively comfortable positions but sensing the depth of upheaval underway. In that lies great hope for impetus toward saner, more conscious ways of being and relating.
Previous advances in the evolution of humanity were primarily of a physical nature – our physiology shifted so that we could walk in a more upright position. We grew taller, developed opposable thumbs, etc. I believe the evolutionary step under way now is not physical but rather at the level of consciousness. Our survival and the livability of our planet depend upon an evolutionary step in the collective consciousness of humanity. And that’s an area in which we all have power.
As we do the work to question our own assumptions, change behaviors accordingly, and then share the “why” and “how” of those changes, we also, automatically, shift the thinking, even if only in a small way, of those with whom we interact and communicate. Wielding genuine positive power actually starts as an inside job that we then share into the world.
As we change our own thinking and responses, we become an active, conscious part of evolution. The power of many individuals shifting their own beliefs and values can be seen in nearly every major cultural shift in history. We are witnessing it right now in the U.S. as our culture’s racist history and imbedded racist value set is no longer being ignored and tolerated by the majority of society.
Our inner work is critical to be sure, but it often is a lonely affair and of itself, in my own experience, doesn’t quell the sense of powerless to change the many systems – economic, political, education and on and on – that must be changed. Action to influence the world around us is one of the greatest antidotes to despair, and, we can take meaningful action in our everyday lives. Those actions are personal for each of us and run the gamut from avoiding “retail therapy”, to having difficult conversations with loved ones and friends, to writing letters to editors, maintaining a yard made for bugs, birds and wild ones, voting and holding elected officials accountable, doing direct civil disobedience. In fact, there are almost limitless ways we can contribute to creating a world that works better for all beings. Those actions aren’t always easy, or comfortable, but there’s a good feeling in the doing of them. And that, in and of itself, the finding of positive ways to feel good, to enjoy the wild ride of this human part of our journey at this extraordinary time in history, is a power move.
Cylvia
Supply Chain Challenges here to Stay
The Bend Bulletin recently published a guest column I wrote. Here is an excerpt:
Fifty years ago, the Club of Rome published Limits to Growth, the first actual assessment of the global, consumption-driven, limitless growth economic model. That assessment predicted that if growth and consumption continued at the pace of the 1970s, the world would begin facing resource and energy shortages sometime right about now. As has become all too common, humanity failed to heed the warning and here we are.
We’re at a point where most of the high value, easily accessible fossil fuel energy is already gone; it is now much more expensive to extract what remains. Mining operations around the world are challenged by similar increasingly difficult access issues and skyrocketing diesel prices.
Fossil fuel-based fertilizers are also increasingly costly and the double whammy of mounting fertilizer and diesel costs are impacting global food production. Palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil in the world, used in everything from food to cosmetic products. Indonesia, the world’s largest supplier of palm oil, recently suspended exports due to concern about having enough supply for domestic uses, sending shock waves through the human economy.
To read the full piece click here.
And for a Little Positivity …
As a news junkie, I have found that one of the most important ways for staying grounded and peaceful in these times is to be intentional with where and how we get our news. I highly recommend subscribing to Positive News.
My ReThink Tank
Finally, I encourage you to check out, and perhaps even support my organization, The Rethink, with a mission of, “accelerating momentum toward healthy relationships between humanity and the rest of Nature, a restorative economy, and a more beautiful world that works for all beings.”