The Most Honest Book About Climate Change Yet
—Nearly every book about climate change that has been written for a general audience contains within it a message of hope, and often a prod toward action. Vollmann declares from the outset that he will not offer any solutions, because he does not believe any are possible: “Nothing can be done to save [the world as we know it]; therefore, nothing need be done.”
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' The demand problem, the growth problem, the complexity problem, the cost-benefit problem, the industry problem, the political problem, the generational-delay problem, the denial problem—Vollmann scrupulously catalogs all the major unsolved problems that contribute to the colossus of climate change ... Nor have his six years of traveling the world, tabulating data, and interviewing experts changed his mind about any major aspect of the issue. The reader who begins Carbon Ideologies hopeless will finish it hopeless. So will the hopeful reader.
But there exist other kinds of readers—those who do not read for advice or encouragement or comfort. Those who are sick of dishonesty crusading as optimism. Those who seek to understand human nature, and themselves. Because human nature is Vollmann’s true subject—as it must be. The story of climate change hangs on human behavior, not geophysics. Vollmann seeks to understand how “we could not only sustain, but accelerate the rise of atmospheric carbon levels, all the while expressing confusion, powerlessness and resentment.” Why did we take such insane risks? Could we have behaved any other way? Can we behave any other way? If not, what conclusions must we draw about our lives and our futures? Vollmann admits that even he has shied away from fully comprehending the damage we’ve done. “I had never loathed myself sufficiently to craft the punishment of full understanding,” he writes. “How could I? No one person could.” He’s right, though books like Carbon Ideologies will bring us closer.
The planet’s atmosphere will change but human nature won’t. Vollmann’s meager wish is for future readers to appreciate that they would have made the same mistakes we have. This might seem a humble ambition for a project of this scope, but only if you mistake Carbon Ideologies for a work of activism. Vollmann’s project is nothing so conventional. His “letter to the future” is a suicide note. He does not seek an intervention—only acceptance. If not forgiveness, then at least acceptance.'
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In 2012, I wrote: —
' Yes, I'd like to see the world revert to a one-child policy. Yes, it would be good to eliminate nonessential production -- planned obsolescence, for instance. Obscene energy waste like Bitcoin mining. Yes, it would be wonderful to see humanity unite under political leaders that sponsor sustainability and resilience. Kumbaya!
- Would you, or anyone you know "take one for the team" -- humanity -- and cut your expectations? Reduced income? Fewer, or NO children? Smaller house? No car? Reduced pension?
- What politicians will advocate a lower GDP, lower tax revenues, less consumption, and fewer jobs?
- Even if such politicians existed, who would vote for them?
'Answer these questions honestly, and you have seen the future'
To understand what's coming, you must see human nature and mass behaviour dispassionately — and honestly.
Jim |
