The Locomotive Is Coming and We Can’t Keep Holding A Picnic on the Tracks

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash

I don’t really need to convince anyone that we cannot continue doing what we are doing.

I’m often told that I need to convince people, that they like things the way they are. They love their stuff, their big people toys. They won’t give them up just because the climate is collapsing.

Oh, but they will.

The people who say we should just keep doing what we are doing, with perhaps some minor modifications, don’t actually believe in the climate crisis. They are comfortable today and truly believe they will be comfortable tomorrow and everyday thereafter.

They don’t really believe in droughts, floods, wildfires, killer storms, heat domes, bomb cyclones. They haven’t experienced any of this. To them, sometimes “there’s a bit too much rain” or “it’s warmer out today than I’d expect.” No biggie.

This is other people’s problems or no problem at all.

Reality Moves the Needle

Frank Luntz invented and promoted the terminology that minimizes the climate crisis. To him, the climate was just a political issue and his job was to help the GOP. So, he told his employers to ditch the term global warming—which sounded like a potential problem—and replace it with the mild, almost benevolent term climate change.

Of course, the more accurate term would be climate catastrophe because that better reflects the accelerating impact of this crisis on our species and our planet.

Then in 2017, the Skirball Fire came. And Luntz saw a wall of flame, 30 feet high, loom over his mansion. The effects of climate change—no, climate catastrophe—had reached the political consultant.

Yeah, he changed his views. Overnight. A similar situation will, in the coming months and years, hit more and more people. Everywhere.

Reality bites.

Why Wait?

What are we waiting for? We KNOW what’s coming and we know what to do about it. The longer we wait, the worse it will be. Ignoring the crisis is a stupid and unforgivable position.

Yes, yes, I know. You don’t know what to do. This is up to the government and corporations and leaders everywhere to take action. This can’t be addressed by nobodies like you and me.

But, as we have seen, the authorities have failed catastrophically and consistently for decades. The big important meetings, the COPs, are now up to number 29. I call them COPouts. They’ve accomplished nothing.

Some smart sincere people go to those meetings. But ultimately the outcomes-more fossil fuels, more CO2 emissions, and an accelerated race to doom-is the result. Big Oil and governments of every stripe either support the ongoing destruction or simply go along with it.

It’s up to US to be smart, to take action, to stop the locomotive.

And we can.

If You Choose To Do Nothing, What Will You Tell Your Children and Grandchildren?

Conventional wisdom does not exist. If it’s conventional, it’s not wisdom.

The so-called conventional wisdom says that we can do three things about the climate:

1. Vote for politicians who will fix it.
2. Protest to try and change the minds of politicians and corporations.
3. Change our own behavior and reduce our carbon footprints.

None of these has ever had any meaningful effect. Our planet is being choked by CO2 and many gigatons continue to be emitted every year.

Whatever efforts are being made, if any, they are woefully insufficient.
We need to do something different, something that has a record of success. And there is such a thing: nonviolent noncooperation.

Now this thing, nonviolent noncooperation, is at its core very simple. But To successfully execute this strategy is fairly complex—but absolutely doable.

Nonviolent noncooperation is the approach used by Gandhi to eject the British from India. It was used by many, many oppressed populations to remove tyrants. Sometimes, after the tyrant was removed, a kinder and representative government emerged. This happened, for example, in Serbia after a people’s movement there removed Milosevic. During the Arab Spring, many dictators were toppled, but—sadly—in most cases replaced by new dictators.

There is a way to make it more likely that after toppling a tyrant, something better emerges. But because nonviolent noncooperation is such a demanding strategy, people are often too tired or distracted to do THAT part of the work. WE won’t make that mistake here. We cannot afford to because too much, the future of everyone and everything we love, is at stake.

I can’t cover how all of this works here. But at its core, ordinary people like us organize and begin withdrawing our support from cruel and stupid actions and policies. In our case, we will ultimately kneecap and end Big Oil. We will move towards ending that industry by ensuring that not enough people will do the work. There won’t be the people needed to extract oil or gas or coal. There won’t be enough people to refine it, or ship it, or sell it. And people won’t want to burn fossil fuels.

And we will built alternate structures, ways to produce and distribute healthy food, provide healthcare, and ensure that people get what they need, as our current civilization collapses.

This won’t happen all at once. It will happen in stages, and the tactics will grow and accelerate. That’s how nonviolent noncooperation works.

That’s how our group, The Saners, will work.

Don’t be a bystander. Don’t look the other way. I know you are busy. Maybe you can’t do much because of your obligations. But you can still sign up, listen and learn, spread our messages. Even at a minimal level of participation, you can contribute by telling others about The Saners.

And if you sign up, whatever happens, you can tell your children and grandchildren: “I didn’t go along with the destruction of your planet. I worked with others to protect the Earth and protect your future.” Whether or not we pull this off, and I believe we can do this because history shows it is possible, you can hold your head high.

Read about The Saners at WeAreSaners.org and sign up at WeAreSaners.org/join.