Doomsaying, or simple awareness?

[picasso moon]

http://carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/1233/1/
Awareness of Reality Seen As Doomsaying, Dave Ewoldt. Link to original blog provided.
This is about peak oil, but if it isn't enough "breaking news", feel free to move, moderator.
 
Instead, we have somehow fooled ourselves into thinking that we will cause irreparable damage to tender, fragile psyches by pointing out that someone's actions will either not deliver the intended results, or will actually cause more harm. We have what resembles the attitude of too many modern parents, "Oh, isn't that cute, he's trying so hard" as the toddler destroys instead of saying "No" and taking the hammer away.
It appears that what may be happening is that the possible loss of a few modern "conveniences" as we run up against peak oil, peak soil, peak water, peak money and peak life is being equated with doom and gloom, as we glibly ignore the actual negative consequences of these conveniences. Or we spend inordinate amounts of time and energy attempting to find loopholes to continue the status quo instead of figuring out other ways to meet our needs or even seriously analyze whether those are real or manufactured needs in the first place. We want the economy to return to normal, when "normal" is what has caused the myriad global crises we face. We rationalize and excuse inaction, inappropriate action or compromise as we steadfastly ignore the improvements to quality of life from proposed alternatives that systemically challenge the fundamentals of the status quo such as reconnecting with nature and relocalizing our lifestyles, organizations, and communities. What this all mainly demonstrates to me is a lack of imagination. The main "convenience" we seem to be protecting is not having to think too hard about any of this.
The liberal, NewAge mindset that every view is equally valid is actually a sign of moral decay. It is a sign of a society that has lost its way; that has abandoned its soul because it has disconnected it from its sustaining and nurturing source. Spending a weekend at a grief workshop while pretending to be a nature spirit isn't going to overcome this. In fact, the likelihood of doing so seems to be inversely proportional to the number of books published on the subject.
Now, I fully understand that people who are working hard, for noble purposes, on "change" don't want to hear that cash-for-clunkers, ACES, and the public option for disease care are just reshuffling deck chairs; that sustainability initiatives that enable continued growth on an overdeveloped planet are anything but sustainable; that the natural world imposes real limits on both population and resource extraction that we ignore to our--and all other forms of life--peril.

[shaleoh2]

Because time is running out and things are getting worse.

interesting times i would say 

[Brill]

"Spending a weekend at a grief workshop while pretending to be a nature spirit isn't going to overcome this."

Clearly, it is Much Better to comment on societal inertia while pretending to be a concerned, proactive, thoughtful doomer! 

[rbrgs]

Even on LATOC, truthtelling gets complaints.

[Grower]

http://carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/1233/1/
 
The liberal, NewAge mindset that every view is equally valid is actually a sign of moral decay. It is a sign of a society that has lost its way; that has abandoned its soul because it has disconnected it from its sustaining and nurturing source. Spending a weekend at a grief workshop while pretending to be a nature spirit isn't going to overcome this. In fact, the likelihood of doing so seems to be inversely proportional to the number of books published on the subject.

I agree. It's possible to keep the idea that viewpoints other than one's own have validity, which is what separates us from tribal mentality, and still be able to evaluate those viewpoints and make healthy decisions. Being able to do both at once is a sign of psychological, emotional, and spiritual maturity.

Sadly, what we're dealing with in this society is both the tribal approach and the "everything is equal" approach, and they tend to show up in different people. You can't reach the tribal until it goes through the more broadminded phase, and they (tribal) tend to be the more dangerous of the two.

[kopperhead]

Even on LATOC, truthtelling gets complaints.

lawd have mercy, sugar, ain't that the ever-lovin truth??

[doctor zaius]

We live in a society where everybody wants to put a positive spin on everything. If you state the truth, you are considered a doomer.

[MikeyPooh]

Depression.  Clinical depression, how many here have it/had it?  I think lotsa depression comes from simple recognition, on some level, that our way of life, our societal values are just plain old fucked up.  No shit "they" have to spin it positive.  That's the only way to keep the treadmill going. 

It'll be interesting when reality says hi to us, as a species. 

Got beans, got ammo? 

[Doomerific]

Exvellent article!

[prepbuff]

http://carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/1233/1/
 
The liberal, NewAge mindset that every view is equally valid is actually a sign of moral decay. It is a sign of a society that has lost its way; that has abandoned its soul because it has disconnected it from its sustaining and nurturing source. Spending a weekend at a grief workshop while pretending to be a nature spirit isn't going to overcome this. In fact, the likelihood of doing so seems to be inversely proportional to the number of books published on the subject.

I agree. It's possible to keep the idea that viewpoints other than one's own have validity, which is what separates us from tribal mentality, and still be able to evaluate those viewpoints and make healthy decisions. Being able to do both at once is a sign of psychological, emotional, and spiritual maturity.

Sadly, what we're dealing with in this society is both the tribal approach and the "everything is equal" approach, and they tend to show up in different people. You can't reach the tribal until it goes through the more broadminded phase, and they (tribal) tend to be the more dangerous of the two.

I find the opposite to be true.  "Everything is equal" was my original world view.  The concept arose, I think, from sociopolitical jargon that sprang up around the same time that Feminism took root (and The Pill came out) -- basically, men and women are the same now, so all those other either/or things are wrong too.  So, we're all equal -- and politically, "we must strive for equality".

Somewhere along the line, somebody figured out that "tall" is NOT equal to "short"...but couldn't deal with the consequence of that reality on their world view.  So, the social tide flowed into "equality of ideas". 

For a while, there, it was social taboo to suggest that someone's specious reasoning (or flat-out WRONG understanding of, say, electricity) was incorrect....it was counter to "equality" for me to think my thoughts were accurate representations of physical reality, and someone else's were inaccurate.  I don't mean OPINIONS, either -- I mean judgments about the way reality works.  People LOVE to live in their fantasies.

It's one thing to be "broadminded" about OPINIONS.  It's a whole other thing to be "broadminded" about LAWS OF PHYSICS.  You can vote liberal or conservative, and have strong FEELINGS about it -- but your feelings don't matter one whit to GRAVITY. There is a hard-core physical reality - and it has its own unbendable rules.  You can't grow tomatoes in a snow storm -- that's an unbendable rule.  Be as broadminded as you wish; you still can't grow tomatoes in the snow.   

I find the "everything is equal" mindset much more dangerous than the pragmatic mind of the simple realist.  "Everything is equal" is dangerous because it is disconnected from the world.  Yes, it allows more "mental freedom" -- but it's the freedom of the childish mind, the mind that believes whatever it imagines is real.  That'll get you killed.

You can't reach the "everything is equal" mindset, either, until it has gotten slapped around by reality for a while.   

The liberal, NewAge mindset that every view is equally valid is actually a sign of moral decay. It is a sign of a society that has lost its way; that has abandoned its soul because it has disconnected it from its sustaining and nurturing source.

I'm just liking Baker more and more!

[Grower]

Don't mistake concurrence for cause. The feminist movement (that wave) took off while the "broad-minded" viewpoint was arising. One didn't cause the other.

Broad-minded inclusion is always better, overall, than tribal exclusion. It brings its own set of problems, granted, but it's a step up. This is because tribal mentality only accepts its own worldview as valid. The more broad-minded mentality takes the leap that, "Hey, maybe there are other ways of looking at this or doing things that are equally valid." This is better. Because there ARE ways of looking at and doing this that are equally valid.

Where the broad-minded mindset gets into trouble is to assume that EVERY mindset is equally valid. That would not be true. Some perspectives, as you point out, are simply factually wrong, some are harmful. Some are demonstrably better. So the next level is to accept a variety of perspectives and combine that with the ability to evaluate which seem more beneficial than others. It's not to go back to "simple realism," which to me is code for "Well, of course the way WE do things is best," which is tribal again. Maybe you meant something different when you used the term.