The lesson of the Holocaust is the facility with which most people, put into a situation that does not contain a good choice, or renders such a good choice very costly, argue themselves away from the issue of moral duty (or fail to argue themselves towards it), adopting instead the precepts of rational interest and self-preservation. In a system where rationality and ethics point in opposite directions, humanity is the main loser. Evil can do its dirty work, hoping that most people most of the time will refrain from doing rash, reckless things—and resisting evil is rash and reckless. Evil needs neither enthusiastic followers nor an applauding audience—the instinct of self-preservation will do, encouraged by the comforting thought that it is not my turn yet, thank God: by lying low, I can still escape.
Zygmunt Bauman
Hitler would have just been a raving lunatic without his followers.
In the fight against climate change we need to challenge the followers as well as the leaders. Holding oil corporations to account does not deal with the issue at large – consumption. the consumers of fossil fuels are fueling climate change as much as the suppliers are.
For the most part the westernized consumer will not give up their comforts and conveniences to preserve the biosphere for future generations to come. They will continue on in denial consuming at ever higher rates.
The temperatures will continue to rise and the world will be at the helm of a handful of oil backed and financed politicians with short term views to save us all – they wont. They certainly will struggle to bring about the changes required in the short amount of time needed to make necessary changes.
To rely on politicians to help us is to bury our heads in the sand and await our fate. just like in Samuel Becketts play waiting for Godot we are like the two tramps Vladimir and Estragon, waiting for the mysterious character Godot, whom they believe will bring them salvation.
We need disrupters and educators who will protest and shame the public for its 3 planet lifestyles as well as holding our politicians to account.
The endpoint of our civilization is assembly-line mass murder of the planet. The assembly-line mass murder of the planet is production stripped of the veneer of economics. We all have to face up to what we have done and continue to do. We take the living and convert it to the dead. This is what our global culture does en-masse.
