Struggling to cope with the Collapse of Society? Read this.
You are not alone.
You are not alone in looking at the environment and wanting to cry. You are not alone in feeling as though you are witnessing the collapse of society and being helpless. You are not alone in looking at our governance and feeling frustrated and fearful about the future. The idea that civilisation is outside of our control is a scary one. The realisation that it could collapse — and possibly within our lifetimes — even more so.
A decade or two ago, the awareness that our civilisation could collapse was mostly confined to believers in religious Armageddon. Anti-government conservatives and left-leaning anarchists were two other early adherents — an interesting area of overlap between two opposing groups.
Behind the scenes however, policy makers, scientists, historians and other social commentators have always known that the collapse of societies is cyclical in nature. That collapse would probably be coming back around. To be frank though, even in academic circles it’s just not a very popular subject at parties. Ridiculed as alarmist conspiracy theorists, thoughts on the subject have rarely been en vogue to publish (although that is changing).
The effects of climate change, popular media — even citizen journalism; these are but a few of the mechanisms by which more and more people have become aware of Collapse in recent years.
You may be one of them.
Perhaps you feel alone. Perhaps you feel helpless. So do I, sometimes. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
Over the last few years there has been an increasing amount of nihilism and dejectedness surrounding Collapse. I’ve read posts online by people intending to kill themselves before it gets worse, and the farmer suicide crisis is proof positive that hearts are heavy across the world. Every ecological report only seems to compound the effect, and those of us who are aware of what’s going on can only look on in despair, asking why our world governments — fully aware of these growing crises — seem to do. nothing.
This is heavy stuff, and I wish that I could tell you that everything is going to turn out okay. While certainly the collapse of society is something to be grieved for a time, allowing it to strip the joy from your life would be a greater tragedy still.
Don’t Panic. Life is beautiful.
Life is beautiful. Yes, there is much that is wrong in the world, but we cannot allow that to let us forget its beauty. What is there in the world worth saving, but beauty?
There is much good in the world. Every day, people are doing good turns, sacrificing their time and money for others. Every day, hard-working scientists and academics are bringing us world-changing solutions to many of our problems. Every day, new vaccines are created or treatments invented that give the world’s most vulnerable a chance at life.
In just a few short decades, we have gone from dreaming of landing on the moon to exploring Mars. We have rockets going to space and landing back on earth. Our lights and our cars can be powered by the sun. I do not use these as proof that technology will be our salvation, but merely as a reminder that very few obstacles facing humankind are insurmountable.
Life is indeed beautiful. This is one of the driving concepts behind this website. While I understand and accept that climate change will be devastating, I believe efforts should be made by each individual to thrive. There is no arguing the fact that the coming years will be difficult, but accepting the reality and meeting the challenge head-on is the only response.
Acceptance. It doesn’t mean you have to keep a permanent smile on your face. It doesn’t mean you can’t feel, or be upset at the state of the world. It doesn’t necessarily mean optimism for our future, either. It means living in reality. It means changing your behaviours. It means making some difficult decisions — perhaps becoming less selfish. It means deciding what and who is important to you. And ultimately, it means some sense of peace.
