Monday, November 19, 2007

So the Future is Permanent...

'Everything in moderation,' or so the saying goes. This is an applicable axiom for a prosperous people. It is only the generally satisfied who need self-restraint; the desperate need only guard against the excesses of despair. And so it seems I am a prosperous person. I promised a political commentary, but have failed to live up to my own haughty notions of a democratic duty. "It is the individual's joy and toil," I would have said, "to sift through the silt and mud of unrestricted speech, and find the nuggets of personal truth to elevate to power." And yet for some reason I took a break through September and October. I could explain the delinquency as a consequence of my return to regular and exhaustive school work, but we all know how untrue that is (there is just so much time wasted in every day).

No my failing was the direct result of a recession in urgency. Life is easy. Leisure, while restricted to certain hours, is readily available. And the North Pole is now water.

I have always feared and loathed radical change (referring of course to major change. policy is not a major change. the relationship of an individual to its society is a major change.). This is of course a product of the kind of upbringing one receives in a gently society. Things are so nice that every change should be slow and carefully considered. There are very few instances in which society (or government) should act quickly. Even in emergencies (as an enlightened student may find), the expedient response of the government needn't extend farther than making funds available.

As it is, I fear I have succumbed to the worst lie of all: that the mainstream democratic candidate will win this election, and it will be for the better (but not the best). The contradictions between what is said and what is meant in the candidate debates lost meaning. "ces't la vie" to the buildup and collapse of a community committed to Steven Colbert's electoral meddling. I even laugh (rather than choke or spit in a dostoyevskyish manner) when I learn one more independent-minded youth has been swayed by the utopian rubbish spouted by Ron Paul.

But then I read the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report. If GHG emissions are not stabilized by 2015, we have little chance of preventing catastrophic increases in sea levels.

This is the most important issue. Period. The environment is most likely not a system in a stable equilibrium. It is most likely a pendulum delicately balanced with its weight at the very tip of its swing. This is very disconcerting.

George Bush is going to cause untold problems for centuries to come. Welcome back to democracy.

No comments: