The video embedded below, along with the draft script and supporting links, can be freely…
Love in the Time of Human Extinction
Regular readers of my work might recall a time I was routinely assailed for not “joining forces” with the likes of Bill McFibben Bill McKibben. I pointed out he was lying about climate change, long before it was fashionable to do so. McKibben became a well-known entity in a short period of time. He and his organization were funded by the Rockefeller Foundation (aka Big Oil). McKibben made a name for himself, and apparently a lot of money, by taking the customary, halfway approach with the evidence. His fans, and many other people, accused me of “stealing hope” and “giving up.” I was not, and am not, interested in capitulating to irrational thinking. I prefer adherence to principle over being paid to generate confusion. Such an approach is anathema to a society that prefers charisma over character.
Now I am often told I need to support the Extinction Rebellion (XR). I am told XR is transmitting the same message I have been promulgating (they are not). I am further informed they are promoting my work (in a culture of profound ignorance and rampant dumbassery, denying my work is perceived as promoting my work). XR is making a name for itself, and has become a well-known entity in a short period of time (albeit not without detractors). They take the customary, halfway approach with the evidence. I have pointed out that XR is ignoring the aerosol masking effect, and that rebelling against extinction is analogous to rebelling against sunrise. In return, members of the group routinely trash me for “stealing hope” and “giving up.” I would add only that, with respect to human extinction, the rebellion against sunrise is beginning at high noon.
As one minor indication that XR has become part of the distraction-filled show promulgated by the corporate media, consider that about 1:50 into this video, a pop-up advertisement appears in the top left part of the screen with a link to “Inside Extinction Rebellion.” Please ignore the nonsense from Attenborough about unlimited energy and proceed to my point in this case: The Guardian, source of two hit pieces on me, is promoting XR. The Guardian is not alone in its obvious advertising campaign for XR, as anybody paying attention to mainstream sources is aware.
You might see similarities in these two cases claiming that I must get onboard with the likes of McKibben and also XR. I do.
I suspect I have sacrificed more than McKibben and the entire, combined passel of folks involved in the XR movement. Yet I am painted as the criminal for “stealing hope” (whatever that means) and “giving up” (whatever that means). Apparently presenting the full evidence about abrupt climate change makes me the bad person in a culture infatuated with magical thinking. Apparently the customary, halfway approach is preferred because it allows the retention of hope and the perception that something is being done (by somebody else).
In a ploy that dates to biblical times, those working on behalf of the dominant paradigm continue to kill evidentiary messengers while co-opting their messages. My own ability to transmit my message has been destroyed, both by the assassins and their propaganda. My teachings are now being cunningly marketed by the same group of people I spoke against, this time to reinforce the status quo.
Notwithstanding the ongoing attempt to assassinate my character, hope is a mistake, as I have pointed out repeatedly in this space. Hope is not only a mistake: Hope is a lie, as I pointed out recently. Of course, most of us refuse to believe hope is a lie, because that would require us to admit we lie to ourselves. As Mark Twain indicated, “it’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” Few want to admit they have been fooled, so they continue to lie about their foolishness. There is no finer set of fools than those who believe in a favorable future in the midst of abrupt, irreversible climate change.
Contrary to hope, love requires honesty. Love means telling the full truth, not the customary, halfway version. A loving relationship requires honesty, not hope.
Perhaps hope is a disease. Perhaps love is the cure. I doubt we persist long enough to perform the relevant research to find out.
The living planet is in the fourth and final stage of a terminal disease. As I have pointed out for several years, it is long past time we admitted hospice is the appropriate way forward.
Recently published:
McPherson, Guy R. 2018. Only Love Remains: Dancing at the Edge of Extinction. Woodthrush Productions, New York.
McPherson, Guy R. 2019. Revised Second edition of Going Dark. Woodthrush Productions, New York.
Pauline Panagiotou Schneider and Guy R. McPherson. 2018. Revised Second Edition of Ms. Ladybug and Mr. Honeybee: A Love Story at the End of Time. Woodthrush Productions, New York.
Mugs, tote bags, iPhone cases, tee shirts, and other pragmatic goods affiliated with the latter book are available here. I do not earn money from these items. Indeed, they have returned far less money than it cost to create and distribute them. I list them at the bottom of posts in this space in support of my artistically inclined partner, who created them.