In principio

 ...I created this blog.
And I saw that it had great potential. A golden opportunity was staring me in the face. The End of the World! Wow. I never actually thought, for real, that I would be here for the grand finale, but it is starting to look like our little home in paradise might also be one of the upper bleacher seats geopolitically, so to speak, for witnessing mankind's biggest folly.

Now, when I say "the end of the world", I am not speaking of the end of all life on the planet Earth. No. I say this because Life is considerably more intelligent and resilient than humans. Nature's capacity to balance needs against resources and make it work for as long as the system is left to function without excessive interference is considerable. Climate change is an example of us having tipped the balance beyond what meteorological and atmospheric conditions have historically been. If we act quickly, we may be able to re-balance the system. But I am not counting on it. Our track record is pretty mixed on issues of environment and that breeds little confidence in me.

When we speak of  "the end of the world" it is the end of what humans have wrought on this planet. I speak in the Wittgensteinian vein, "The world is all that is the case." All that is the case is that which we consider and take into account, that which we engage and even manipulate. In our endeavours and projects, humanity ostensibly attempts to consider all the relevant factors, mitigation and aggravation being tools for measuring the risk and benefits. 

But in order to mitigate damage and avoid aggravating a situation, we must first be willing to consider it. To make of the problem, the case. Let me propose that the case is our lives, human civilization as we know it. History shows that many forms of civilization are possible, but they all depend on a balanced relationship with the natural world, the planet actually. If our only failings as residents of this planet were limited to our immediate environs, or even to the landmasses we occupy and traverse in our economic pursuits, perhaps we could be forgiven for soiling our own homes. However, our pattern of disregard for the obvious effects we have on this planet extend s to the deepest oceans and the highest heavens.

Our biggest impediment to preventing the end of the world is our enjoyment of the current situation, the situation in which the biggest concerns are the costs of the goods we elect to consume, the price of energy for our modes of transport, the easy availability of exotic and costly foodstuffs. In other words, our very lives stand in the way of our saving ourselves from the impending climate and environmental collapse.

If what I see is valid, then we are likely too late to do anything about it. The title of this blog was chosen tongue in cheek and I wish to thank the music of REM and Elvis Costello for the inspiration. These 2 songs are about this most dreadful of subjects, survival while waiting for the end of the world. The list of problems that fill the lyrics of these 2 songs describe a world very similar to the one we still inhabit. The warnings have fallen on deaf ears and we are waiting for the end of the world, and we feel fine about it too? In my efforts to comprehend myself and others, this paradox looms large. I am hoping this blog will help and encourage internal debate about this truly universal problem. That I can help you to understand that there is nothing abstract about what we face. It is not far off and we still have the power to change this if we make it the case.

I remind us all that the most important story in our lives is the story of my/your own life. To deny our responsibility and power at this moment is to risk it all.