"irreversible damage to the natural world and the collapse of our societies"

[Ghost Dog]

... This reality is taking its toll on our mental health, especially among younger people who are understandably losing hope for their futures on a hotter planet. We are seeing the rise of what is known as climate or ecological grief. This grief summarises feelings of loss, anger, hopelessness, despair and distress caused by climate change and ecological decline.

We are facing a state of continual unfolding loss, compounding impacts on our psyches. It could be loss of animals and plants we hold dear or lifestyles we have grown accustomed to such as eating whatever we want whenever we want. As the time length between loss and impacts shorten, personal recovery times reduce. At the same time there is anxiety about what is still to come. Yet there is no way to do justice to the threats we face without it being scary and provoking anxiety. How do we face up to these warnings without falling into apathy, denial or being evangelically optimistic? How do we find a way to confront our climate and ecological reality and yet respond in a meaningful, purposeful way? ...

... Climate change and environmental movements have long been criticised for trying to motivate the population through negative narratives and doomsday scenarios. It is obvious how such framings can turn people off or at worse encourages a state of denial. As a result, we have seen much of the movement shift in recent years towards more positive narratives of climate hope and telling stories of change... This has largely resulted in a politically passive eco-modern citizen that is more concerned with energy-efficient technologies, light bulbs and recycling than dissent, protest and structural change. Personal guilt comes to the fore when the virtuous lists and sustainable resolutions are not kept up with, and the issue is again pushed out of mind...

... But to truly tackle the climate and extinction crisis we also need to give ourselves permission to grieve, personally and collectively. We can use grief to galvanise what is most important and bring forth new visions. Then we need to be empowered, to be fearless and take action. One of the most important ways to take action is to vote for what matters most and to vote for parties which have clear policies to address climate change...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/09/i-have-felt-hopelessness-over-climate-change-here-is-how-we-move-past-the-immense-grief

XPost: Editorials & Articles: https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016231762

[calimary]

1. This is no joke. Certainly no "fake news".

I’m a new grandmother. I look at that sweet little baby and mixed in with all my joy is an undercurrent of growing sadness.

Oh Dear God we are fucking this up.

And one dreadful day when the most determined-to-remain-ignorant finally wake up, long after we passed the point of no return, they’ll whine and snivel “why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you warn us?” then all we can say in response is “we DID. We warned and warned and gave you facts and facts and more facts. And you didn’t listen. As a matter of fact, you actively REFUSED to listen.”

[Ghost Dog]

2. People who reject facts and refuse to learn

should be disenfranchised.

[defacto7]

3. I so very much agree. Even environmentally minded people need to keep educating themseves

so we know the facts and not simply take for granted that information we've always trusted remains fact. Knowledge is constantly expanding, data increases and facts evolve with it. Some things are basic and concrete but some things aren't. The need to eliminate all fossil fuel based systems is concrete knowledge. But I think the things that will save us are far more intricate and complex now than they were 10 years ago and that complexity is increasing, maybe even exponentially. We can't get stuck in ideas born in economics that seemed true before. We must keep educating ourselves.

[Ghost Dog]

4. Yes. Please see discussion here:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/111685469