Some thoughts about Carrying Capacity

[GliderGuider]

16. I probably haven't been clear on that view

I think that a spiritual awakening (by which I mean a deep comprehension of the reality of the essential interconnectedness of everything, and the role/responsibility we have in that web individually and collectively) is the only chance we have, but what remains unclear in that statement is what the chance is for, and who "we" refers to.

I think that awakening is useful to individuals no matter when it happens and who it happens to. However in species/civilization terms, a widespread awakening would only be useful after we go through the bottleneck. "Useful" in that sense means we could have a head start on creating the superstructure of values, traditions, rituals, morals - the new Story of Us - that will put us into better alignment with the radically different world that will exist then.

I see awakening as a chance to plant the seeds of the new story/stories in a lot of individuals, with the expectation that some of them will manage to either carry the story through the bottleneck themselves, or pass it on to others (friends, children etc.) who will. This is already happening, through organizations like Via Campesina, Occupy and the countless groups that make up Paul Hawken's "Blessed Unrest" meta-movement.

We are way too far along for this to make any difference to when and how we enter the bottleneck. That's already happening, and it's out of our hands entirely. The good comes later.