Two tiny things I've started doing since the heatwaves became social small talk.
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@gerrymcgovern Ha
It's so frustrating, though, that we have to think so strategically about what phrase to use just to be able to bring up the subject in polite social company. Even as thousands of people are dying in European heatweaves. I hope the social attitude switches soon - that the heretics are the ones who try to keep the subject unmentionable and taboo, not the ones who want to discuss what on Earth we are going to do.@CiaraNi @gerrymcgovern I’ve been reading a lot of Paul Levy’s work on Wetiko (aka Wendigo), a myth of Algonquian-speaking people about a spirit of insatiable hunger and greed.
He characterizes it as a mind virus that has come to predominate the globe, spread largely by western civilization.
Our way of speaking and thinking, of separateness from nature, the earth, each other, and even our very selves is a sickness. Untended, it leads to our destruction.
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@CiaraNi @gerrymcgovern I’ve been reading a lot of Paul Levy’s work on Wetiko (aka Wendigo), a myth of Algonquian-speaking people about a spirit of insatiable hunger and greed.
He characterizes it as a mind virus that has come to predominate the globe, spread largely by western civilization.
Our way of speaking and thinking, of separateness from nature, the earth, each other, and even our very selves is a sickness. Untended, it leads to our destruction.
@zenmorph
Sounds about right, sadly. I can't see anything but civilizational collapse up ahead. And then the question become: what comes after it? How do we pick up the pieces because civilizational collapse doesn't have to mean life collapse--although it could be. -
@CiaraNi If the industry or politics talk about climate change they immediately mention everyone's CO2-footprint, trying to deflect from their responsibilities.
Everyone knows that we're running into a crisis of immense proportion, yet still they're discussing how many gas generators they want approved for their next datacenter which "we desperate need without alternative to train AI to fight climate change".
So yes, climate collapse or climate catastrophy is more fitting.
@Brokar It's a mess. The deflection is strong on all sides. Politicians and industry deflect by pointing at individual carbon footprints. Individuals deflect by pointing at industry and at individual billionaire's private jets, as long as they do nothing, we do nothing. And yes, the GAI energy waste on top of all this is downright distressing.
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@miki @CiaraNi @FreakyFwoof like I said somewhere else today: you can adapt to heating but adapting to unpredictability is *hard* (didn't want to be too much of a doomer and say impossible)
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I was talking the other day to a woman I know to be- as l like to call it - "in the FOXNews information universe", meaning she's getting constant messaging that climate (collapse) change is a hoax. We were talking weather (ours here has been unusually cool) and I mentioned the super el Nino. She "hoped it wouldn't happen". I told her oh so casually that it's here, ocean temps are several standard deviations above normal and the hottest in 50 million years. Then I changed the subject.
@jawarajabbi It is so frustrating. Good for you trying to make the point. Even if she didn't want to hear, maybe somebody else will hear and listen.
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@gerrymcgovern @zenmorph Great observations and points.
One of the things that is giving me some hope these days is a podcast, of all things. An audio drama. Lost Terminal. A hopepunk, solarpunk series based in the post-collapse world, after climate collapse and 'the resource wars'. It's based in technological and scientific and natural science reality, showing ways to live in a restructured human society. So much hope and civilization. Great drama story too.
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@Brokar It's a mess. The deflection is strong on all sides. Politicians and industry deflect by pointing at individual carbon footprints. Individuals deflect by pointing at industry and at individual billionaire's private jets, as long as they do nothing, we do nothing. And yes, the GAI energy waste on top of all this is downright distressing.
@CiaraNi That's exactly what Angela Merkel did in her 16 years as chancellor.
"We have to find a common solution" was her motto.
Means, if you don't come up with something, we don't have to do anything.That's why also in Germany we fight the unwinnable battles.
The lobby for keeping the status quo is stronger and better financed than the lobby for change.
They also like to talk about "future generations" etc. but actually they don't care at all. If they did, they'd behave differently.
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@bedifferent Agreed. And yes, yikes indeed.
"Calling a lie mis or dis info, I understand but calling things a lie leaves no doubt and the media didn't do that for a long time,"
Great point. We made it socially impolite to call a lie a lie; to say that a liar lied instead of 'misspoke'; to say that we need to do something collective about climate collapse ourselves even though Elon Musk has a private jet.
@CiaraNi YES and I hate it during these times. Call it out - the asshole said at some point he was glad his lies weren't being called lies (close enough quote). It also seems to be making him crazier (good and bad).
I appreciate your response because people didn't seem to get it... too polite.
Climate Collapse Climate Collapse Climate Collapse and that's not a lie.
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@CiaraNi i can't even talk about it anymore. i just get filled w rage
@McSquank I have this rage too and join you in how difficult it can be to talk about the climate collapse because it triggers the rage. I think it is one of the most important personal challenges for all of us, to learn to gradually contain more of that rage so we can channel the energy into the myriad ways of problem solving we need to tackle the collapse @CiaraNi
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Two tiny things I've started doing since the heatwaves became social small talk.
I use the phrase 'climate collapse'. Klimakollaps. Not climate change.
When anyone moans about the heat in isolation, as if it's just a rare hot day today, I mention the death toll and wonder aloud: 'What are we going to do about climate collapse?' Just to bring it into the conversation.
I know it's very Old Woman Yells At Climate Collapse. But it's just weird that we refuse to even mention it.
@CiaraNi I have been calling it Climate Disaster. It seems not to be taken seriously
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Two tiny things I've started doing since the heatwaves became social small talk.
I use the phrase 'climate collapse'. Klimakollaps. Not climate change.
When anyone moans about the heat in isolation, as if it's just a rare hot day today, I mention the death toll and wonder aloud: 'What are we going to do about climate collapse?' Just to bring it into the conversation.
I know it's very Old Woman Yells At Climate Collapse. But it's just weird that we refuse to even mention it.
@CiaraNi I will consider joining you and make the call to change terminology too. Moaning and complaining, it really challenges me. I like your question because it proposes to shift from powerlessness into problem-solving or at least taking a small step into doing something about what we complain about. In my experience, the person complaining often doesn't know what they want. So I'll try a step before your question - asking: How would you like the situation to be?
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Two tiny things I've started doing since the heatwaves became social small talk.
I use the phrase 'climate collapse'. Klimakollaps. Not climate change.
When anyone moans about the heat in isolation, as if it's just a rare hot day today, I mention the death toll and wonder aloud: 'What are we going to do about climate collapse?' Just to bring it into the conversation.
I know it's very Old Woman Yells At Climate Collapse. But it's just weird that we refuse to even mention it.
@CiaraNi great strategy.
Maybe it can be classified as "Old woman yells at missing clouds"?
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Two tiny things I've started doing since the heatwaves became social small talk.
I use the phrase 'climate collapse'. Klimakollaps. Not climate change.
When anyone moans about the heat in isolation, as if it's just a rare hot day today, I mention the death toll and wonder aloud: 'What are we going to do about climate collapse?' Just to bring it into the conversation.
I know it's very Old Woman Yells At Climate Collapse. But it's just weird that we refuse to even mention it.
@CiaraNi great strategy.
Maybe it can be classified as "Old woman yells at missing clouds" ? -
Two tiny things I've started doing since the heatwaves became social small talk.
I use the phrase 'climate collapse'. Klimakollaps. Not climate change.
When anyone moans about the heat in isolation, as if it's just a rare hot day today, I mention the death toll and wonder aloud: 'What are we going to do about climate collapse?' Just to bring it into the conversation.
I know it's very Old Woman Yells At Climate Collapse. But it's just weird that we refuse to even mention it.
@CiaraNi yes, bring it into the conversation as if everyone already agrees (they all do, they just don't want to admit it, even to themselves).
I like to use the term: climate chaos. A lot of the terms we use feel too orderly for me.
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@juliette I am comforted to learn that it's not just me.
"This is the hottest day of my life."
"The hottest day of your life so far."
I am starting to tire of people making mention of climate collapse seem like a mood killer and social faux pas. We're going to tone-police ourselves and the planet to death, all because those of us in the 10% don't want to feel guilty about all the city-break flights and consumer goods.
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Two tiny things I've started doing since the heatwaves became social small talk.
I use the phrase 'climate collapse'. Klimakollaps. Not climate change.
When anyone moans about the heat in isolation, as if it's just a rare hot day today, I mention the death toll and wonder aloud: 'What are we going to do about climate collapse?' Just to bring it into the conversation.
I know it's very Old Woman Yells At Climate Collapse. But it's just weird that we refuse to even mention it.
I think a lot of the frenzy about Israel is people subconsciously railing against something they think they can impact. People don't want to think about the problems facing us all. It's much easier to pour all of that fear into hate
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@juliette I am comforted to learn that it's not just me.
"This is the hottest day of my life."
"The hottest day of your life so far."
I am starting to tire of people making mention of climate collapse seem like a mood killer and social faux pas. We're going to tone-police ourselves and the planet to death, all because those of us in the 10% don't want to feel guilty about all the city-break flights and consumer goods.
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@CiaraNi @FreakyFwoof Somebody suggested calling it "catastrophic climate chaos", and I like that. The rising average isn't so much of a problem, the rising variance is.
Decades ago a SF writer tried “climate weirding”, which was true but also not scary enough.
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@clintruin I didn't really mean 'weird', it was an on-the-fly choice of word. Yes, the silence is not 'weird' in the sense of mysterious. We are very deliberately not mentioning it. Because, I think, of social pressure among the privileged minority who over-consume not to normalise the idea that we can and should change our behaviour.
I think a combination of that and fear of not being well enough off when “the music stops”.
