I don't think it's that we are both trapped in ways of thinking as much as we are trapped in a world not of our own making.
And just as we didn't make it the way it is, we can't change it en masse to fit our desires either. At least, not overnight.
We CAN change it a bit at a time, with persuasion, with positive action, and with our votes... the latter being a constrained and imperfect vehicle, as you rightly point out, but collectively it's one of the biggest things we can participate in.
Being that you cannot persuade, cajole, shame, force, or beat the entire human race into making drastic changes to their lives overnight, and being that the infrastructure will take at minimum a decade to convert, any talk of immediate, seismic shifts to a (yet undefined) new way of living that is planet-friendly is purely a thought experiment.
There is only one immediate 'solution' to the problem of human impact on the planet I can think of, which in itself would be a disaster- a plague that would reduce the world population. Not an actionable option by any sane person.
I appreciate your perspective, Jim. I think it's vital to the functioning of a society that there are many, even radically different, ways of thinking that can see what others cannot see. And in fact, I think you are correct on most counts. I agree that our culture is flawed... our technology is harming the planet... this is self evident to all but the truly insensitive.
You sometimes worry me a little bit with the intimations that a solution must be imposed by force... I don't want you to take this the wrong way, 'cause I don't think you're a sociopath, but that sounds too much like Bush's call to attack Iraq. You see a catastrophe coming any day now, and propose drastic emergency action to forestall it. You don't specify what that might be, but one thing I'm sure of, I'm very suspicious of any plan that severely impacts real lives based on the POSSIBILITY of disaster. As we've seen in Iraq, this rush to action created an even BIGGER disaster.
Now, global warming, et al, is real, this is clear. I don't think catastrophic world collapse is imminent, as you suggest, tho.
I don't buy that idea that the shit will hit the fan everywhere at the same time. Yes, the end of the world comes, just for some people here, a few over there, and some more over there... it's a slow-motion end of the world. Religious fanatics have been proclaiming and putting dates on 'the big one' for centuries... the doomsdays come and go, and we're all mostly still here.
So, changing the way we operate is vital, and we should be (should have been for the last thirty years, really) putting it into practice, but it's got to be done patiently, safely, and we must avoid making things worse in our attempts to make things better.
Keep contributing, my friend... celebrate your unique perspective. We might disagree on many things, but thank you for being thoughtful and intelligent in your posts (compared to exchanging blows with that snarling little cretin Tinky, debating with you is a breath of fresh air).
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