Obviously it’s pointless. We are doomed.
Or it that just a frightened voice inside, knowing what we know?
Social failure rears it’s ugly head, as half million more Americans, and countless millions more around the world, head home, if they have one. You are no longer valued. Kiss consumerism, and your future plans, good-bye.
That’s all good for nature, who needs a break, but still heartless to see it in motion, with real people – people who will work hard, who want a role.
All this breakup of the fraudulent financial system takes place against a backdrop of climate pessimism. The bad news keeps piling up, and you’ll hear in a series of interviews coming up on Radio Ecoshock this Fall.
What to do?
After I have my mandatory weekly nervous breakdown – we get a report from Europe, as I chat with UK radio host Phil England. We hear about climate camps in Britain, and around the world. In the U.S., they may be called “convergence camps”, and Greenpeace Canada has their own series of actvist training going. These instant meetings, with hundreds of workshops, are popping up all over.
Then, despite my admitted apathy, we wonder whether political negotiators at the Copenhagen climate conference this December – will they really have the guts to do the right thing? Will they set a carbon limit that could preserve the Arctic, for example – or will they hand all the hard work off to the next generation (when it’s too late)??
There is one way you and I can push these old-school energy hustlers, so they know we are awake and watching. Bill McKibben is the center of a world-wide day of action, coming up October 24th. You can find out what is going on in your area by going to 350.org. Use that as a tool to wake up all your friends. You can join an existing parade, or dream up some creative attention-getting action of your own.
I’ve peppered this week’s show with quotes from a speech McKibben gave April 30th, 2009 in Dunedin, New Zealand. The version I used came from this great program (12 MB 53 min Lo-Fi) edited by the legendary Pacifica host C.S. Soong. I admire his “Against the Grain” program, and his contributions to other shows, like Terra Verde.
If you live through all that – the reward is one of my favorite interviews ever. I chew over our dim prospects with one of America’s really witty authors and social commentators: Joe Bageant.
Joe’s best seller was “Deer Hunting With Jesus” – a kind of personalized, slightly gonzo investigation into the poor underclass of America. I read every essay Joe posts on his blog. We delve into ecocide, and the ticklish problem of whether a heavily brainwashed American public has the tools to understand the damage around us.
Joe Bageant makes people laugh, makes them angry, makes them think. That kind of writer/thinker is very valuable. Enjoy the interview. I did.
Music this week: in honor of Phil England – “London Calling” by the Clash. “London calling” used to be the call signal for the BBC World Service, back in the day. But I couldn’t find a clip of those words, in the old empire voice for the show! Not on youtube, not on the BBC archive site, not on archive.org. Surely those classic words have not disappeared! If you know where to get an audio clip of the “London calling” opening to the old BBC, like 1950’s or before, please drop me a line at:
radio [at] ecoshock.org.
Also: a small clip from “Get Off Your Ass” by Gene Burnett, found on youtube. A theme of this show, I suppose. It’s time to get going, or die off.
I’ll be asking you – what are you going to do October 24th? We need to make “350” an international sensation, right quick. While there’s still time to draft a climate treaty – a treaty with nature, peace with the atmosphere.
Alex Smith
Radio Ecoshock