Let's all be thankful that America's presidential election is behind us. That frees up a great deal of oxygen that is sorely needed if we are to properly address the far more crucial situations that threaten the future of humanity.
For the past nine months, here is my estimate of where we in the developed world have been focusing most of our attention -- ranging from most to least:
#1. The Global Pandemic. Everyone on the planet has been affected and they are all talking about it.
#2. The American Presidential Election. Most people in the developed world have been paying close attention to this topic and at least half of them have been talking about it with their friends, families and co-workers.
#3. The Global Economy. Billions of people have been affected by the Covid-driven disruption of the world's economy and, sadly, too many of them are now having trouble feeding their families.
#4. Climate Change. This topic is rarely the lead story in any kind of news medium around the world -- and, as such, a very slim percentage of the world's population is even thinking about, much less actively discussing it with their friends or trying to do something about it.
#5. Uncertain Future as a Species. As the most crucial topic in the history of humanity, this one is hardly being discussed by anyone -- certainly less than 1/10th of one percent of the populace. A tiny few of us are writing or speaking out about it every day -- but it remains a topic that no one wants to talk about.
Of course, we wrote extensively about this in Outcry --focusing more attention (2/3 of the book) on an envisioned solution than we did on the problem itself. Sadly, the vast majority of the world's media is focusing on neither.
That said, Dr. Peter Carter is a breath of fresh air. Here is a brief bio of Dr. Carter from the Clarity Press:
Dr. Peter Carter is founder of the Climate Emergency Institute. He also serves as an expert reviewer for the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
He has presented on climate change issues (especially the implications of global climate change on food security for the world's most vulnerable regions and populations) at science and policy conferences in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. He is a former family and emergency medicine practitioner before retiring to focus on the climate crisis for the sake of his sons and their children.
In the 41-minute video below, Carter is joined by the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion (XR), Roger Hallam. Posted two days ago by XR, it has been seen by just 5100 people in the entire world.
That gives you an idea of just how little interest there is in learning about the likely demise of our species. Hopefully, now that we're not so obsessed with presidential politics, perhaps more people will take the time to pay attention to terrifying issues -- like the current and future state of humanity as discussed in this video that is entitled:
In this video, Carter and Hallam talk a great deal about the problem, but offer little in the way of a solution. They, of course, talk extensively about the need to reduce carbon emissions -- but the only solution mentioned is further reliance on non-violent, civil disobedience to force or influence governments around the world to work rapidly to replace all fossil fuels with renewables.
But, will that be enough? As a practical engineer who has been studying this topic for almost twenty years, I am almost certain that efforts to influence governments to take the requisite initiative to save our species have almost zero chance of success.
It seems clear to me that we must totally re-design and replace the way we live in the developed world -- and we must do it quickly. In order for that to happen, this project must be viewed as creating a brand new way of living that most humans will find attractive and even exciting.
All of our thinking is covered in Part Two of Outcry, but I have summarized it here in forty slides that comprise a presentation that I will be making to the World Affairs Council next month.
Just click on the image below to see those forty slides that can be easily understood by the average 11th grader.
More about Dr. Carter. He is featured in Chapter Four of Outcry, where he is joined by ten other "big picture" scientists who are very concerned about the future of humanity.
The Bottom Line. So that's the terrifying tale on this Friday the 13th. It's not a great deal different than the tale that we told in Outcry or the tale that I have been telling in these seventy-nine SOS Memos for the past few years. It is just more current.
Also, check out this July 2020 news about the remarkable James Lovelock, who at age 101, now says that "he AND our biosphere are in the final 1% of their lives." Hopefully, he is wrong about both predictions, although they are eerily similar to the conclusions of Dr. Carter and the other ten "big picture" scientists in Chapter Four of Outcry.
A final word on human priorities. A record thirteen million people watched round four of The Masters on CBS in April of 2019. My guess is that, with all the viewing options available for the first-ever-autumn-version of this event, upwards of 100 million people around the world will be watching at least part of this classic tournament this week.
And I must confess that I am one of them.
