This is a long watch, but do watch it. Its illuminating, thought provoking, and sums things up really really well.
It must be screened at every school. They're the ones who'll have to face it. They're the ones who'll need to discard everything we've taught them to be true and right and relearn, rediscover, experiment. All the while burdened with a terrible terrible legacy that we would have left them with.
The energy, oil economy decided everything, and the monetary system that encouraged growth, has needed more and more and more of it. The bacteria-in-the-bottle analogy is chilling.
Growth (as currently pursued) indeed is a huge problem - its a brave thing to call that one out in the current madness for it as the panacea that can bring democracy, solve hunger, provide for all and solve anything at all.
Alternative energy, conservation, recycling - these are all twigs we're trying to use to try and hold against the ground to stop the bus hurtling rapidly towards the cliff. Nothing will "solve" it unless we relook at - or are forced to relook at - how we continue to live, and how many of us do.
Our lack of acknowledgement, our inability to understand and react appropriately to this fundamental truth is apalling, scary and frustrating.
There's no way of continuing the current way we live and hope technology will solve it enough so we can get away without having to do anything.
Thankfully, the movie does suggest a few fixes, and they're all tough. I don't see many willing or able to adapt to live the better life, and we'll eventually do when forced to.
- Question growth, globalization : they're pure bad as practised, NOT good.
- Walk, cycle more since you'll have to. Drive less. Way lesser.
- Buy less. Please. Everything,
- Buy local, seasonal, unpackaged.
- Fight fears and imagined inconveniences - the big ones haven't hit yet.
- Doing "more physical work" is NOT a bad thing.
- Get out of banking/globalized currency - its tough but make a start
- A few ideas
- Potlucks to substitute restaurants
- Barter skills and services
- Co-operate for manpower needs, don't always buy it
- Use everything longer
- Optimize the hell out of everything
- Slower, less commercial forms of entertainment
- Grow some food
- A few ideas
- Learn more about the land, growing food, water
- We've lost half the topsoil in the last couple of 100 years!
- We've completely lost any understanding of the carrying capacity of a place
- Learn more about building homes from stuff around you
- Re-invest in community - time and effort, not money
The current financial economy and monetary system are indeed a ponzi scheme. Frustrating that we're so wedded to it and almost powerless to fiind a way out.
Sometimes I think our faith in technology is a mere betrayal of our conceit, but it might just be the stupid-filter masquerading as smartness and intelligence. Our total lack of ability to connect the dots is apalling.
Or maybe we're just too scared to ask questions, change lifestyles that deviate from the marketed/accepted status quo.
2048, I'd say, is the new doomsday. In less dramatic ways but figuratively, yes. I'll probably die before that but in a terrible state of mind.
We're soooooo screwed. Sorry, kids, that we couldn;t see this, couldn't behave ourselves and were too weak to improve things in the face of the instant pleasure.