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And talking about climate anxiety.
Having invented a merciless weapon of individual destruction — the pitchfork of the cancel mob — we are now doing to human nature what we have already done to nature, turning a biodiverse wilderness into a monoculture of a single crop deemed correct, forgetting there are infinitely many valid ways of being alive, that they can and must be complementary rather than contradictory if the ecosystem is to thrive.
– Maria Popova, creator of The Marginalian
Dear Reader,
It has become a tired fact that we live in polarized societies. And it’s another tired fact that, while climate change has been an acknowledged crisis in the scientific community for decades — and The 89% Project reports that 89% of people around the world want their governments to take action to mitigate it — many continue to avoid the topic with friends and family to avoid conflict. After all, who wants to feel like a scold?
But while it’s a loaded topic in part because it’s a serious and emotional one, we don’t all have to agree on what, specifically, needs fixing, or even how to fix it. By having debate and finding common ground, we can nonetheless create better outcomes. But that requires the brave first step of talking about it without lecturing, and without demanding that others agree.
Consider that hunters are typically conservationists, that scientists think it’s sometimes necessary to kill one species to save another, and that someone who made their living poaching tigers can be persuaded to protect them instead.
We must guard against creating a monoculture of opinions, as Maria Popova urges. A diversity of views is healthy, the ability to debate those views without coming to blows healthier still.
Democratically,
Dot
Cultivating support is crucial. Try Climate Cafés, the Climate Psychology Alliance, Climate Awakening, Climate Psychiatry Alliance, the Work That Reconnects Network, Climate Critical Earth (focusing largely on support for BIPOC), the Good Grief Network, which operates something like a 12-step group, and talking to friends and neighbors.
For more Bluedot Climate Quick Tips, click here.
