Tags
6th Mass Extinction, American Empire, Anthropogenic Climate Disruption (ACD), Capitalism, Collapse of Industrial Civilization, Consumerism, Kenn Orphan, Neoliberal Capitalism
Championing the rapacious conversion of the Earth into dead commodities and its peoples into soulless consumers, the adherents of capitalism have succeeded in entrenching their ideology into the minds of the vast populations as the only viable economic system and way of life. Mesmerized by the electronic gadgetry of the digital age and singing the praises of the “free market”, atomized citizens blissfully hack away at the tree of life that supports them. The bio-destructive power of capitalist industrial civilization stamps out the poetry of nature, silencing entire ecosystems. This essay by Kenn Orphan describes the mindless march towards self-destruction and the redemption that comes by bearing witness to it.
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” – Carl Sagan
We are all witnesses to the Great Dying, a sixth mass extinction, the last one being 65 million years ago which wiped out the dinosaurs. This is not hyperbole; it is a defining feature of our age.
Countless species are falling prey to the wealthy’s indifference, militarism and folly everyday. As in ancient civilizations, the wealthy and the privileged are generally the last to feel the pain of collapse, yet are most often the root cause. And compared to the mass of humanity we share this planet with, and as a result of rapacious exploitation and plunder, Americans, and westerners in general, are the wealthy and the privileged of modern civilization.
Despite overwhelming evidence of crashing ecosystems, many of us living in the twilight years of the American empire seem oblivious to the canaries in the coal mine. Every…
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Collapse of Industrial Civilization 
Thanks for this sincere and beautifully expressed piece. You have said so well what has been in my heart for a long time. Our grief has it’s own value, and needs to be shared. It will play it’s part in the possible creation of a better, truer, and more loving world whether it is obvious to ourselves or others exactly how it does so. The awakening of conscience entails pain and remorse that are real and honest beginnings of a healing process.
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From the author’s ‘About‘ page:
“The intent of his blog is to share insight and thoughts about all of these issues, to raise awareness for the further advancement of empathy, and to bear witness to the events unfolding around us without the pretense of false hope…”
Silence = death, and too many are silent.
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I am glad the author uses the phrase “false hope”. There is a crucial difference between false hope and all hope. No one is in the necessary omniscient position to confidently foreclose all hope. The belief in absolutes, perfections, and unquestionables is a pervasive delusion among humans, and indeed a cornerstone of their hubris.
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For those who want to understand how, in a brief summary, neoliberal capitalism worked to destroy the Third World:
Why Africa Can’t Handle Ebola: the Destruction of the 3rd World
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Africa has been ravaged by civil wars, but who were the merchants of death supplying the arms to Africa?
http://www.bu.edu/globalbeat/syndicate/Hartung021000.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/02/-sp-africa-arms-dump-south-sudan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/chinas-arms-exports-flooding-sub-saharan-africa/2012/08/25/16267b68-e7f1-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/04/arms-trade-africa
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James Baldwin Debates William F. Buckley (1965)
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That was a lot of thought provoking shit, Michael.
For most of my life it’s been no secret that all you had to do was ship a crate of M16’s to some disconnected outpost in Africa and….voila! Yer Fuckin’ King! And if you want ammunition all you have to do is allow us to build an airstrip…ah….HERE!
As for the Baldwin / Buckley debate…
Loved the Norman St. John, Stevas, M.P. guy. Pardon my ignorance, but what, exactly does M.P. stand for? Military Police? Mistress of…Prophylactics? Naw…couldn’t be that. That would make him a MOP. Ya know, after this much time, to wonder why the African descendents in America still feel the way that that do means that you can fit all of your Black Friends in the trunk of your car and still have room for the Republican Elephant (…with a tip of the hat to Earl Butz).
My family comes from St. Louis. I would go to East St. Louis before I went to North St. Louis.
Don’t even get me started on the Hough in Cleveland.
Now that the technologically advanced cultures have realized that careless technology is the very thing that has diminished the propagation of all life on this planet, at what point does it become obvious that they might want to observe the remaining cultures on this planet to see if there is a workable alternative. Maybe even a slightly modifiable alternative.
Oooooo…..doesn’t that word “modifiable” just send a shiver down your spine?
We’re not going to get out of this OK. You make your friends, you hold on tight, and profess your love to the ones that you know.
Each of us gets know so few people.
The Royals are playing the Orioles. Gotta’ get back to it. It’s a cultural thing.
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EDITOR’S NOTE:
If Norman St. John were at the top of his game, he would have correctly introduced William F. Buckley (barf) as the representative of Stay-Free Maxi Pads (TM)
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Xhalor,
MP stands for Members of Parliment. Hope that helps.
Your description of Buckley had me laughing for quite a bit. Very funny.
Buckley and Gore Vidal were debating during the 68 election campaign. At one point Buckley got so irate at Gore he called him a queer and threaten to punch him out. IT was worth watching just to see that smug facade of Buckley’s crack and shatter.
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“…If our whole social and economic organization is based on each one seeking his own advantage, if it is governed by the principle of egotism tempered by (an illusory) ethical principle of fairness, how can one do business, how can one act within the framework of existing society and at the same time practice love.”
~ German psychologist Erich Fromm, 1957
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Thanks Kenn. Well said.
Now here is one for the little guys. Hail small victories!
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Erich Fromm was one of my early heroes as a teenager. Escape From Freedom and The Art of Loving were my favorites. The tragedy of so many buying into authoritarianism,
as unquestioning and obedient followers, has haunted me all these years as it did Fromm, who the nightmare of Nazism led him to ask how so many could have given up their precious freedom to Hitler and his crew of maniacs. Of course the same fatal affair continues today unabated….
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Little, shamable, groups seem to be the only thing that works.
Didja’ ever fuck up and have to walk down your block with all those fist waving citizens? And they knew your mane?
Thank Jehjova they didn’t have automatic weapons…..
As soon as your local community figures out what to do with the land that you have AVAILABLE and the water that you have AVAILABLE, it will probably work out.
No, there will no be AVAILABLE electricity to listen to the Blue Oyster Cult.
Perhaps Chopin.
If you can figure out another way, you will replace Willie Mays as my fuckin’ hero.
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There’s always luck…
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Here is Ken Orphan’s art page, for those interested:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Art-of-Kenn-Orphan/118395658198515
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