I am 63 years old this summer. I have many memories, many happy memories. I have horrible memories too. I have endured much abuse and trauma. I have been very lucky, I think. At least this didn't happen.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
And I grew up in a country more or less safe from warfare, though polluted by Religion and Oligarchy, and have lived long time in a country that exports warfare globally. A country where it is safe to express my rage at war, yet remain utterly powerless to hold our war lords to account. The illusion of freedom.
My child will be 32 soon.
My child recently spoke to me of grief.
Grief for the loss implied by climate disruption, warfare, wealth extraction, Racism and misogyny. Grief for avoidable harms deliberately not avoided.
Grief for the harm already caused and the harm piling up into the future, clearly escalating due to the action of Oligarchy and the inaction of vassal state Governments.
Grief for decades of Labour warfare, Tory cruelty and, apparently, infinite myopic greed and avarice of the party membership.
Grief for the loss of a bright future for herself and her friends, her siblings, their children.
Grief for the loss of a bright future for billions of people.
That grief is particularly strong for her. She truly cares about people, she cares deeply about all of us, the vulnerable humane beings that we are... and she is a resilient person, a strong person willing to feel the world as it really is, strong enough to be honest and robustly loving nonetheless..
Grief for the horror of harm well understood, yet deliberately not avoided on that scale.
My child understands that the human and ecological costs of Wealth Extraction are profound, anti-evolutionary harms - that no amount of GDP can ever undo those harms, or repay those costs already imposed. GDP is a measurement of how much there is to extract wealth from. We both know GDP has nothing to do with human happiness and psychological well being.
Grief at the waste of precious in taking corrective action, a waste of time my generation is largely responsible for.
I cannot deny this. None of us can.
Of what use are our mortgages and pensions, our careers and our wealth to our children, now?
As we revel in the increase in the value of our properties, do we feel the grief of our children who must rent to fund others mortgages?
What did we build, even when we knew we were causing harm we could not undo or repair?
All these are the same problem.
The problem is the power of Wealth Extraction and The Bully Culture which maintains it. The Dominator Culture.
And I agree with my child.
The grief is real. A heavy shadow hovers over so many lives. A toxic cloud that cannot be busted by staring at it. A depression that cannot be lifted unless we work together, rich and poor alike, to solve these , which as part of a culture, we have created.
All of us are always in it together.
I grew up with the threat of nuclear war, imagined. Imagination backed by military hardware, and propaganda from all sides about 'deterrents' and the awfulness of the other side. Imagination fueled by very real wars prosecuted as 'foreign policy'.
The Mushroom Cloud seared our minds, troubled our hearts, gave us nightmares and sleepless nights. The power of a terrorised imagination triggered by deliberate content allowed this to persist.
Nuclear Weapons were not my choice. You probably did not choose nuclear weapons either. You did not choose climate disruption, you probably did not choose war or the maintenance of poverty as a nudge to drive so many people into low paid work, in order for Wealth Extraction to maintain it's dominance, The measure GDP is all about how much of GDP is extracted, and the human costs are irrelevant.
My child is growing up with the threat of climate disruption and ecological collapse that is real, not imagined. It is happening, now, everywhere.
My child and her contemporaries ask "Who will help the most vulnerable people to prepare for this, to live well, to have clean food and water, to abide safe shelter and thrive in communities that are resilient and self sustaining? Why do your generation refuse to take appropriate action?"
My child did not make this happen. This was not my child’s choice.
What will my generation do in the time we have left?
How will we comfort our children? Can we do anything materially and socially useful for this situation?
How do we meet their grief?
What can we do for them, even as we approach old age?
Kindest regards
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