Could this centuries-long splurge possibly end well? Fortunately, the wise ones were betting on it, knowing how great it would feel when forests and seashores began to regenerate, and when people started trusting each other again. Rather than just watch history unfold, they vowed to actively steer it in a more secure, resilient direction. As individuals they were grateful to be alive, and as a movement, they were feeling unstoppable.
One thing was certain: this was a turning point, like no other. Would this adolescent species – far less senior than crocodiles or ants – move quickly enough to avert apocalypse as humongous chunks of glacial ice continued to crack into the ocean? It would not be easy. Remember the do-or-die actions of Bedford Falls neighbors in the classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life, bringing fistfuls of dollars to the bank just in time to save Bailey Building and Loan? That’s the kind of all-in teamwork it will take to rescue the planet’s natural systems and time-rich cultures: a spontaneous uprising of all the world’s people, committed to restoring the world’s natural and cultural systems, because everything else is small potatoes by comparison.
Really, wasn’t this the most gripping drama since the disappearance of the dinosaurs? (The obvious difference being that there wasn’t a single thing dinosaurs could have done to intercept and destroy an asteroid. Not a lot of cunning, no thumbs.) Woven into this life-and-death tapestry were billions of daily vignettes: honest folks going to work, rethinking household budgets and sticking their necks out in the name of fairness… Sure, there were sometimes bad eggs in power, but millions were earnest, conscious caretakers of the glittering blue marble that had birthed and nurtured them. One was a seasoned molecular biologist steadily on the trail of life’s timeless secrets. For him, the threat of social collapse was just an irrelevant distraction – a fly buzzing around the lab.
Another was a passionate flower gardener and political activist whose sunny thoughts were on seedlings and positive political interventions, not the collapse of civilization. No time for that! With their surplus of vitality and courage, these were the kind of clear-headed people who could make the change happen – even as huge as it was – by inventing less stressful, more grounded ways of living. Let the jittery Joneses stampede ahead on their Black Fridays and superhighways, the new cultural pioneers wouldn’t honor that burned-out definition of success, not anymore! Instead, like brilliant jazz musicians, they’d improvise a moderate, experience-rich civilization with instinct as a guide. Instead of deadlines and dying species, they would choose lifelines and living wealth.
David Wann is the author or co-author of many books, articles and TV documentaries about a sustainable “new normal.” These include Affluenza, Simple Prosperity, The New Normal, Superbia, Deep Design, Biologic and others. this essay will be included in an emerging collection tentatively called Rumors of Rain.
