Эротические рассказы

Another End of the World is Possible. Pablo ServigneЧитать онлайн книгу.

Another End of the World is Possible - Pablo  Servigne


Скачать книгу
motivation developed in the 1940s.13 This theory argued that the needs of the human being are first of all physiological (hunger, thirst, sleep, breathing, etc.); then came the needs for security, then for belonging and love, then for esteem, and finally, at the top of the pyramid, the need for self-actualization. The survivalist posture essentially puts the emphasis on the base, on the first two floors of the pyramid (physiological needs and security), as a sort of logical, caricature extension of modern thought. One could see it as a reflection of a materialistic, individualistic world, separated from nature and in permanent struggle, seeking the best means (material, that is) to live in a world populated by potential competitors and by living beings of which we ultimately do not know very much. In this world, food, firewood and weapons are obviously the way to safety.

      Now let’s compare two fables. The first refers to the symbol of the French survivalist network, the ant, as in La Fontaine’s fable of the ant and the grasshopper. The ant spends her summer preparing food in anticipation of difficult times, while having to put up with the mockery of the grasshoppers who see no reason to worry about anything as long as the oil is flowing freely … But the ant grits her teeth. She becomes resentful and begins to delight in the pleasure that she will have when the hordes of hungry grasshoppers (and city dwellers) implore her forgiveness and pity far too late, and she tells them to get lost. A well-deserved revenge!

      Our second fable is that of the Three Little Pigs. All three are preparing for the arrival of the Big Bad Wolf with more or less seriousness, and with a different vision of the threat he will pose. When the wolf destroys the two weaker houses, the first two pigs (or grasshoppers) run to their super-survivalist brother … who opens the door for them. Of course, he may well say, ‘I told you so!’, but this does not prevent them from subsequently sharing a brotherly meal together. The difference between the two fables is that in the second case there was a sense of brotherhood before the disaster.

      We take it for granted that physiological and safety needs are important. Anyone who has not thought of preparation of this kind is only half awake. Yet survival is a precarious, transient state. It is ‘a list of facts without a vision’.15 We can survive for a few days, for a few weeks, but after that? Worse, if we find ourselves in a really bad disaster with this materialist attitude, with the objective of surviving a few weeks at the expense of our neighbours, it’s a safe bet that we will all be dead after a year.

      These four stories highlight the reasons for writing this book. These are the desire to get ready for living through the consequences of disasters that are happening and will happen in the future, above all by looking for connections between human beings, connections with non-human life, and a meaning for what is happening. For people who cannot imagine continuing to live without a feeling of achievement, of other people’s esteem, trust and love, without reasons to share, Maslow’s pyramid is apparently turned upside down. Perhaps it would be better to speak of ‘Maslow’s table’,16 of which each leg is essential for the overall balance of the person …

      We have no desire to see the continued existence of a violent society that selects for the most aggressive individuals. Wanting to live beyond the shocks, and not just survive them, is already to start our preparation with a different attitude, one that looks towards joy, sharing and fraternity.

      After we put together the facts about a possible collapse in a first book (How Everything Can Collapse: A Manual for Our Times),18 we can see several directions that are open for ‘collapsologists’ who want to move onwards. The most important, it seems to us (though not the most urgent one), is that of collective action, in other words of developing realistic, bold and courageous political proposals. However, before we act, and even before we propose courses of action, there are still things we need to understand and an inner journey we need to make. That journey involves coming to terms with the psychological aspects of climate change or other global disasters.19

      Here we face a huge challenge. Even to be interested in these subjects in their scientific or sociological forms brings with it some risk for our mental health. As for people who take this question head-on and make it the central direction of their lives, they are confronted (and will be for a long time) with very strong demands, both psychological and in their relations with others, as well as in their social and political commitments.

      During these years of discussions with the public, we arrived at the same conclusion as that described by Carolyn Baker, who has accompanied many people struggling with the prospect of collapse: once the penny drops, most people don’t want to see more and more evidence (even if it was important to begin with); they want above all to learn how to live with the collapse. They become ‘collapsonauts’.

      So, preparing oneself for this future does not just involve material and political aspects. It also has psychological, spiritual, metaphysical and artistic dimensions. The questions which the disasters pose for us are difficult to come to terms with. If we want to continue thinking about the collapse, if we seek to act, to make sense of our lives, or just to get up in the morning, it is important not to go crazy. Crazy with isolation, crazy with sadness, crazy with rage, crazy from thinking too much about it, or crazy from continuing one’s little routines while pretending not to see.

      The purpose of collapsology is not to state certainties that will crush any possible future, nor to make precise predictions, nor to find ‘solutions’ that can ‘avoid a problem’, but to learn to live with the bad news and with the changes that they foretell, sudden or gradual, so that we can find the strength and the courage to do something that will transform us, or, as Edgar Morin would say, will bring about our metamorphosis.


Скачать книгу

Яндекс.Метрика