After Pearl Harbor, when the United States faced an existential threat, President Roosevelt announced a military production plan to Congress and the American people that seemed unachievable. Yet, not only did the country meet those plans, it overshot them as a result of the wholesale transformation of society towards a single goal. This kind of mobilization is what would be required today to avoid the worst outcomes of climate change: a Climate Mobilization.
In this case, though, it's a different kind of mobilization that's required. The threat we're facing comes, not from enemies at war with us, but from the results of an economic system designed to exploit the earth and the most vulnerable humans living on it at an ever-increasing pace. As long as we measure ourselves and others by how much we consume, we're complicit in fueling the global system that's rapaciously devouring the earth.
The good news is that there's a short window of time when a fundamental shift in our economic, social, and political priorities could still prevent global catastrophe. Alternative economic models exist that offer ways to conduct commerce sustainably. Ultimately, a flourishing future requires moving away from the growth-based, consumption-obsessed values of global capitalism, and toward a quality-oriented approach that could allow all of us to live on the earth in dignity. It's even possible to draw down much of the carbon that's already been emitted -- the potential is there but it requires a choice to be made: a shift in our society's values toward caring for others alive right now, and for future generations.
Will there be enough collective willpower to act and transform our society before it's too late? That depends on the lessons learned from Harvey, Irma, and the climate disasters still to come. Suppose, as you're racing toward that crowd in the road, that you managed to brake in time, get out of the car and join them. And then imagine your surprise when you discover the road you were speeding on came to an abrupt end around the next curve and was leading you directly off the precipice. Ultimately, the climate catastrophe we're ignoring will become all humanity's catastrophe unless we start acting on it now.
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