So long as men can breathe or eyes can see; So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Andrew: The “this” being the poem itself, and by extension human culture, yes? Jamey: Yes. And the trouble with climate change is it says Fuck you! to all that. It says: you will no longer be able to exchange the cultural continuity of the human image for t

Who is right? Well, of course, each of them is in possession of a crucial part of the truth, but ultimately, it’s the right brain that knows what matters most. The right brain knows Oh, we destroyed the biosphere. It is tragic. We are here to witness it. The left brain only knows that it’s a totally regrettable disaster. There’s nothing but bittern

Jamey: Well, one way is to “normalize our predicament” by saying I, too, am aware of this, and yet I show up for interpersonal relationships, and community, and ice cream, and religion, and art.

Jamey: Yes. What I want to do is take a deep breath and then sink low enough in the pool that I can feel the bottom and push off from it. I want to know what’s down there. I want to know how bad it truly is. I want to avoid a scenario in which my fear and anxiety prevent me from looking at the truth, but I also want to avoid a situation where I am

Jamey: You can’t lie to yourself, but you can shift the emphasis onto the parts of reality that you can tolerate, and it behooves you to do that. If you want, you can die in the teeth of the truth, but it might be better to acknowledge that the truth is over there, and I see it, and I won’t journey into its belly and be digested. That’s different f

Jamey: In Jewish tradition, there is this very old notion that you’re not responsible for fixing the world, but you are responsible for trying.

agony. Sure, there is an inherent bitterness and agony in confronting these facts for the first time. And, then, as you begin to live with them, more bitterness and agony. Ultimately, however, because conditions in this part of the world at this historical moment — especially for beneficiaries of white privilege — have not yet declined to a point o

Jamey: A big part of what Guy McPherson spends his time doing is spelling out how his message of near-term human extinction is not quietist, that he’s encouraging people to live what he calls “a life of excellence” which includes striving to oppose the forces that face us with destruction even in the knowledge that we will not succeed.

Since our mission in the world is to live in such a way that we can be both happy and ethical,