While I sympathize with the organizers of the Earth Live concerts and support their efforts to make the world a better place that doesn’t eventually kill us all, I think they underestimate the power of Earth. All of civilization is but a blip in the life of the planet. It was here before we were, and it will be here when we’re gone.
Maybe they should talk about saving Western civilization as we know it, because that’s really what it’s all about. Dinosaurs were around a lot longer than Western civilization has been, and they died out. That, or morphed into the reptiles and birds we know today. Still, the planet remained and quietly bred our ancestors in its own time.
There is every likelihood that we will go the way of the dinosaurs at some point. Homo sapien certainly doesn’t have an exemption to long-term biological change (a.k.a. evolution). Regardless of what happens with global warming, if we survive, we won’t be the same people we were a million years ago.
The biggest threat that global warming poses isn’t to the planet: it’s to social and economic structures that constitute the foundation of our Western culture. Too many natural disasters, whether they be flood or drought, that the government cannot respond to will cause civil unrest. Irregular weather patterns that disrupt commerce will cause economic unrest. Businesses will fail, people will hoard emergency supplies and ammunition, the rule of law will begin to break down as one problem after another slowly erodes the glue of society.
That’s the real threat of global warming. And it’s the one that all the celebrity do-gooders aren’t talking about.
And as Lady Paris has taught us, celebrity status is not an indicator of insight or good judgment. If anything, it seems to make the shallow bowl an even shallower plate.
And it’s not that I question the celebrities’ motivations. I’m sure that most are quite pure.
But they’ve missed the big picture.
To get the masses behind finding a resolution to global warming, or even a half-assed way to address the issue, the message needs to framed differently than the old hippies and young neo-hippies are doing it. They’re mostly talking in abstract terms that don’t have very much impact.
They need to talk about how much money a person can save by using the little screw-in fluorescent bulbs. I spent $40 on some, and our electric bill dropped by more than $40 in the first month. I didn’t do it out of love for Mother Earth, because she’ll be here long after I’m gone. I did it for love of green pieces of paper in my wallet that could be used to do things other than light our apartment.
Don’t tell folks that sea levels will rise, because most of them don’t live close to a sea. It’s their problem for living within a few feet of sea level. Not enough people will care.
Instead, talk about the upheaval in daily life that will accompany the eventual breakdown of civic institutions that can no longer respond to an endless string of death and disaster. Tell them about saving money now.
Talk in real terms, not in glam-speak. We don’t need any more psuedointellectual pop stars and actors with good intentions but no perspective.
Re-brand, re-market, re-something. Just get down off that luxury soap box and talk about real issues. And if you can’t talk about real issues, then just shut up.
All that hot air can’t be good for the ozone layer.
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