[A-List] The Point of Return

[Bill Totten <shimogamo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Point of Return

by Satish Kumar

Resurgence Issue 243


It is 'cool' to be an optimist.

Pessimism is in fashion. Scientists, environmentalists and
climatologists are claiming that collapse is around the corner and
civilisation is coming to an end. Book after book tells us that we have
passed the tipping point and have reached the point of no return. The
skies are saturated with carbon dioxide and the atmosphere is filled
with greenhouse gases. We are told over and over that whatever we do, we
cannot reverse the rise in temperature or prevent the sea from flooding
London! What happened to New Orleans will happen to New York. Global
warming is here to stay. The scenario of doom and gloom is expounded by
experts and activists alike.

We do not underestimate the severity of the climate crisis. We respect
the scientists who are predicting a catastrophic future for humanity. We
agree that our present way of life, so dependent on the use of fossil
fuel, is hanging on a cliff edge. If we go any further we will fall into
the abyss. So the only thing we can do now is to take a step back; let's
call it "the point of return". We need to return to a way of life that
is free from damaging dependence on fossil fuel.

At present we burn billions of barrels of petroleum every day for our
food, clothes, homes, heating, lighting, transport and entertainment.
This way of life is not only wasteful and unsustainable, but also very
dangerous. As Sir Crispin Tickell writes in his article, it took nature
200 million years to create the vast store of fossil energy that we have
almost spent in 200 years. The speed with which we are exhausting fossil
energy is incredible. Sir Crispin suggests a fundamental shift in values
and a radical return to a holistic worldview.

There is a word in Sanskrit for the point of return: it is pratikraman.
Its opposite is atikraman, which means stepping outside our natural
limits. Atikraman happens when we break the universal law. Returning to
the centre of one's being or to the source of inner wisdom is
pratikraman. These two Sanskrit words provide a useful approach to
understanding the current human predicament and a possible way out.
A profound introspection is needed to examine the state of our psyche;
we need to ask, are we meeting our need or indulging our greed? Are we
healing or wounding the Earth?

In the context of climate change and global warming, addiction to oil is
atikraman and a return to the energy derived from air, water and sun is
pratikraman. One way to begin our pratikraman is to stop and put a cap
on consumerism. We need a moratorium on motorways and runways. No new
homes without insulation. We need to put an immediate freeze on
industrialised agriculture everywhere in the world. Once we have put
such a complete freeze on the use of fossil fuel, we can start the
reduction process and the return journey to renewable resources. If we
plan and manage our return journey carefully we should be able to escape
the projected meltdown. We were able to repair the hole in the ozone
layer by reducing the use of CFCs; we should be able to mitigate the
extreme consequences of global warming if we can put an immediate cap on
the use of fossil fuel and prepare to make the return journey instantly.

To meet the challenge of global warming, we need to change from being
consumers to being artists; we have to take refuge in the arts and
crafts. As William Morris advocated long ago, arts and crafts ignite our
imagination, stimulate our creativity and bring us a sense of
fulfilment. Poetry, painting, pottery, music, meditation, gardening,
sculpting and umpteen other forms of arts and crafts can meet all basic
human needs; produce beautiful objects to use, which need not require
the use of fossil fuel. Human happiness, true prosperity and joyful
living can only emerge from a life of elegant simplicity.

We are at the point of return from gross to subtle, from glamorous to
gracious, from hedonism to healing, from conquest of the Earth to
conservation of Nature, and from quantities of possessions to quality of
life. It is 'cool' to be an optimist.

_____

Satish Kumar is President of Schumacher UK, Editor of Resurgence and
Director of Programmes at Schumacher College.

http://www.resurgence.org/2007/kumar243.htm


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