Living in Our New World Part 6: Back Down the Ladder

When my mother spoke to me about having lived through the Great Depression, she'd always say that her family had been okay. They didn't have a lot, but they had what they needed. Their not having a lot hadn't been a problem because everyone was in the same position. Many people who lived through the Depression said the same thing. Times were extraordinarily difficult, but the difficulty was experienced by almost everyone and thus became "normal."

In the developed countries, we have climbed up the ladder of prosperity over the past six decades. We've now reached the top of that ladder. Most people do not yet see there's no more rungs above us because they're so engrossed in planning their next upward move. But as a society, there's no more going up. We’re running out of cheap oil, readily-available natural gas, good soil, clean air and water, and so on, to build any more rungs or to even maintain the ones we have. The rungs are starting to fall apart. And as more and more people try to clamber up, the ladder is beginning to perilously shake and sway.

A possible scenario for reaction? We at the top can hold on to what we have while pushing those ascending back down, and those lower down can keep trying to clamber up. By doing so, the ladder will continue to sway more and more dangerously until it finally crashes to the ground, crushing millions, billions, of people in the process.

Alternatively, those at the top, realizing their precarious situation, can carefully—but as quickly as possible—start to climb down the ladder while injuring as few people as possible in the process. Our descent will be extraordinarily difficult. For one thing, people like their higher rungs on the ladder. Those rungs are comfortable and familiar. Second, while climbing down, we'll be moving in the opposite direction of all those surging up. They won't like being told that the rungs at the top are no longer safe, or even attainable. They won't like hearing that we used up their share, not just ours. Third, the higher we are on that ladder, the lower we will have to go until it becomes safe for everyone.

Perhaps it will help to remember that there are others we care about on the ladder: our children and grandchildren, spouses, family members, friends, and neighbors. Holding on and refusing to move down will doom possibly two-thirds of them. Maybe more. Yes. Holding on and refusing to move will result in the death of possibly 60-80% of humanity: all six and a half billion of us.

Hearing all this we will grieve: for the loss of what we had, for the harm we have done, for future dreams that will never come into being, for all those who are yet to come.

We can get lost in the fear and grief. We can deny the reality. We can go out and spend like there’s no tomorrow or climb back into bed and never leave again or pretend that the world situation is just a blip in the timeline and that soon everything will return to normal.

Or we can ask the logical questions:

What do those lower rungs look like?

And what do I need to do to become a fairy godmother?

(Tomorrow: Living in Our New World Part 7: Becoming a Fairy Godmother)