Learned Helplessness; Eve of Destruction?

Ostriches, contrary to popular myth, DON'T hide their heads in the sand. Have you ever seen an ostrich in real life? They are huge. They are fast. They can kick the crap out of something attacking from the front. True, when threatened they run (as the world's fasted two-legged animal, they can run from almost anything) or they can lay themselves flat and appear as a mound of earth. No, my friends, it is we humans who tend to bury our heads in the sand when we are afraid.

There are few on this planet, at least in the "developed" world (notice how even our lexicon has made us think there is more than one world!), who can honestly convince themselves that we are not nearing critical mass in the way we abuse our home planet. While the media may focus on the political nonsense du jour, there are still outlets and information sources to learn just how badly we are at peacefully coexisting with the less destructive creatures (umm-that would be most of them) on this orb. Honestly, I don't think it is because people don't care--well, some of them clearly don't; many of those in a position to make enough noise on their own or influence large numbers, for example. No, I think we all get choked up when we see the rape and murder of our natural world. Whether it is photos of dead dolphins and turtles caught in fishing nets; wild horses starving to death because their habitat is too small to support them; rhinos and elephants being slaughtered for horns and tusks; bears being kept on "farms" so their bile can be extracted; forests being ravaged for invasive agriculture; the stripping of mountains for coal; plastic in the oceans; metal in our waters; it is frighteningly endless (almost like this sentence). Fracking, sealing, polluting (light, noise, air, water, land); fossil fuels, damaged nuclear reactors, nuclear waste, chemical waste, bio-hazard waste, plastics...All of these (and countless more) are products of us; human beings. Our greed, vanity, indifference and cruelty fueled these actions and as such we are finding ourselves closer and closer to environmental catastrophe.

Candian Seal Hunt

 I worry most about our indifference (which leads to inaction). But are we actually indifferent??? Of course there are pockets of people who struggle every day in the face of insurmountable odds to try and rectify some of the damage we have caused. For the most part, however, we simply go on; living our lives in our energy-sucking homes, using products that are more packaging than useful and then tossing it all in the garbage. I think, and it is one small opinion in the enormous scheme of things, that even our perceived indifference is based on learned helplessness. I believe when faced with the sheer enormity of our planetary problems, it is a coping mechanism to ignore and not act. We don't honestly believe that as single organisms we can actually make a difference. We have been told this; perhaps not explicitly, but everyday in subtle but powerful ways.

Mountain top removal (mining) West Virginia

Plastic1; Seal 0

Plastic 1; Turtle 0

Photo: A selection from Message from the Gyre/Chris Jordan

 I mean, really, I see so many stories on a daily basis about things over which I might be able to have a small affect; abused and neglected animals, for example. The stories are heartbreaking, depressing and constant. Even that issue seems painfully overwhelming, how can I possibly affect how much plastic ends up in the oceans, eaten by all sorts of animals, causing their destruction and bringing even more toxins into our food chain? Ugh.

Here's the thing: IF we don't act we will destroy ourselves and probably all but the most adaptable and hardy of species. Game over. The planet will rest and regenerate and very likely be the better without us. Thus, the vicious irony of it all is that our inaction will lead to our own destruction. Heavy enough for ya?

You'll notice that throughout this post, I have never said "them, they, others or you," although it would be classically hypocritical. I am not trying to be above anyone else in this moment.The fate of our planet is my problem as much as the next person's. I understand that it is much easier to focus on our own lives (and all the challenges and complications therein) and very difficult to figure out how to make a change; a difference in such, well, global issues.

Personal example from today: I went to the grocery store with the specific intent to avoid plastic as much as possible; a conscious mission to do "better." I didn't think it would be difficult given the fact that we don't eat many (all things being relative, I suppose) processed foods. Please bear in mind that I live in a small town with exactly two grocery stores (the same brand). My first irksome moment came when I realized I had forgotten my Trader Joe's and Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck?) reusable bags. Ugh, ok, no worries, I thought, I will buy some here. Moving switfly on...I stuck to the outside aisles as usual and still came home with too many plastic produce bags. There is something crazy about putting organic apples in a plastic bag and buying organic steaks that are vacuum sealed in plastic. One answer; I will no longer bag my produce (images of apple and Brussel sprouts rolling all over the conveyor belt), or perhaps bring my own paper bags in which to put the produce (and now the irked expression of the cashier as s/he must take out one of each to see what I am buying)-this is going to be harder than I thought. I did manage to find some biodegradable (compostable) trash bags for our kitchen bin. They were $12 for two boxes of 12. Suffice it to say that I came home slightly discouraged but even angrier (at myself, at SC Johnson [a family company], at Monsanto [I am always mad at Monsanto], etc.). Like most people, we must work for a living. we have obligations associated with our so-called careers, our daughter and her school, our pets. Suffice it to say we are, like most, busy people. So when I buy the occasional frozen breakfast food (pancake and sausage on a stick) in order to make breaky both interesting for the 8 year old ("Please Mom, no more eggs for a while.") and quick in the mornings, it dismays me to open the box and find twelve individually wrapped (in plastic!) portions. When I stick to my usual grocery list I still come home with  ridiculous amounts of plastic; cheese, chips, yogurt (organic!). Even the organic milk, packed in a cardboard carton, has a plastic spigot through which to pour the milk!

How does someone not earning a CEO's salary manage to be green (and not because they are sick when hearing the tab at the grocery store)? How do we stop using things wrapped in non-recyclable materials until the big companies get the message? It all seems so very far away...And yet--we are all the same-made up of the same stuff, requiring the same stuff to survive; and we are squandering our own survival.

In the interest of full disclosure- I work at a nuclear facility-struggle with my conscience every day - the only way I am able to stay where I am is in the knowledge that I am trying to help clean up the mess (but sometimes it is cold comfort). And it is with no small ping to my conscience that I stay here because I can earn enough money to try to be somewhat green...The fact that it is more expensive to live a "greener" and healthier life than not to now, is criminally absurd.

It's like trying to wrap our minds around the Ultra Deep Field shown by the Hubble telescope; ten thousand galaxies, each with billions of stars within...And we are on an invisibly tiny spec. So maybe we really don't matter in the Universal scheme of things, BUT it certainly matters to me (an even tinier speck on our tiny speck). We should rename our planet Whoville.

Ultra Deep Field as viewed by Hubble Telescope

So what do we do? Well, most of us do "what we can." We recycle what we can (often, what our municipalities allow). Maybe we change our incandescent light bulbs for CFLs. Perhaps we take mass transportation or bike to work. Maybe the more diligent of us do all that and more. Most of us, though, feel better when we can do some of those, some of the time.

Frankly, even with lots of "experts" telling us all what to do, I am not sure of the answer. Maybe we just hope for incrementally less destruction? I do know that in lots of ways, what we need to do, is impractical; culturally, financially, and personally. We will not stop traveling, we will not stop buying conveniently packaged foods and we won't stop buying our technological gadgetry. And in the meantime we are bombarded by all sorts of "campaigns."

The media campaign has got to be an activist's favorite invention. Campaigns have been around as long as people who wanted mass support for one cause or another. The tools have simply evolved. We are typically faced with many campaigns, one of the most recent that is seeming to gain momentum is the battle to get companies to label GMO foods. Oh boy is this a campaign for the ages. It has people divided and passionate and, at times, completely irrational (on both sides). I have an acquaintance who was grumbling the other day that "... these people who gripe about genetically modified food..There wouldn't be sweet corn if there weren't GMO foods!" Now, while I tend to lean towards the "there is a difference between grafting and selective breeding and injecting matter at the cellualr level" school of thought, I will admit that this campaign suffers, in my mind, from what many well-intentioned campaigns do; the all or nothing mantra.

The all or nothing mantra says that if we don't do everything, we might as well do nothing (again, teaching us to be helpless), which I consider to be utter nonsense. I think we need to focus more on baby steps. For crying out loud, label GMO foods (I want to be able to choose, tyvm) but don't expect that they will somehow, magically and instantly go away; they can't because too many people rely on them whether as a source of food or a source of income. The all or nothing mantra tries to convince us that unless we are "all in," we can't possibly do enough or make a difference. Absolutism like that promotes inaction because while a small percentage of people might be able to give "their all," most people can only give some (of their money, time, energy, etc.). I understand the all or nothing mantra; it is a scream in a huge crowd; an attempt to get the attention, but sometimes I think it serves to backfire against its own cause.

So what is the answer? Fourteen paragraphs in and I still have no idea. For myself, I will continue to struggle along in my own capacity; I will recycle and reuse where I can. I will buy as conscientiously as possible with a mind on personal and global heath. I will adapt my tastes and my pleasures to be more in line with what can support the Earth rather than destroy it. I will also be a voice. I will tell my elected representatives what I expect from them. I will tell grocery suppliers what I will buy (my little rewards card does that for me). I will teach my daughter how important these baby steps must be-if only to add hope to what might be seen as a hopeless situation.

I think what we do need to remember, amidst the cacophony of causes, whys and why-nots, political ramblings and jockeying for position and power is this;  that we must do something, each of us and in our own way, to make a positive change on the planet.

Because Life goes on, but it won't have any problem going on without human beings...