There Will Come Soft Rains.

        Like all humans, I have many loves, likes, desires, hopes and fears. I love freedom, not just for myself but all. I desire my grand-kids and their grand-kids, to have happy fulfilling future, in a world of peace, freedom, good health and justice. I also love poetry, especially the kind that tries to tells something about the injustices in this world, or our stupidity, warn us about our greed and points to suffering of others. I am anxious about that future, will it contain the human species, or will nature finally give up on us and see us perish from the disease of our own greed and stupidity. No matter the out come, no matter how foolish our action, no matter how powerful we think we are, nature will win and have its way. We work with it or we lose, the planet will survive even our crass stupidity.

This from Not Buying Anything:

         Sara Teasdale won the earliest Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1918, the year she wrote "There Will Come Soft Rains", a piece of writing that imagines the world without us.
      In the poem, Teasdale describes nature reclaiming a battlefield after war. She also writes about the extinction of humanity, far before the threats of nuclear winter, or weapons grade consumerism became a reality.
       Her poetry is known for its "simplicity and quiet intensity", and this poem is certainly all of that.
There Will Come Soft Rains

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,

Would scarcely know that we were gone.

— Sara Teasdale [1884 - 1933]

        Our war on nature is one that we will most certainly lose. We have treated the planet, and all life on it, so harshly, that it would surprise me if any wild creatures would miss us if we manage to do ourselves in.
       Would they celebrate our demise? I wouldn't blame them if they did.
        Mary Oliver is another Pulitzer Prize winning poet, and she says, "Maybe the world, without us, is the real poem."
        It doesn't have to be that way. We used to be a harmonious part of nature, and if we ever learn to adopt a global philosophy of simplicity, we will be again.
        There will come soft rains, with us, or without us. The choice is ours.

Visiat ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Money Rules, Insanity Is Normal.

       It is obvious by now that the economic system that covers this world is unsustainable, since it is based on the theory of perpetual growth from a finite source, our planet, which in turn sucks all the wealth into a small cabal of extremely rich and pampered parasites, much to the detriment of the rest of humanity and the planet's ecosystem. Sooner or later the bubble will burst, and the consequences will be catastrophic for humanity. How much longer can we sustain the unsustainable? Financiers and bankers have conquered the world, and their only aim is to increase their wealth and power, financing ever more damaging schemes that are supposed to create greater growth, but in actual fact do nothing but plunder and destroy the Earth's ecosystems. We cannot rely on those who grow fat on this destruction and plunder to mend their ways, and reduce their wealth and power, the answer will have to come from those who suffer most under this insanity, the ordinary people. We should do well to remember, Spaceship Earth has no escape capsule.
        The following is an extract from a very informative, if somewhat depressing article on the extent of the damage that has already been done to the fragile balance of our ecosystem. I feel it is so important that it should be read in full, no matter how depressing it makes you feel, and should also be widely circulated.

This from Peak Prosperity:

        ------The bottom line is this: We are destroying the natural world. And that means that we are destroying ourselves. I know that the mainstream news has relegated this conversation to the back pages (when they covered it at all) and so it's not “front and center” for most people. But it should be. Everything we hold dear is a subset of the ecosphere. If that goes, so does everything else. Nothing else matters in the slightest if we actively destroy the Earth’s carrying capacity. At the same time, we're in the grips of an extremely dangerous delusion that has placed money, finance and the economy at the top spot on our temple of daily worship. Any idea of slowing down or stopping economic growth is “bad for business” and dismissed out of hand as “not practical”, "undesirable" or "unwise". It’s always a bad time to discuss the end of economic growth, apparently. But as today's young people are increasingly discovering, if "conducting business" is just a lame rationale for failed stewardship of our lands and oceans, then it’s a broken idea. One not worth preserving in its current form.
        The parade of terrible ecological breakdowns provided above is there for all willing to see it. Are you willing? Each failing ecosystem is screaming at us in urgent, strident tones that we’ve gone too far in our quest for "more". We might be able to explain away each failure individually. But taken as a whole? The pattern is clear: We’ve got enemy action at work. These are not random coincidences. Nature is warning us loudly that it's past time to change our ways. That our "endless growth" model is no longer valid. In fact, it's now becoming an existential threat. The collapse is underway. It’s just not being televised (yet). Davos As Destiny. And don't expect the cavalry to arrive.
      Our leadership is absolutely not up to the task. If the Davos conference currently underway in Switzerland is a sign of anything at all, it’s that we’re doomed. The world has been taken over by bankers and financiers too smitten by their love of money to notice much else or be of any practical service to the world. By way of illustrative example, here’s the big techno-feel-good idea unveiled on the second day of the conference. The crowds there loved it: Yes, folks, this is what the world most desperately needs at this time! /sarc
       While I’m sure drone-delivered books is a heart warming story, it’s completely diversionary and utterly meaningless in the face of collapsing oceanic and terrestrial food webs. Sadly, this is exactly the sort of inane distraction most admired by the Davos set in large part because it helps them feel a tiny bit better about their ill-gotten wealth. "Look! We're supporting good thngs!" The ugly truth is that big wealth's main pursuit is to distort political processes and rules to assure they get to keep it and even amass more. Drones carrying books to Indonesian children provides the same sort of dopamine rush to a Davos attendee as Facebook 'like' gives to a 14-year-old. Temporary, cheap, superficial and ultimately meaningless.
        The same is true of their other feel-good theme of the day. “Scientists” have discovered an enzyme that eats plastics: That’s swell, but you know what would be even better? Not using the bottles in the first place. Which could be accomplished by providing access to safe, potable water as a basic human right and using re-usable containers. Of course, that would offer less chances for private wealth accumulation so instead the Davos crowd is fixated on the profitable solution vs. doing the right thing. In virtually every instance, the Davos crowd wants to preserve industry and our consumer culture as it is, using technology and gimmicks in attempt to remedy the ills that result. There’s money to be made on both ends of that story. The only thing that approach lacks is a future. Because it’s not-so-subtly based on continued "growth". Infinite exponential growth. The exact same growth that is killing ancient trees, sea birds, insects, amphibians, and phytoplankton.
     Who wants more of that? Insane people.
   In other words, don’t hold out any hope that the Davos set representing the so-called “elite” from every prominent nation on earth are going to somehow bravely offer up real insights on our massive predicaments and solutions to our looming problems. They're too consumed with their own egos and busy preening for prominence to notice the danger or care. As they pointlessly fritter away another expensive gathering, the ecological world is unraveling all around them. The oceans are becoming a barren wasteland. The ancient trees are dying. Heatwaves are melting tar and killing life. The web of life is snapping strand by strand and nobody can predict what happens next. In other words, if you held out any hope that “they” would somehow rally to the cause you’d best set that completely aside. It's no wonder social anger against tone-deaf and plundering elites is breaking out right now.
      From here, there are only two likely paths:
(1) We humans simply cannot self-organize to address these plights and carry on until the bitter end, when something catastrophic happens that collapses our natural support systems.
(2) We see the light, gather our courage, and do what needs to be done. Consumption is widely and steeply curtailed, fossil fuel use is severely restrained, and living standards as measured by the amount of stuff flowing through our daily lives are dropped to sustainable levels.
       Either path means enormous changes are coming, probably for you and definitely for your children and grandchildren. In Part 2: Facing Reality we dive into what developments to expect as our systems continue further along their trophic cascade. Which markers and milestones should we monitor most closely to know when the next breaking point is upon us?
       To reiterate: Massive change is now inevitable and in progress.
Collapse has already begun.

Read the FULL ARTICLE HERE:
And further READING HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk