Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 7
he Broken Present
Many of us contemplating these possibilities might answer quite simply,
“Why should I care? The events you describe, if they take place at all, will
change human life on Earth after I am gone. Besides, the problem is so
vast, and the actions we must take are so difficult, that I can make very
litle difference on my own. I'll just live out my life in the best way I can
and let history take its course.”
There is a kind of sanity in this response: in many circumstances of
life, repression may be a fine thing indeed. But is it truly possible to set
aside the reality of what might take place to us all in the future? Can we
simply divorce our present actions from their consequences?
If, as I suggested in the previous chapter, every human society has cul-
tivated a strong image of the future, it has done so because such an image
is necessary to justify its activities in the present. Some kind of future,
some orientation to a goal or destination, is intrinsic to all of our inten-
tional activity as individuals and as members of groups. Whether or not
we care in a deep or heartfelt way about what will take place to our soci-
ety, or for that mater about the human race or the Earth itself,
some
kind
of investment in the future is implicit in our situation as human beings.
Even if we repudiate the significance of that future for us on a conscious
level, the fact that we are purpose-driven beings implies that our actions
will betray us, endlessly demonstrating that in fact we
do
care, that we are
everywhere and always invested in creating a livable future.
So there is no way for us to evade some difficult questions. If
that
kind of future is in store for us, what happens to the goals we have set
for ourselves and that we seek through our various efforts? Everything
we do in our ordinary lives is based on the assumption that we will have
a future—that our houses will remain standing, that we will continue
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