[This post is from a series written during the first days of the COVID crisis.]
Some theories regarding life on earth, following a climate collapse, posit that 90% of the world’s humanity has to disappear before the planet can sustain us.
No wonder this doesn’t come up in an election year.
The sudden question in this pandemic is what do we do, but the more interesting one is where do we go from here?
‘Right back to where we were,’ posits Capitalism.
‘But with more human services,’ posits Socialism.
But who speaks for the Earth, who, in this case is just really us?
Can we have businesses that sustain?
Pruned of their mad dash prior to the pandemic, can businesses find their way to a “steady state,” with new equations for survival?
And what of telecommuting and cars?
Doesn’t this great pandemic experiment unmoor us from our buildings?
Honestly, what do you really need an office for?
To get your kids out of your hair? So someone hierarchical can take a meeting?
Is this worth killing the world for and, honestly, don’t you like the improvement in the traffic?
The biggest issue, though, other than our impending doom, is the millions of people who are economically suffering.
Can’t we imagine a world where they are “sustainably” employed?
Can’t we focus on that world now?
They need it and we need it: now.