deadpresidents: imathers: king-grandma: ...

deadpresidents:

imathers:
king-grandma:
sarajevomoja:
David Suzuki in this interview about facing the reality of climate change and other environmental issues from Moyers & Company.
wow this is so true
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Of course, as everything from our games to the fucked-up history of our social mores to our politics to our art tells you, if there’s one thing humans excel at, one thing that might actually separate us from other animals (although there may be counterexamples, I’d be fascinated to hear about them!), it’s that we are so excellent at treating the things we invent as if they were immutable facts of the universe.
(Which is to say I agree with Suzuki but I also kind of despair at our ability to actually, en masse, do anything along these lines?)
I agree with Suzuki and I agree with Ian.
I believe that there are far too many people that don’t understand that ideas evolve because there are far too many people that believe that nature evolves. For example, here in the United States, too many people don’t recognize that the Founders didn’t expect the Constitution to be taken literally, as it was written in 1787; it’s an organic, living document. That’s why the Framers packaged it with a mechanism allowing for amendments. But people are instinctually repelled by change, even if it is changing something that we have created. And the key word is “instinctual” rather than “instinctive”; it’s not something we can’t do, it’s not something we don’t do, and it’s not something we haven’t done before — it’s something we choose not to do. It’s not natural, it’s learned. It’s not singular, it’s shared behavior. It’s also frightening because we are a society driven by the rule of the majority, and the thinking of the majority isn’t necessarily rational, reasonable, or what’s best for all.