Systems Thinking

I attended a systems thinking seminar on Saturday by Russel Horwitz. It was very interesting but like all courses based on the true nature of the predicament that we are facing, somewhat daunting, depressing and aggravating. http://www.leadership-vancouver.ca/Sys-Think.asp

It occurs to me that we are in a communal grieving process.

Shock stage: Initial paralysis at hearing the bad news.

Denial stage: Trying to avoid the inevitable.

Anger stage: Frustrated outpouring of bottled-up emotion. Anger at past generations and others who made/make poor choices.

Bargaining stage: Seeking in vain for a way out. We are too late to avoid the consequences of some of our communal actions.

Depression stage: Final realization of the inevitable. That we can't stop the degradation of the planet in it's totality and return the world to it's pristine state is a depressing thought.

Testing stage: Seeking realistic solutions. How will we cope? What alternatives are there that are sustainable? I see that degrowth gets it's knocks but is there a better solution that avoid war, famine and disease?

Acceptance stage: Finally finding the way forward. In my view this will only come when we are forced into new ways of living by circumstances and resource constraints. This isn't something that humans will do voluntarily en mass.

I think that the last point was driven home when Russell showed us (and for me this was news but not to everyone I am sure) about the Tragedy of the Commons (google it or Wiki it). There is just too much self interest out there that it is simply unavoidable. We can see it when we leave the correct amount of space between cars on a highway and some prick jumps in front of us so how are we going to stop pollution and excessive consumption on the scale required? At the seminar we did come up with some small ways of making a difference and getting leverage, I for one do most of the suggested actions anyway - but it all feels quite futile to act. Maybe a better way forward is to prepare for the worst so that our families survive with less when there is less rather than survive on less when there is (apparently) plenty.

Very confused and quite depressed. I guess that I must be grieving the loss of ignorance.