Wilderness of Mine Afflictions: A Reading of 'We Live in the Orbit of Beings Greater Than Us'

This is a reading of the introduction to my new book 'We Live in the Orbit of Beings Greater Than Us' published by Gods&Radicals Press.

Read this introduction at: https://abeautifulresistance.org/site/2020/6/25/intro-to-we-live-in-the-orbit-of-beings-greater-than-us

Order a copy: http://bit.ly/ORBITgr

Excerpt:

'It’s one thing to come to that conclusion objectively and to see the information as it is, and it’s another thing entirely to accept it on an emotional, spiritual, and animal level, to really know what it means to be alive in a time like this.

I come to this work with a sense of empathy and compassion for those I am living with on this planet, for my fellow brothers and sisters that were born in this time. When I first started this work, I felt I had to present this information aggressively, that I would have to shout this truth from the mountaintop, to say unabashedly: “We’re going to go extinct, so straighten the fuck up and act accordingly (whatever that means).”

But I realized that just as much as this is a time to speak the truth, this is also a time to be very gentle and humble, to understand that people are now seeing the writing on the wall in one way or the other—whether they consciously acknowledge it or not. It’s very important to understand the feelings that come up when the truth of our collective predicament is faced, and that our reactions can lead us in very different directions. How you, how we, choose to proceed with this knowledge is the most important question for us right now.

This project for me has now become, more than anything, a space that I and many others have co-creatively carved out for those ready to have this discussion, those ready to talk about what’s really happening, and to talk about how to be in this time.

So much of what we’re hearing right now in climate and environmental activism is framed within the imperative to act. Action, action, action! We have to do something right now, now, now! As it is often framed, we only have twelve, or ten, or five years left before the climate system hits some arbitrary, politically agreeable threshold of no return, a Rubicon that once crossed, we’ll never be able to come back from.

The truth is, we’ve already crossed the Rubicon. Regardless of what we do right now, global climate change is happening, with enough heat baked into the system to guarantee several degrees of warming just from the heat trapped in the oceans alone. That heat is irrevocable, and the level and rate of change currently underway is likely beyond our capacity to survive.

I’m not saying that people shouldn’t do something, that there aren’t actions that are meaningful, important, or necessary right now. The point here is to ask the question: what kind of actions are we supposed to engage in now, within the proper context and understanding that I and so many others have outlined?'

This book features interviews with:

- Dahr Jamail
- Silvia Federici
- Bayo Akomolafe
- Nicholas Humphrey
- Franscisco Sanchez-Bayo
- William Rees
- Holly Truhlar
- Iain McGilchrist
- Rhyd Wildermuth
- Gerald Horne
- Tad Hargrave
- Shane Burley
- Siniša Malešević
- Liyah Babayan
- Dezeray Lyn / Mutual Aid Disaster Relief
- Peter Gelderloos
- Gord Hill
- Xabat / Make Rojava Green Again
- Ramon Elani
- Michael Sliwa
- Rob Seimetz
- John H. Richardson
- Jasper Bernes
- Paul Beckwith
- John Halstead
- Karla Tait / Unis'ot'en Camp
- Stephen Jenkinson
- Joe Brewer

WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com

PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop

EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior