The Only Serious Question Left

It was Albert Camus, wasn't it, Bush, who suggested in his signature novel, The Stranger, that the only philosophical question worth considering was whether or not to commit suicide? Oh, I loved that question--and that novel--as a dark young man in the heyday of French Existentialism! It suited my dark, poetic (so I thought!) self. In those days, back in the mid-1950s, I wore black clothes, smoked Gauloises, and thought I was James Dean.

The reason I mention this, Bush, is that I left that wonderful gathering of ManKind Project elders up in Oregon with this thought in mind: that the most all-embracing, deep and serious question facing us today is whether or not we want to commit suicide as a species, on a global scale. And what we can do, if anything, to save ourselves. I'm honestly not sure about you, Bush: whether you're in some kind of deep denial--a hangover from your days as an alcoholic, perhaps--or whether you're a willing part of a powerful cabal whose greed and recklessness is driving us rapidly toward extinction. And I'm not sure which version of you is more frightening.

Let me explain: up there in Oregon we had the opportunity to hear from thoughtful men who have done some serious research and thinking. We heard, for example, from a scientist about global warming--a field in which he has developed a certain expertise. It was clear, from what he said, that there is no longer any possible reasonable doubt, from a scientific point of view, that the activities of human beings in burning fossil fuels (not to mention living forests!) are the cause of a significant and increasing rise in global temperatures. No qualified respected scientist questions the proven data. And yet you, Bush, despite the evidence supplied by your own government agencies--and posted for all to read on government and other websites--continue to assert that this is as yet only a unproven theory, and that more study is needed. Your lead is followed, it seems, by an indulgent media which remains reluctant or unable to convey the truth to the American people. A friend--from another context--who happens to teach this material at an important university hereabouts, told me yesterday that his students' eyes "glaze over" with disinterest or perhaps disbelief, when he imparts his knowledge of the subject.

Are we all asleep, Bush? Are you asleep? Or are you incompetent? Or dishonest?

The other part of the story, or course, is the rapid depletion of the earth's supply of oil, on which all our "progress" depends. The facts are known here, too: I learned a lot about "peak oil"--enough to know that I should know much more, and to form the intention to follow up on the leads that I was given. Not only is the supply headed at exponentially increasing speed toward depletion, with technologically developing countries like India and China racing to assure their share; its reserves are principally in parts of the world where we have assiduously courted hatred. Jimmy Carter, as I understand it, was the last president to take the problem seriously, declaring back in the 1970s that we must end our dependency on foreign oil. (Your much-touted Arctic Wildlife Refuge, according to scientific charts, will provide no more than could be saved by a simple redesign of the tires we use on our vehicles; and considerably less than by a turn to hybrid automotive technology.)

Anyway, Bush, needless to add, no one heeded Carter's call. The reckless consumption continued. There have been virtually no steps taken on a national basis toward conservation. And, along with our President, we remain in blissful denial, continuing to believe in "progress" and "growth" despite all evidence that we will almost certainly destroy our planet and ourselves in the process. What's the most likely scenario? Will everything come to a dead halt? Will we find ourselves without food to eat, because we have depleted the soil, and can no longer produce the fertilizers to replenish it? Will our oil wars continue, and expand to a global scale?

What's known is that we have backed ouselves into a corner where we are dependent on fossil fuels for our food, our energy, our transportation, our communications, the heat or cooling in our homes, even our medicines. I, for one, am committed from this moment to becoming more aware. I want to check out those websites, get the information. I'll even pass it on to you, Bush, in these pages, as I find it. It's scary stuff. Just in case you really don’t know what's going on, at least demand that the information arriving on your desk be unedited by oil industry shills like your Philip Cooney. That's the least you can do.

As for my part in the gathering up in Oregon--remember, it was causing me considerable anxiety?--I have to say that it went quite well. As I prepared, and as I spoke, I came to the recognition that these pages and the practice of writing them are one way to remind myself, and I hope a few others to be vigilant, not to allow ourselves to go to sleep and perhaps--if you and your people have your way--never wake up. As I say, I'm convinced now that this is the only serious question left: do we all want to commit global suicide?