And Yet

 

I get a feeling that there is a consensus in the world that we are in deep kimchi. Putin’s troops are devastating Ukraine after their action that was supposed to rush in and take over Ukraine in about three days but did not. Turns out the Ukrainians had other ideas, but still their country is being battered with artillery, bombs, missiles, and I don’t know what all the Russians are lobbing. 

The Russians are aiming for civilians and civilian sites and buildings – apartment houses and other homes, schools, churches, public buildings, some hundreds of years old. Ukrainians and Russian troops are both dying by the double handfuls. Today I heard of Russian troops torturing and killing Ukrainians, even children, one to one.

Putin tosses out threats of using nuclear weapons. Why? Because he is an asshole, that’s why, surrounded by sycophantic assholes, although at this point, I doubt that asshole is a strong enough label.

Picture; the first dandelion of spring in my yard. Many more soon to follow.

You know, Vlad, just because you have the capability to end all human life doesn’t mean you have to do it.

So there’s that end-of-our-favorite-species (us) worry that makes our hearts heavy, but like they say on the infomercials, that’s not all.

Climate change continues to pummel the earth, which is also threatening to our favorite species (us). I have read speculation that homo sapiens (boy, naming ourselves “man the wise” was a fine bit of hubris, wasn’t it?) will no longer be able to sustain life on earth after about 2060, which is awfully soon.

You know – the Neanderthals were so much more successful that we have been, lasting more than 300,000 years, about 200,000 more years than we homo sapiens have been around. Even though we probably caused their demise, and even though most of us have about 2% Neanderthal DNA in our genetic makeup, a fact that tickles me no end, they adapted so much more successfully to life on this planet than we have done. Basically, we wiped them out, and ever since have gone on destroying species, the earth, and each other. I guess that’s a kind of success. We excel at screwing up and bringing death to all living things. Not that I’m bragging. But I digress.

So yeah, Putin is waving his nuclear dick around, and climate change seems to be accelerating faster than anyone expected, and we are experiencing extreme weather: fire storms, volcano eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches, heat domes, and atmospheric rivers. Rising water levels in the oceans. Melting icecaps. We are reaping what we have sown.

Then there’s Covid. Remember Covid? As of 3:33 pm today, April 5, 2022, 6,177,324 people have died from Covid worldwide, THAT WE KNOW OF, and 1,008,198 of those dead were Americans. This is not a matter for civic pride, that almost one-sixth of the entire human race’s deaths from Covid have been American deaths.

And … the supreme white European male cohort is flailing around trying not to lose control of everyone else. They are like a wounded animal, aren’t they? The closer they get to dying out as a ruling class, the more dangerous they become, the more desperate to put down anyone who isn’t them. They are doomed and they know it, but they are not going quietly. God forbid we should all live in a world that recognizes people for their merits, not their skin color.

Cops still kill black people with impunity. Indigenous women disappear and are never found. We white liberals sit around talking. Ain’t it awful? What can we do? For most of us, living with all the integrity we can muster is the most we can do, and positive action will grow out of that integrity, we hope.

Oh yeah. There is so much crap to fear, so much stress on all of us, and that’s what I mean when I say we are in deep kimchi. This is a real rotting cabbage era of existence.

And yet:

We go on doing the best we can. We recycle plastics. We volunteer with charities and community service organizations, and we donate money. We drive our oil burning cars less, or get electric cars, which have environmental problems of their own but it’s a start. We see the work that needs to be done, and we tackle it. Some of us do, anyway.

People are still getting married, and having babies, and building houses. Planning for retirement. Trying to save Medicare and Social Security for when they get old, if they get old. Some families are making the leap to accepting their children’s authentic selves. That’s a biggie.

We go on living as if we are going to go on living. What other choice do we have? Suicide? That is like throwing a spear into the heart of everyone who loves you, as well as setting a terrible example, and is not an option most people consider.* The world may be a mess, but it’s our mess and we love it and want to go on living in it and trying to clean up the mess so we and our children can go on existing on this beautiful, blessed, dangerous, deadly planet. Is that a testimony to the resilience of human beings? Or is it simply our genetic hard wiring? Beats the heck outta me, but I don’t think it matters why. This is what we do. In the words of a hero of my generation, we keep on trucking.

*If you do consider suicide an option, please call the Suicide Hotline: 800-273-8255. You will have to work your way through choosing options - but don't give up. Keep going. Keep following the prompts until you connect with a live person. Talk to them.