Another End of the World is Possible

by John Halstead

In these essays, activist and author, John Halstead, takes us from a 2016 environmental protest at a Midwestern tar sands refinery to a mid-20th century Mexican cornfield stricken with blight to a bloody sacrifice to the Mother Goddess in ancient Rome, and from ancient pagan myths to the latest superhero movies to speculative fiction about a biocentric community of the future. In so doing, he explores the intersection of climate change and capitalism, hope and despair, death and denial, hubris and hero myths, love and limitations, popular culture and storytelling, and what it would really mean for our relationship with the natural world if we were to admit that we are doomed.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started off this book reveling in rare full agreement with its author. We (humanity) are doomed; civilization will collapse. This consumptive wasteful planet-wrecking way of life has destroyed the delicate balance of the planet and the weather and it can’t be sustained for much longer (50 years, if we are lucky.) Anyway, the first half of the book is about this inevitability via the impossibility of overturning capitalism, and how the only way to cope with this reality is to accept it. This acceptance is similar to how, in order to be a healthy functioning adult, we must also reckon with our inevitable personal death. In order to have a fully functioning life during the apocalypse and not live in constant doom, we need to accept that we are indeed living at the end of civilization.

That’s a whole lotta doom to process. I am in agreement that the way to get to the acceptance of humanity’s doom is to do whatever you need to do to accept your own death. In order to move through doom to post-doom you must accept fully that you are going to someday die. Then we got a few pages on death and did this dude write this book for me, or what?

In order to get to post-doom, we must also work very hard to unlearn and abandon the toxic teachings of capitalism, the myth of progress and the myth of the individual. It’s all about community folks. As things collapse, wouldn’t it be great if you were already in community with your neighbors? I am still fully on board at this point.

Then he recommends a handful of things that we can do to help others through the end since there is and will be continued drastic differences in how this apocalypse will treat everyone as time goes on.

Then there’s a bunch of pop culture stuff. the hero myths prop up the system. Thanos was right. (He was.) Yadda yadda yadda. I like that he is addressing this propaganda though he never uses the word.

Anyway, I could go on and on. I would recommend the first half of this book for anyone who is stuck on doom. It won’t change your mind, since he agrees, we are doomed. For me, It inspired my own thoughts on ways that I can help others outside of institutions and capitalism which has always been my approach and I like being affirmed.

Now, the problem… This book was clearly written for other environmental activists, specifically. he advocates a complete redirection of those efforts away from protesting, towards direct community and environmental care. Instead of protesting plant a sustainable garden and feed your community (both literally and figuratively.)

This is where he loses me because, beyond the environmental movement, the only change that literally has ever happened is due to mass protest and direct action. While the world burns, are we to abandon black men to the police? Leave all the non-violent offenders in prison for life? Allow the fascists to continue to strip women and immigrants and anyone who isn’t rich of their rights?

I like his idea that we aren’t going to make it, so lets build community-based support systems so the privileged can directly help those nearby in need who will suffer the worst of the calamities first. Great idea!

However, I think, if you were to inquire what those marginalized community activists want, would they want the environmental activists to abandon them to their protests? I certainly don’t think they want a bag of tomatoes from the garden.

There’s the further situation that most people with means (who he was obviously writing this book for) live in isolated communities where they might know just a few marginalized people, if any, and they don’t live nearby. So who is actually getting the tomatoes?

Ok, back to doom.

[A.C. Weaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, but I feel like I always want more from “post doom” readings on climate collapse. Or maybe what I really want is more organizers and more communists to be engaging with the prospect of near-term collapse. I agree with the authors criticism of climate “activism” as being coopted and denialist, but any analysis that leads to a flirtation with nihilism and individualist withdrawal as a response to this co-optation is incomplete. I agree that “fighting” and “giving up” is a false dichotomy, but I think we can and should fight capitalism even as we “give up” on the idea of saving the planet.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read these articles when originally published at Gods & Radicals. It was nice to read them collected and they still make me think.