Dear Diary: Here’s the Characters of Collapse I Have Met So Far
An ongoing list of people who don't want to talk to me about the Unravelling of Practically Everything
Crawling out from under the hearty laugh of a climate denier
Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand
Feeling…exasperated but feeling the tendrils of what might become sweet acceptance?
Dear Diary
Ok, I have been aware of the entangled complex planetary predicament of what can be called "collapse" for, what feels like, two thousand zillion years…and also feels like 6 minutes.
One of the most startling early lessons for me was/is: people do not want to hear about it
I keep making the same 'mistake' of opening conversations about, what seems to me, the most important thing that is going on.
"Hey, did you know that we are literally destroying all the ways that we are kept alive and also causing catastrophic death to the planet?”
I suppose I expected people to be like: "What? No I did not know that! Sounds pretty important. Let me drop everything and listen to you tell me what's going on"
But instead, I am met with something more like the following:
"What? Oh don't worry, it's just scaremongering! These things never actually happen"
"Oh, you're not one of those are you?"
"Ok! Anyway, did I tell you that Michael is getting a promotion?"
"Look, I have to serve the next customer. Please take your groceries and leave"
Just a moment ago (on this VERY WINTERY day in Aotearoa New Zealand, Diary, which you must know for a reason that will become clear in a moment) I was sharing my worries with someone I had started chatting to at the bus stop
“I keep telling you not to talk to people, you are just too shit”
He laughed — LAUGHED — and pointed to a frozen puddle. "Doesn't look like global warming to me!"
Why does no one else seem to care? Why can’t I have a normal conversation about the enormity of what’s happening?
In my quiet, more peaceful moments —
‘Which are few and far between with me around, yapping away to you all day long about the state of the world (bad) the state of you (bad), prospects for the future (bad bad bad), hairstyle (bad), chance of getting a boyfriend (v. bad considering hair)”
— I realise that it’s not their fault, nor mine. There’s just a….frustrating mismatch between our desires to engage in existentially significant conversations. I guess.
Anyway. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of people I have met so far.
“Don’t forget you would have probably been some of these characters along the way, you’ve been an absolute nightmare and totally shit person for many decades”
Characters of Collapse. So Far
The Blissfully Unaware
They genuinely have no idea what's going on. They've never heard of planetary boundaries. I miss that stage sometimes.
The Distracted
Too busy juggling life, bills, work, kids. It’s not that they don’t care, they genuinely can’t fit in another thing to think about, never mind have to sit with.
The Spiritual Bypasser
Everything is divine order, and talking about the material world is an unnecessary complication when everything is consciousness
The Academic One
They can talk about collapse all day, but only in abstract, intellectual terms. Emotion doesn’t seem to come in to it. A curious character that I can’t fathom as yet.
The One Who Once Cared But Has Now Checked Out
Burnt out from years of activism or caring deeply, they’ve now focus only on personal peace. Not out of ignorance, but self-preservation. I get it.
The Immediate Shutter-Downer
Suspect my feelings mirror back their own unprocessed dread, so they reject me to avoid it.
Tech Loyalist
Raised on progress myths, they need to believe the system will self-correct. They believe in technology, data, A.I., market innovation and human ingenuity.
The Defensive Denier
Any mention of collapse is met with scoffing, mocking, or hostility.
I have also come across:
The Avoidantly Aware
They do know things are bad, but are doing everything possible not to feel it—scrolling, working, numbing, spiritualising it away. Their nervous system is already at capacity from caregiving, activism, trauma or any number of things. They can’t take on more, so they compartmentalise and cope how they can. I love these people and want to snuggle them (but snuggling is not accepted as much these days)
Maybe I will stop talking to people who don’t want to talk to me?
I can just talk to the cats, who have been quite receptive so far.
XOXO