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Tangentially Speaking

358 – ROMA 30

By December 26, 2018June 13th, 20224 Comments

How to laugh on a dying planet? How to lose a dad? What do you wish you’d known when you were young? And 70s party music.

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Music: “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range; “Sonfo,” by Sekouba Bambino; “Dancing in the Moonlight,” by King Harvest; “Come and Get Your Love,” by Redbone; “Smoke Alarm,” by Carsie Blanton.

4 Comments

  • Tomas says:

    I’m afraid you’re right about the sinking ship, I fantasize all the time about buying land and doing permaculture stuff or at least some form of self-sustaining agriculture because I know, like most savvy people, that shit’s going down really soon. The harsh reality is that I don’t have the money to do such a thing because I’m an artist that can barely afford to cover my rent most of the time, and I would need to have a lot more friends and family to help me out and unfortunately I have very few. It’s very easy to become entangled in to the current framework of humanity when you’re poor. It creates a life where you can’t really get time to think where you’re going, everything is blurry beyond about 1 inch from my eyes.

    I guess this is most people’s excuse though, perhaps if I really really wanted to do it, I would.

  • I don’t know, I think that Optimism is, in many regards an "irrational" attitude, but notice I put it in quotes because that is not necessarily a bad thing. What I mean is, Life is full of uncertainties, and sometimes we have no way to know how things will pan out. If there was a way to have absolute certainty of any outcome, then optimism (as well as pessimism) would be absolutely unnecessary. I wouldn’t have to be optimist on whether I’m going to land that job I’m being interviewed for, or whether that girl I like is going to accept my invitation to dance, because I’d already know the answer.

    I feel you’re thinking that optimism at the face of serious adversities is delusion. And maybe it is in some cases. If I jump out of a 5-story building feeling optimist that I’m going to land safely on the ground, then obviously that optimism is not only absolutely naive, but suicidal. So then I guess the crux of the matter here is how objective is one’s assessment of what constitutes a "serious adversity," and if one thing History has taught us, is that humans are anything but objective.

    And yet there’s another thing to consider, which may seem a bit counterintuitive –and even selfish: Sometimes having kids and someone to care for is precisely what gives some folks hope for the future.

    This is a clip from the movie "A Better Life" (Una Vida Mejor). It tells the story of an illegal Mexican immigrant who is a single father struggling with his rebellious teenage son, who’s hanging out with the wrong crowd and wasting on all the opportunities his father is working so hard to provide for him. [Spoiler Alert] At one point the son asks the father why would poor people like him choose to bring a child into this world, and in this scene the father explains it: So they can have something to fight for.

    Yes, the storm is coming and many will drown. And it may seem easier to run for the hills when you don’t have to worry about anyone but yourself… but maybe those people wouldn’t find a reason to save themselves, anyway. Like you said, there’s no point in surviving alone.

    https://youtu.be/x2wH5RS58lo

  • Chris says:

    Mel-bin if you wanna say it like the locals.

  • joepeeer says:

    mr Ryan , too old to fret .
    what happens where all ur best conservation efforts meet a meteor ?
    we , if we at fault , r only one of the many threat’s to life on planet earth .
    no worries , live ur life as best u can ,,,thats all u can .
    best wishes ,jp.

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