Sta Hungry Stay Foolish

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

A blog by Leon Oudejans

Après nous, le déluge (2)

Last Thursday, a Dutch study amongst 2,572 people revealed that “thinking sustainable does not equal acting sustainable” (eg, I&O, VK). Dutch newspaper Telegraaf was quite blunt: “The most-outspoken people on climate improvement and how someone should live, don’t live up to their own principles.” Note LO: my translation is rather mild.

The above is yet another example of arrogance versus ignorance (my blogs). Often arrogant people feel a compelling need explaining to “ignorant” people how they should live. This type of arrogance seems like reverse psychology and projection to others (my blogs). Basically, arrogant people are telling themselves how they should live.

The Dutch climate debate has seen a remarkable trend: since late 2015, climate concerns were rising from 70% to 80% (late 2017) to 78% in late 2018/early 2019. Since late February 2019, Dutch climate concerns have dropped to 65% (I&O). 

The (left-wing) Volkskrant blames this very recent drop in Dutch climate concerns on:

(i) the rising energy bills following the government’s energy transition plans; 

(ii) the climate cost awareness campaign of the (right-wing) Telegraaf.

I expect that similar foreign “climate cost awareness campaigns” will have a similar impact on foreign climate concerns. This would be in accordance with Dutch expressions like

(i) the heart is left but the wallet is right, and

(ii) feeling with your heart and voting with your wallet.

The abundance of fear-based climate change campaigns may not result in the awareness and/or the acceptance that they aim for. People over 40-50 seem more likely adopting an “après nous, le déluge” attitude. Often (severe) climate change is a process of centuries, sometimes of decades, but almost never in years – let alone months or days, as people assume nowadays.

Given the changing demographics (eg, falling fertility rates, increasing longevity), I expect a new Great Divide in future societies: young versus old. Unfortunately for the young, the old may win this time because they will have the majority of the votes and – moreover – the money

The most likely scenarios for the next 200 to 500 years are: 

  • either humans will leave this planet in time following technological breakthroughs and will continue to act like the grasshoppers of the universe; 
  • or our species will be wiped out by climate change (either global warming or global cooling), including bacterial and/or viral pandemics (eg, Black DeathSpanish flu). Latter scenario is what probably happened to the Neanderthal (my blogs).

Advice for the Young at Heart (1990) by Tears for Fears 

artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2

Advice for the young at heart

Soon we will be older

When we gonna make it work?

Note LO: all markings (bolditalicunderling) by LO unless stated otherwise

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