An apocalypse now

It’s a comforting illusion to imagine that civilizations evolve forever according to some divine or natural law. Yet one generation lives through maybe a single move on the chessboard of history, indifferent to future moves. Failure to act on climate change is leading to ecological implosion of the planet and catastrophic social collapse in the century ahead. Others have faced the threat of extinction, and part of the solution is to reset the moral compass.

Judeo-Christian tradition produced apocalyptic faith promising divine intervention to save the truly righteous from Greek and Roman tyranny in a spiritualized kingdom on Earth, if not in heaven. Elsewhere, after two and a half centuries of warring states in ancient China, the ethos of Confucianism evolved, which held that individuals of every class, race and gender are essential cells in the body politic, to be respected, honored and rewarded in this world. Human relations became moral rituals. Not trusting religious imagination, Confucianism relied on sages to promote an ethos that survived for two millennia.

Today’s apocalypse is self-inflicted and threatens life on the planet. The challenge is to save ourselves from ourselves. Current moral compasses serve those who claim to be a unique “chosen people”: wealthy elites, religious sectarians, nationalists, racists, etc. The chances of survival might improve with a compass of the contrite who acknowledge the kinship and sanctity of all living things on Earth. Sadly, apocalyptic resurrections occur only with the death of the failed world order we inhabit.

DAVID SIXBEY

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