Margaret Atwood’s “It’s Not Climate Change, It’s Everything Change” left me in awe after feeling an array of emotions. I had goosebumps at the way she evoked such emotion through her words; I felt frustrated, angered, shocked, confused, hopeful and almost, at times, humored. She sets up the article in a way that makes the reader instantly feel the intensity of the gravity of our environmental future. I found the second scenario, where the world is basically falling apart, to be the most interesting. Atwood writes about food and water shortages, riots, robberies, and creates the picture of a dystopian hell which encumbers the entire population. This world is a result of humanity ignoring the three top warning signs Atwood describes later in the article.
This hypothetical world Atwood describes reminds me distinctly of a Wendell Berry book about the way food security and resources should be handled in the upcoming years as we face the Anthropocene. Berry explains that the culture of farming has reached a point in which individuals have lost touch with and understanding of the land and no longer know how to truly interact with our land in a healthy and sustainable manner. One of his strongest points is that the demand for farming has increased drastically, and that the culture of farming is decreasing, which leads to a gap in our food production and love of the land. This results in an instability with regards to the future of being able to feed our own bodies (and future generations) and therefore thrive.
Both Atwood’s hypothetical world and Berry’s historical tale leave me wondering how can I help? The golden question… What actions can possibly be enough to change our future? Atwood seems to believe that the answer lies in the way we view ourselves and the way we live. Empathy overload threatens my thoughts and heart as I ask these questions, and I feel lucky to be involved in a course that will encourage me to push past this overload and truly consider what environmental activism means. I feel that the first step to developing the way I think about activism is to consider Atwood’s words and begin encouraging myself and those around me to rethink ourselves and our lifestyles.
Berry, Wendell, and Michael Pollan. Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food. Counterpoint, 2009.
