The West, the country, the future

Last week in the New York Times Magazine section, there was an article by Jon Gertner: The Perfect Drought. Halfway thru the article, which referenced how the combination of subsidence fueled by over-population, profligacy and global warming were resulting in imminent water shortages out west in this country, someone was quoted as saying that this could not be called a drought anymore than one referred to weather in the Sahara as a drought. In other words, things have already irrevocably changed.

Friday, as part of a symposium at Rutgers ("The F Word Symposium"), I was speaking to people about how I deal with the emotional impact of the current barrage of information about global warming disaster. I had just shown the dvd that was produced for the Venice Beinnale and the Weather Report show in Boulder about comparing several global sites in the era of global warming. An image I had generated was discussed on the the dvd with Dr. Jim White, my collaboator. I had just referred to how we (the USA) are going to be a very little (and isolated) country in the path of arctic melt and desertification. In the discussion period at Rutgers, I said I was fine as long as I was "in" the work of addressing the problem. When I step back, I resort to a variety of personal solutions, from 12-step programs to taking a nap.

This morning, I woke with the uncomfortable thought that if terrorists target American port cities, as Los Angeles & New York City, as they have no doubt already figured out, granted the diplomatic unpopularity fostered by this administration, we will not only be small and isolated and in some places water starved and stressed with massive migrations (as will the rest of the world) but also may not have access to the kind of cheap food we have enjoyed in the USA for generations.

If, as many scientists are now coming out and saying, we have perhaps 3 years to make drastic changes, then as far as acting on any of those changes, on a policy level, we will likely squander half that tiny window of opportunity as long as this administration is in place.

So then I think about business models. Because not everyone is as stupid as the White House. In business, it seems the cleverest people take the longest to make their plans and position themselves for action. Osama Bin Laden is a smart business man.

So I am going to take a cue from that and plan on planning. I have been doing a lot of writing off my blog lately, some of which will be in a couple books that will come out early 2008. In those writings, besides repeating over and over that there is a positive model to be seen in how terrorists planned 9/11: to use minimal means for maximum effect. I have also been writing about the potential effect of viral virtuality. It is not something I know how to do, but perhaps Gore does. He mobilized 1 billion people for a concert to draw attention to Global Warming. these are models to consider. Margaret Mead famously admonished us never to underestimate the power of a few determined people. Terrorists took that to heart. Others can. With the help of the internet and a little planning, it may just save our skins to remember those models. I know I will remember and be thinking about what to do next for maximum impact with minimal means.

Meanwhile, I think I'll take a short nap.