At the kairos: build hope, not nuclear weapons

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October 16, 2018

Previous letter (9/11/18): "DNFSB reorg dead for now; Obama's undead new warhead -- sole driver for immediate pit production -- rescued again, almost certainly by Udall and Feinstein for the labs in their states"

Dear citizen leaders on our New Mexico "short list" --

In Christian theology, kairos is "the appointed time in the purpose of God," the time when God acts.

More generally the classical word kairos meant the right, critical, or opportune moment for an action.

Which is always now -- a very easy moment to miss. The Sage of Walden Pond wrote: “In any weather, at any hour of the day or night, I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line.”

In the purely chronological sense, the central historical and ecological reality of our time is that we -- all of us -- are on course for unmitigated catastrophe in the short run. We are ‘Cutting Down The Tree Of Life’."

On October 7, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued an important special report, "Global Warming of 1.5o C: Summary for Policymakers" (full report). For a day or so (or a few hours) it made headlines around the world, like this in the Washington Post: "The world has just over a decade to get climate change under control, U.N. scientists say." That said, the IPCC is not just scientific but also intergovernmental. It waters down the climate science in many ways, saying (for example) there are "safe" trajectories for global warming that "temporarily" exceed 1.5o C, claiming atmospheric CO2 concentrations can be drawn down later. There is almost no mention of positive feedbacks, which threaten to push the Earth into a self-reinforcing “hothouse” condition inimical to all higher life forms. There is nothing "safe" or stable about today's warming of about 1o C. Current CO2 concentrations eventually equilibrate with warming of 3-4o C and they are not at all safe for sea life right now. Climate catastrophe is not a future event. It is a current process.
 
Climate change is far from the only crisis at hand. We face a host of synergistic crises, having "kicked the can down the road" not just as regards global warming but as regards:

• the near-term unsustainability of our financial arrangements,
• our vast and growing economic and political inequality,
• our dwindling resource base -- especially, increasingly hard-to-get, affordable liquid fuels,
• our fragile, scarce water and food supplies, and
• the failing, grossly-exploitive and immoral US global empire,

to pick only a few more of our society’s failing foundations.
 
Leaving out all the pertinent details, these converging crises, not just climate change, comprise the great storm of our time. We can't escape – and neither can those who are trying to build nuclear weapons factories and gin up new -- and more -- nuclear weapons. Time is running out for them and for their nuclear megafolly. As it is for us. At some level they know this, and that is a large part of their desperation to “git ‘er done.” For us, given even very imperfect knowledge about the timetables of these crises, delay is, shall we say, excellent.

It is up to us to individually and collectively mitigate this catastrophe to whatever degree we can, by our actions in the public sphere. This is what mature people do, in our time. In our time, this is almost the whole definition of maturity. That is what we mean by an emergency. We stop doing less important things. As Einstein and Russell said, "Remember your humanity, and forget the rest."

Don't think this is a dour message. It's inaction that's depressing. For those who are "all in," doors open. The sooner we wake up, the more life-saving options we have. Which is the whole point (52 sec. video).

In any case, there is no escape. It is time to begin preparing ourselves, our families, and our communities for the deep adaptations now required.

Quickly now, a few details.

• If there is interest, we will hold some discussions near the end of the month. We want to have public or quasi-public meetings some time late this month in Taos, Santa Fe, Jemez Springs, and Albuquerque if possible. Other locales might be possible later. These meetings would have a discussion format, relatively broad subject matter, and offer a place for solidarity, networking, and resources. Are you interested? Let us know.

• A donor has, wonderfully, offered to match the first $5,000 in donations received for the Study Group, starting with this message! We will unfold our fall fundraising campaign over the coming few weeks, but we wanted to let you know about this great offer right now. We are highly dependent on private donations for our work. Help us if you can.
  

• Please let us know if your community, county, or tribe has withdrawn from the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC). The news media has been all over this florid corruption-vehicle (running compendium of stories, plus background). Getting communities out of the RCLC is very valuable to our cause, as we keep repeating. It should not be difficult but it must be done locally, not from this office (even if we had the time). There are many ways to facilitate withdrawal -- no need to spell them out here. We need instead, as one of our advisors suggested, something like a "Coalition of Sustainable Synergetic Communities (CSSC). Our towns sure as hell don't need to be paying for nuclear weapons lobbyists, which is the core of what the RCLC always has been and always will be, claims otherwise notwithstanding. If you are for LANL, you are for nuclear weapons. If you think northern New Mexico needs LANL, you are a nuclear weapons supporter. Please get real, and get past that particular folly. We all make mistakes, but let's not get stuck in them.
  

• Letters-to-editors (LTEs) remain powerful. In addition to their local direct and indirect impact, local LTEs are now often picked up and sent to thousands of people interested in nuclear weapons around the country and in Washington who have subscribed to one or more nuclear news digests. To remind you, LTEs influence local coverage and reporter beat assignments. Coverage of nuclear issues in New Mexico is now at or near a 30-year nadir, in our opinion. LTEs on the issues will help. Also -- clip them and send them on Facebook, your email lists, Twitter, and so on.

We will provide more issue detail in a forthcoming Bulletin.

We want to make sure you understand that we want complete nuclear disarmament, unilaterally if necessary, whether possible or not. You have never seen us offering prescriptions for smaller nuclear arsenals and you never will. We think 100% nuclear disarmament is the only non-naive policy goal possible.

We are going to have to shake up people. We think you should as well.

For example, we do not think the election choices available in November can change anything significant in New Mexico -- or nationally. Myths about our elections and political parties are killing us. Currently, they are a vast scam.

Finally, for those of you who are "beavering away" at your work for nuclear disarmament and deep sustainability, a member offers this poem:

The beaver lodge is royal,
    Logs silvered to bone,
Ceilings of blue water
    Or clear ice.

The aspen, encircling,
    Yellow purple pools,
And then snow's deep silence
   Covers peace.

Why, in what sense, is the beaver lodge "royal?" That is a question we must answer for peace, and for the world.

Thank you all,

Greg and Trish, for the Study Group