Sliding Past the Shadows of Catastrophe: The Place to Start: A 21st Century Essay on Identity and Survival

We have entered an age of gathering shadows, of existential threats which could cascade together into an obliterating storm: climate change and its accumulating fallouts; the darkening possibilities of nuclear war; the undermining of our life supporting environment; the risks of uncontrollable pandemics; of massive displacements of populations, of genocidal conflicts, of economic overreach and collapse, of tyrannical restrictions on freedom, thought, and constructive creativity. As severely limited human beings what can we do to work our way through and around this imposing wall of fear? This book offers no easy answers to these 21st Century challenges, or to others not listed which are part of an overpowering mix: the impacts of the digital revolution, of AI, cyber war, and the destruction of occupations; of breakdowns in the international order; of pervasive failures in governance. But instead, the author proposes the place to start, an appeal to individuals, one at a time, to cultivate a moral stance which may strengthen their identities, help them internalize freedom, stand back from imprisoning surroundings, and address with imagination, understanding, and humility whatever existential threats are impinging on their lives. The transformative power of this approach depends entirely on collaboration of those who adopt it, along with those across the world who are already implicitly committed to it in outlook and behavior. For the defense of the human prospect there may be no better opening.