Culture of Intransigence

Stubborn

Yesterday, as I rushed around to try to finish my work, to shop,

to get ready to leave town,

in this almost balmy December weather,

I was taken for a moment by our cultural intransigence.

In Washington, the news is about a larger military,

and the talking head speculation about 2008 sounds more and more

like the idle chit chat you hear before a big football game.

Intransigence means that you refuse to moderate your opinion,

especially about an extreme position,

even when you are overwhelmed with evidence to the contrary.

The President is intransigent about his war,

even though now he believes we are not winning it.

The downtown real estate lawyer I chat with almost daily in the hotel bar

is intransigent in his views about global warming.

He recognizes that it "is an issue", but he cannot accept what it means.

The Left Wing progressives are just as intransigent about their issues,

not willing to acknowledge that climate change and resource depletion

will and must change the very roots of their presumptions.

The Right Wing Capitalists are even further out there.

They can't imagine a world where resources can't be mined or stolen,

and their waste products can't be dumped into the commons.

This lack of "imaging power" makes them the equivalent of

illegally blind.

Earlier in the week, I was visiting with a progressive politician

who had sat next to the Chairman of Shell for some event.

He asked the Chairman "why can't we move away from Petroleum now"?

The Chairman replied that technology can only move so fast,

that no matter how much money you throw at something,

that technology advances steadily, not in great bursts of energy

and inspiration.

Except I suppose, in a great time of Peril, or a great time of Advancement,

Or both.

Like when the last war with numerals ended with 2 nuclear devastations,

Or, like when the Americans went to the moon in 7 years.

Or, like in the case of Moore's law,

Or, in the case of the cell phone industry.

The Chairman of Shell simply "can't imagine" a world without petroleum.

As I go about my day today, I will join this "culture of intransigence".

I will shop, like I have for so many other Holiday Seasons.

I will visit all my favorite pals and artisans at the dillo,

And I will drive from place to place, knowing what I know,

refusing to change my extreme position.

And I'm not talking about Building Seven.

And I'm not talking about Flight 77

And I'm not talking about the Grassy Knoll.

I'm talking about our collective extreme position

which states that 7 Billion People can live divided

on an earth that has no real divisions.

I'm talking about our collective extreme position

that deifies weath and power,

and demonizes love and understanding.

I'm talking about our collective extreme position

that promotes big box pseudo competition,

that exists only through our continued collective cooperation.

I'm talking about our collective extreme position

that the seas are not rising, and the fish are not in peril,

that the ice caps are not melting,

that the permafrost is not thawing,

that the birds are not in retreat,

that this balmy holiday season,

is just an anomoly.

And that our new leadership,

is going to get it.

It's the Season....

for Intransigence.

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art courtesy of Alejandra Salaverria