Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene

In his article, “Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene,” Ray Scranton makes an interesting parallel between the devastation of Iraq during the war and the devastation of the world during climate change. Our generation is accustomed to thinking the major crisis of our time is the conflicts in the Middle East and the wars there that seem to be never-ending. However, we overlook one of the more subtle crises that we are undergoing: climate change. It is difficult to feel the full effect of climate change when we don’t feel the effects of it in our day-to-day lives. It is not like war, which is consistently in the news and dominating conversation about foreign policy. It doesn’t feel as immediate and real as so many other problems in the world. Scranton points out though, that the effects of climate change can and will be just as devastating as the effects of war. Interestingly though, he doesn’t offer real solutions for individuals to make a difference in combating climate change. Instead, his suggestion is to embrace the idea that the society and culture we have grown up in is dead. Perhaps he is right, but I think this is a very abstract idea that doesn’t really help us to make a change. It is unlikely that all of the sudden the whole world will be able to accept the fact that our society can’t continue as it has been, burning fossil fuels and destroying the environment in the name of economic gain. Instead I think the solution to starting to positively impact the environment is to make individual environmentally conscious choices, and push our governments to better regulate the emission of fossil fuels. Instead of philosophically discussing how we need to embrace death, we should begin with concrete steps towards making a change. Though Scranton makes interesting points and I agree with his concern about climate change, his focus on the philosophical instead of the practical makes his argument less convincing.