Forward looking memory

This weekend we have celebrated, or maybe contemplated All Saints Day. It is a time of remembrance and introspection, time to think about those we mourn, whether they are family and close friends or some more public person. She or he can still have made an impact on our lives that we need to remember.

Although the Halloween festivities with orange pumpkins and kids going for tricks or treat have become more popular in recent years, the traditions of All Saints Day are still strong. We venture to the cemeteries, light our candles and watch as hundreds of small flickers of light illuminate the autumn evening. The rustling of falling leaves and the silents steps of people in deep thoughts creates a soundscape to match the candlelights. 

This year I had two candles to light. My father passed away more than a decade ago. But my mother died this spring, in the midst of but not directly from Covid19 infection. It might still be that the pandemic made her life small and boring, thus hastening her withdrawal from this world. 

My mother was more than 94 years old. She has lived through many big upheavals both in her family and in the world at large. Depression times, the Nazi power grab in Germany and  the resulting second World War, followed by peace and mostly prosperity even though the world was still divided. Almost to the end, she was still curious about the future. But climate change for her felt too far off in the future to really engage her. 

Watching my two candles among the many more as dusk set in, I thought a lot about time. If I live to be as old as my mother, I will be around until 2050. 2050, so far away or maybe not. 2050 is the year when we are supposed to have transferred all countries to fossil free, carbon neutral, sustainable and just societies. That is, if we want to have a chance to leave a liveable world for generations to come. By 2030, my newly born grandson will be 30 years, hopefully in the prime time of his life. 

Some days the climate disruption we are entering into and the detrimental effect that may well have on both democracy and societal stability feels like a heavy burden. I know too much about the climate science and the effects that climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to be able to shake it off. What I have learnt cannot be unlearnt.

Still, that is no reason at all to give up and retreat to the private sphere, seeking some way to weather the storm - because the storm won’t pass. We have to actively confront both climate change and the nihilist that have gone from denial to saying it’s to late to do something. "Après nous la déluge” is a Trumpian way of shying away from facts, a cowards way of not taking responsibility. 

Instead I choose to be a “dystopian optimist”. There is no easy path forward, but a lot of hard work. The good thing is that the gains far outmatches the costs. Just getting us of fossil fuels would save enough lives now being cut short by particles and pollutions to pay for dismantling the fossil fuel industry. It is “denial as usual” that is expensive, not change.

If I am around for my grandsons birthday in 2050, I hope we can rejoice together. If not, I still hope that I have contributed enough for him to remember me as one who did what was necessary. For those who choose to continue to deny and stay silent I just ask, how do you want to be remembered?