“Alright then, canary, time to start singin.” Fair enough. Okay, I said before that doomerism is an affliction that affects a certain type of person – the problem here is, well, my problem is that I can’t think of a good name for this type of person, so I’m gonna refer to all of us as doomers even though I’m certain that not all of us have been suchly afflicted. But then, what’s a little unnecessary confusion amongst friends, eh? Anyway, I consider doomers to have only three basic traits. Simple enough, you either got all three or you don’t. And it’s ok if you don’t. I don’t actually think being a doomer is awesome or even really slightly good at all (the afflicted sort of course). So if you think you’re being left out of some secret exclusive club because I don’t consider you a true doomer – get over yourself. Seriously, who gets jealous that they don’t feel hopeless enough? If what I’m saying here doesn’t jive with you, then it just ain’t for you. No big deal. You are more than welcome to still feel as doomed as you’d like, you’re just not this exact flavor of doomer. And that’s ok.
The first aspect of doomerness is that you can’t help but see the Big Picture (quick aside: there are tons and tons of “big pictures”, economic, political, social, biological, ecological, etc, etc, etc. What I’m getting at here is like a meta-Big Picture that combines all of these, but so, so much more. What I mean should hopefully become a bit clearer as you read on.) – how the pieces fit together and how interconnected our world is at every level. This is not a question of knowledge or understanding, mind you – these things are actually pretty easy to get intellectually. But the different parts of our world are not interconnected intellectually but in reality; in the day-to-day activities and movements of people, things, animals, talking points, and pollen on the wind. It’s not a matter of knowing but perceiving, of seeing the blockages and failing links that are increasing in number and intensity far faster than most people are willing to accept. So they don’t see them, even if they know they’re there – there is nothing easier in the world than ignoring something that you know on an intellectual level. It doesn’t make you stupid or naïve, it just makes you human. There’s a lot of fucking world out there, you need filters and “knows it on an intellectual level” is a pretty dang easy filter for your brain to leave on auto. Doomers, however, are incapable of using that defense mechanism (which it certainly is in this here brave new world). And for the record, I am not poo-pooing this form of cognitive dissonance; if anything I am lamenting that I don’t have it. I have spent most of my mental energy during the 2020s trying not to see all types of things and stuff. And let me tell you: I am not good at it. Like, at all.
The other two doomer traits go together, and might even be two aspects of the same trait, but I think they’re different enough for the distinction to be significant. They are – (a) caring about people and (b) caring about the world. Now, a lot of people care about these things, casually at least. But like everything else that has to do with people, “caring about stuff” exists on a scale; and like everything that people believe about themselves: actions speak louder than words. When I say doomers care about people I mean that they’re the type of person who can’t walk past our homeless brothers and sisters without sharing whatever they have on hand – even if it’s just a greeting and a kind word. The other side of this is that if you don’t “see” the people around you who are forced onto the street, then you might be the sweetest, kindest person in the world to whomever enters your normal orbit, but you just don’t care about people in the way that I mean. (Likewise for how you treat people in the service and retail industries. Seriously, how someone treats the people who “serve” them is the simplest and surest way to tell how someone actually feels about humanity in general. Everyone who has ever worked these types of jobs already knows this quite well.)
Big same for the wider world of which humanity is such a small (although disproportionately destructive) part. I think most people want a healthy environment and aren’t exactly cheesed about a mass extinction event happening in their or their children’s lifetimes – even if these things aren’t political priorities for them. The kind of caring I am talking about, though, is bone deep and can’t be turned off – it’s the kind of caring borne from a person who sees consciousness itself as a gift from nature that allows people to truly and fully appreciate the miraculous beauty of Life – plant, animal, fungus, bacteria, and whatever else pops up on the scene. And that humanity’s accidental but still pretty fuckin awesome role in the universe is to nurture and tend to the Life we find ourselves nested in. The reward for which is that you get to live in fucking paradise. (Seriously though, I cannot emphasize enough that if you think people need additional incentives to tend to and nurture the world then (a) you aren’t a doomer, so don’t worry about what I’m saying because I ain’t talking to you and you probably think it’s all bullshit anyway, and (b) your brain has been broken by capitalism in a very unflattering way and you should do your best to look for some healing in this area sooner rather than later.)
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