Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of what we are
witnessing-and there are oh so many, is the ubiquitousness of blame.
Attending almost every report on skyrocketing gas prices is the
question: "So whose fault is it?" I certainly am not surprised by this,
but I find it unsettling to say the least. Because Americans in
particular have been absolutely recalcitrant and incapable of looking
at collapse, they are being and will continue to be increasingly
blindsided by it. Sadly, when humans are traumatized, their functioning
becomes progressively more primal and animal-like, and their capacity
for taking in and assimilating new information is markedly reduced.
When Peak Oil experts first began sharing their research, they told us
that food, perhaps more than any aspect of our lives, would be impacted
by it, and so it is. The double-barreled trauma now hitting Americans
which is putting both gasoline and food out of their reach, is certain
to result in reactive, vindictive behavior that will irrationally
target a plethora of scapegoats. Add to this a foreclosure or two, a
bankruptcy, car repossession, job loss or loss of health insurance and
you have a recipe for mayhem. Such behavior, understandable as it may
be, is adolescent in nature and therefore, untempered and unwizened,
making acting-out individuals exceedingly dangerous to themselves and
others.
Like me, you are probably witnessing the barrage of
blame in your community and nationally if you are paying attention to
mainstream news.
Dmitry Orlov
has given us a treasure-trove of information about human behavior in
the throes of collapse chaos. What is and will be different from the
collapse of the Soviet Union for Americans, however, is the level of
violence that is likely to proliferate as collapse accelerates.
Russians were never intoxicated with affluence and entitlement as
Americans are. Their history has been replete with suffering; ours
marinated in privilege reinforced by gun culture and firearm fetishes.
What those of us who comprehend collapse must understand as we navigate
the daunting days ahead is that what is happening to America and the
human species is an initiatory experience similar to those which have
been structured and honored by indigenous peoples for thousands of
years. The very best explanation I have read of this process is
Nature And The Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness And Community In A Fragmented World,
an extraordinary book by psychologist Bill Plotkin in which he
illuminates the stages of human development and emphasizes how they
have been skewed by a capitalistic, consumer-driven culture-and how
each stage might be lived in fulfillment in the context of a holistic
community. The current planetary initiation differs from the
traditional, tribal initiation in that the former is involuntary and
unwanted, whereas the latter is perceived as essential for the well
being of the initiate and the tribe.
In tribal cultures young
people have the opportunity to experience ritual rites of passage from
adolescence to adulthood, that is, an initiation, which involves some
type of ordeal created and supported by the tribe's elders. Ordeals may
include rugged endurance challenges in the wilderness, treacherous
hunting experiences, or isolation for a period of time in nature. In
all instances, the experience is one of discomfort and danger and
literally sets up a brush with death for the initiate. Many traditional
societies, and some psychologists such as Carl Jung, believe that the
human psyche requires initiatory experiences in order to develop in a
functional manner and that without them, one's emotional and spiritual
development is impaired.
Since cultures are comprised of
individuals, it follows that when the individuals of the culture have
not been initiated, the culture itself is likely to remain in an
adolescent state. Many cultures that have experienced collective
suffering such as protracted wars, famines, and disease have in the
process, experienced a collective initiation which may produce some of
the results of an individual initiation. This may be the reason that
some European countries that endured two world wars appear to have a
more mature relationship with the earth community. For example, many of
those countries are far more aware of environmental issues and have
taken more profound steps to live consciously in harmony with the
ecosystem as noted in a recent
National Geographic survey which ranks the U.S. last in environmentally conscious behavior.
I believe that the collapse of civilization, now accelerating at
dizzying speed, is indeed a collective, planetary initiation of the
human species. It involves all of us, not just those "clueless
Americans out there", and it will deliver to each of us countless
unwanted ordeals on every level-physical, emotional, financial, social,
and spiritual. What traditional cultures which practice ritual
initiation understand about it is that what matters most in the
initiatory process is not whether the initiate survives physically, but
that that person's consciousness is transformed-for her own enhancement
and for that of the tribe.
What I want to reinforce for all
of us is how imperative it is in the days ahead for us to walk
consciously, cautiously, and compassionately through the fires of this
long, protracted initiation. Beyond our physical, financial, and
logistic preparations, we must continuously work-and it will be work-to
open our hearts and minds to the larger purpose behind the ordeals. We
must ask ourselves what each particular experience wants to reveal to
us, how it comes to us to open our eyes and cleanse the doors of our
perception. We will be incessantly reminded that civilization has come
to all this-depletion and exhaustion of the earth community and all of
the suffering that attends that. In a sense, I believe, we are
fortunate to be living in this time and on this planet because
something greater than our finite human egos is delivering a message
with unmistakable clarity: Living estranged from the earth community as
if we are the only and the most important species on earth does not
work, and collapse wishes to make certain that we understand
unequivocally and irrevocably that our only survival and our only
serenity will be found in living as if we and the earth are one.
Moreover, because we and the earth community
are
one, it is imperative that we reach out to our neighbors and community
members. Their awareness may range from totally clueless to that of
fellow collapse watcher, but bonds must be made and trust built-for our
well being and for theirs. In the days ahead, we will need them, and
they will need us. The more familiar we are with each other, the less
likely that any of us is scapegoated or victimized by panicked, hungry
people who feel victimized and powerless to cope with what they
perceive they have been dealt.
The time for a sense of entitlement is over. We are not entitled to anything; I repeat:
We are not entitled to anything.
Each day, each moment, each breath, each bite of food and drop of
water, each smile or warm hand on our shoulder, if we are fortunate
enough to have them, are precious gifts to be savored, treasured, and
given thanks for.
As I have been writing in recent months, I
hold a vision of possibility-the potential for small pockets of
survivors to create local outposts of conscious community in which
individuals can live compassionately, practicing out of necessity and
choice, those behaviors that sustain themselves and the earth. Those
who have already begun this process may have an advantage, but none of
us will be immune-nor should we be, in my opinion. It appears that this
momentous initiation is the only way in which humans can fully and
finally comprehend the toxicity of civilization.
Many
citizens of the former Soviet Union discovered through the experience
of collapse what ultimately mattered most. Yes, there was violence,
crime, paranoia, hunger, thirst, deprivation, and astounding loss, but
unprecedented compassion, trust, bonding, cooperation, and support
flourished in the midst of total societal disintegration. For me,
collapse is the opportunity for an outpouring of the latter qualities
that causes me to at least partially welcome the demise of all that has
prevented us from living and sharing them. Perhaps finally, amid a
frightening unraveling, we will grow up-becoming mature human beings
who ultimately find it impossible to tolerate anything remotely
resembling industrial civilization because we will at last have become
adults.
Carolyn is an adjunct professor of history, a former
psychotherapist, an author, and a student of mythology and ritual.
Carolyn’s Mission: “The Chinese proverb and curse says, ‘May you live
in interesting times’.”
In the first decade of the twenty-first
century, we live in profound uncertainty, faced with issues
unprecedented in the history of the human race.I seek to
provide readers with a ‘fixed point in a changing universe’ that both
informs and supports humanity’s efforts to remake the world—both our
personal worlds and our planet. My intention is to offer a beacon of
light in the smothering darkness with which we seem to be engulfed,
making available information and specific ideas and strategies which we
all might utilize as we experience the life/death/rebirth process
inherent in the inner and outer realms of our current reality.”
Writings 
Well here it is folks-the great unraveling so many of us have been forecasting during the past five years as we've read the tea leaves and researched the unprecedented convergence of myriad natural, political, economic, and environmental realities. As most of you know, I'm traveling, yes on the road, across this country. I was going to wait until arriving at my final destination before writing about my experience, but with oil rapidly heading for $200 a barrel, it feels important to do so sooner rather than later because our lives have just changed more dramatically than we can imagine, and we will only be able to comprehend to what extent as the repercussions of the end of the age of oil reverberate through what is left of industrial civilization. 
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