How to be smart in the Age of Stupid
Posted on 23. Sep, 2009 by Ole Seidenberg in Germany
This is a guest-post by Sandra Diana Troegl from Germany,who has just recently joined the Global Premiere of the movie “The Age of Stupid” and was thus inspired to share her thoughts with you.
…I have cried during movies before. But this actually was the first one where I didn’t stop crying until the end credits. It took me a while to figure out why. The movie theatre was sold out, the pictures from the premiere displayed happy celebrities arriving in bicycles or hybrid cars, strolling over the fully-recycled green carped dressed in eco fashion, and enjoying little organic canapés.
The Age of Stupid shows the reality of climate change in such a personal, heartbreaking and non-negotiable way it will not leave anyone untouched. Constructed around the core question, “Why didn’t we save ourselves when we still had the chance?“, director Franny Armstrong triggers an argument going under your skin: Didn’t we save ourselves because we thought we were not worth it?
Besides the known pictures of melting glaciers, flooded homes, and dying people, The Age of Stupid reflects the ignorance leading to false decisions, the processes that blockaded the development of renewable energies, unveils the corruption of multinational oil cooperations and their affiliation to the government, and exposes the true reason of why it has come so far: the human nature of failing.
The problem with failing is - we will fail, even if we know we fail. As Kofi Annan said after the premiere, transmitted via satellite: “Noone is saying we need more science. But what we know has not translated into actions.” Again, there is the question of the why. It feels like someone is driving in a car and looking at a tree - and then driving against it.
Franny Armstrong is closing the premiere with the words: “It’s no question, what our generation has to do. It’s just the question if we do it or not.” So it is all just a matter of taking the right decisions? Do we simply have to put as much pressure as we can on our politicians? Is it just a matter of how loud we scream so that we will force them take the right decisions?
Personally, I feel paralysed by the pictures portraying potential apocalyptic scenarios like the Sydney Opera House in blazing flames. I feel unable to act, powerless - like a deer staring into the lights of a car driving towards it - unable to move.
On the opposite, knowing more about the science of climate changemakes me feel empowered. It actually teaches me what implications my actions will have on the world. And there are also elements in the movie that bring back my hope, fuel my energy:
Humans have revolutionized society over and over again. This problem might be bigger and more complex, but we have solved problems in the past. Stories of people like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King that were shown in the movie demonstrate that visions can become reality. It remembered me of a friend who works with Prof. Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh who wrote a song with the lyrics “You showed me light, You taught me to fly, You gave me life.” And with a US President like Obama, people believe in change again.
I also believe in change. I believe that the actions of each individual make a difference.
The pictures of the Global Wake-up Call by Avaaz speak louder than any words. They shout: we are ready, we want a new world, we will tackle this problem…and do it with joy!
The President of the Maledives, Mohamed Nasheed, is also speaking in the occasion of the World premiere. The Maledives is going to be first country committing to go carbon neutral in 10 years time. “Then, we can at least die knowing we did the right thing”, he says. So, it’s about people taking the right decisions? Here you go, sceptics. If you’re a politician: It’s up to you, to take the lead. Copenhagen is a deadline we must meet. We shouldn’t waste more time discussing, if this isn’t the greatest failing of political leadership has ever seen. We should start with ourselves and shift from talk to action.
The 10:10 initiative presents this action as easy as it gets: reduce your emissions by 10% and get 10 other people to follow your example. How? Read on here: http://www.1010uk.org/people#how_can_we.
Let’s show our politicians that we’re willing to commit ourselves to cutting down on emissions, to change our livestyle and consequently demand a fair deal for our global society.
In the history of humankind, we have the best tools at hand to organize ourselves, and to push as long and as hard as we need to get the maximum possible deal. If we want it, we can make them listen, because they represent not more and less than - us.
The clock is ticking - but there is still time.
Act. Calculate your carbon footprint and commit to reducing it now.
Teach. Tell your friends, your familiy, people you work with. Everyone. http://www.notstupid.org/
Vote. Select the politicans that will negotiate the best deal.
Push. From now until December, scream as loud as you can. Get together in local organisations and excert as much pressure on your local government as possible. http://oxfamklimahelden.de/
and then? well… “I think you have said anything that needs to be said, so all I’m gonna do is sing this song.” (Thom Yorke, Radiohead.)
You can find Sandra here:
http://www.facebook.com/SandraDianaTroegl
http://twitter.com/unfucktheworld
One Response to “How to be smart in the Age of Stupid”