November 15th, 2023
As an expert in addiction (to be clear, what I mean by this is that I am good at having problems with my own addiction, not that I went to school for it, that shit’s expensive), it’s impossible for me to look at life without the option of using that lens.
And I see it in our climate crisis.
Let’s start with a basic truth that nobody wants to hear: there is no amount of alcohol consumption that is good for you. None. You can go ahead and yell “BUT I SAW AN ARTICLE” and even link to it like a psycho, but the reality is: drinking is bad for you, always has been, I know some of it has grapes in it, still not good.
This goes for our fossil fuel consumption, as well.
There is no amount of burning it that is good for us. Again, none. Anybody who tells you that it’s fine has never read a science book (and understood it) or taken a science class (and listened). The Earth is objectively telling us it is sick, arm draped on the cosmic toilet bowl.
And yet the climate crisis remains, somehow, a “divisive” topic among human beings who live on this planet. Like, there are people who think it’s not that bad, or that it literally does not exist.
I know about denial. I’ve felt like I had a problem with alcohol from the first drink I ever had. But over the years, I was able to rationalize my drinking.
For example, I work in the restaurant industry. It was very easy to look around and say: “This is normal.” Or: “That person is worse than I am. I am doing okay.”
TV commercials, movies, and our culture in general told me that drinking whenever I wanted to was absolutely fine. Holidays? Absolutely. Child’s birthday party? Go for it. Baby shower? Hand me a mimosa. Regular shower? The shampoo holder has a perfect spot for a can of beer.
In the same way, we have been convinced that burning toxic black sludge from deep underground is a good thing, even though everything, including our own guts (admit it), tells us that it’s wrong.
In both cases, it’s our addiction, and people who normalize it for their own gains, that keep us from getting better.
I’m not writing to present you with all of the science; it is readily available and easy to understand once we remove our biases. No, I write to help us to make connections that can move us forward, to break up with whatever it is we love, can’t get enough of, and is killing us.
This kind of stuff won’t be fixed tomorrow. But all it takes to get started is today.
From one addict to billions more.
The Den 