COLLAPSE AND DENIAL

INEVITABLE AND UNSTOPPABLE

Michael Dowd*

Fifteen years have passed since I contributed an essay to the Center for Ecozoic Studies. “Thomas: My Great Oak” was the title of my tribute in 2008.[1] Since then, Thomas Berry has died (2009). And since then, my worldview has been utterly shaken and reshaped.

The exponential rise of ecological and climatic horrors galloping across Earth have forced my reckoning with reality as it really is. I no longer regard the future as an inevitable human-led progressive arc. Indeed, I now view the ongoing collapse of biospheric health and climate stability as unstoppable. A second-order effect is that the collapse of industrial civilization—already well underway—is unstoppable too.

That the ecological underpinnings of Thomas Berry’s worldview have now risen to the top puts me in the place of a Prodigal Son returning home. I am aware that my un-nuanced anthropocentric portrayal of the epic of evolution was a disappointment for Thomas toward the end of his life. And I think I am not the only one who missed his cues about the ultimacy of ecological laws of life.

But I have returned, and I’d like to think Thomas would be nodding with assent and a kind of fatherly pride. Yes, Thomas, I understand. There is no evolutionary stability and certainly no “progress” or gains in biodiversity without healthy air, water, and soil. Yet, here we are. And human innovation, technology, and the market will not save us; indeed, they are the main drivers of collapse and ecocide. I know that, too. I recall you saying at an event, “I drove a car here to tell you how bad cars are for the environment.” I translate that now in my own evaluation of so-called “green solutions” as this: The poison is not the cure.

And there is no cure. Ironically, I learned the fundamental distinction between a problem to be solved and a predicament to be adapted to in a book that Thomas himself urged me to read, to borrow from his library in the summer of 1989 on my second visit to his Riverdale Center along the Hudson River. I did take other books, but not the one written by William Catton and published in 1980 that bore the title of Overshoot.[2]

I finally read Overshoot six years after Thomas died, and it changed everything. Coincidentally, Catton died two weeks before I began reading his book, and I couldn’t put it down. Right away, I did have something useful to do with my new eyes: I helped his family’s contribution of an obituary to be published. I also gathered an array of short tributes to Catton from the likes of Paul Ehrlich, Dave Foreman, Bill Rees, and others and then published those on my own website.

Following that effort, I had time to explore more than just the entrance to the tunnel of doom. I came to terms with the ecological underpinnings of everything. But I did not become a mere doomer. You see, Catton modeled a spiritually enticing generosity of soul or blamelessness, even equanimity. And there was always a sense that the doom tunnel was not the end of the journey. No matter how distant, I could see there was light on the other side.

Where Catton’s book ended I began my own path of continuing forward, with the help of others, in shaping a psychologically sound and still actionable worldview that we now refer to collectively as Post-Doom, No Gloom. Our past and ongoing efforts are archived on a website: postdoom.com. There you will find some ninety video interviews with my co-explorers, plus teaching slide videos of my own. There, too, you will find these definitions:

Doom (definition):

1. A natural feeling of dread or disgust upon realizing that our predicament stems from technological progress and economic growth, rather than offering a way out.
2. Anxiety and fear arising from living in a corrupt, dysfunctional civilization leading to a mass extinction.
3. The midpoint between denial and regeneration, with or without our involvement.

Post-doom (definition):

1. The state that emerges when we remember who we are and how we got here, accept the inevitable, honor our grief, and prioritize actions that support the future and nourish our souls.
2. A fierce and fearless reverence for life, accompanied by profound gratitude amidst abrupt climate mayhem and the collapsing harmony of society, biosphere health, and business as usual.
3. Living meaningfully, compassionately, and courageously, regardless of circumstances.

As well, the post-doom website offers up plenty of natural and human sciences to become aware of and consider — which leads to a sense of inevitability, that:

Each of these points of no return exacerbates climate change. Climate impacts on agriculture, on supply chains, on water availability, on human health, on business-as-usual, and ultimately on political stability all interact within systems of interconnected systems.

Collapse is thus inevitable and unstoppable. So is denial, at least to some degree and probably for most people. After all, why would anyone be willing to trade hope for doom, if they are given no opportunity to sense light at the end of the tunnel?

Thomas Berry knew all this before any of us in the following generations had even an inkling. Here, in this issue of the New Ecozoic Reader, is our opportunity to reconsider the nuances in his speech and writings — and to extend our reflections to include the books on his own shelves that he recommended along the way.

My own current contributions to our communal great work include having recorded an audio version of Catton’s 1980 book, Overshoot. It is freely downloadable from Soundcloud. There you will also find other audio recordings I have made (with author permissions) of many stellar works in the field.

Then, too, perhaps spoken word, and conversation is a more appealing way to explore uncomfortable perspectives, while hearing emotional nuances and the range of human responses — from unresolved fears to present-moment gratitude for the small human and natural blessings that still abound. I especially recommend the more pastoral and emotionally supportive videos and weekly Collapse Acceptance Alliance zoom calls.

I shall close with two prescient quotes, one from William Catton and the other from Thomas Berry:

—William R. Catton, Jr.

—Thomas Berry

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* Michael Dowd is a bestselling eco-theologian and “post doom, no gloom“ educator whose book, Thank God for Evolution, was endorsed by six Nobel Prize-winning scientists, noted skeptics, and by religious leaders across the spectrum. He has delivered two TEDx talks, a program at the United Nations, and has spoken to some 3,000 religious and secular groups across North America. Rev. Dowd has also conducted three online conversation series: “The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity“ (AUDIOS) in 2011, “The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness“ (AUDIOS) in 2015, and “Post Doom, No Gloom Conversations“ (AUDIOS) from 2019 to the present. His main work since 2022 is helping people of all ages understand our times and our predicament in ways that offer clarity over confusion, compassion over blame, and courageous love-in-action over desperate activism.

[1] Michael Dowd, The Ecozoic Journal 2 (2009), 82-83, https://ecozoicstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Dowd.M.The-Sheltering-Oak.EJ2_.2009.pdf.

[2] William Catton, Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1980).