While reading the assigned parts of Jeremy Rifkin’s Emphatic Civilization, I was struck by how his idea of humanity’s use of a “theatrical self” is applicable to the divide within America’s stance on climate change. Rifkin describes the theatrical self as a set of skills each person uses to adapt to a social situation. Each of us also possess a “mutable self”, another theatrical component to our personalities that allows us to suppress our true selves in order to achieve a personal motive. It is when we continually suppress our intentions, Rifkin warns, that we move from using creative imagination to actively deceiving in an effort to reach self-gratification.
The United States’ presence at the ongoing COP23 conference in Bonn is duplicitous. Each of the world’s nations are represented at this conference, and many are represented by a single grouping with a coherent stance. Due to the President’s divisive views on climate change, this year the United States is being represented by two groups with opposing views on the issue. If we extend the concept of the theatrical self to the national level, the US has a split personality problem. Each party is using a different version of their personalities to present what each group claims to be the collective perspective of this country. In the last twelve hours at this conference, the US delegates sent to contest action on climate change advocated for the use of “clean coal” while the independent “We’re Still In” coalition of US governors made a speech they called “America’s Pledge on Climate Change”. Over the course of the last fifty years, climate change deniers, often heavy investors in fossil fuels, have moved from using playful imagination to active deceit to achieve monetary gain. The surmounting evidence supporting the evidence of human-driven climate change makes playful imagination an irresponsibly deployed tactic.
Many of the discussions we’ve had in this class have suggested the possibility of an abstract breaking point which will force humanity to reduce its green-house gas emissions. While realistic, this suggestion always infuriates me. I find myself wondering how many species will go extinct, ecosystems will be destroyed, and lives will be lost before we reach this breaking point, where we will stand up and say “now THIS is where we draw the line”. The abuse of our mutable self will have to stop before we can achieve unity regarding this issue.
Gov. Mike Brown adresses COP23 as part of the “We’re Still In” group. Photo taken from https://cleantechnica.com/2017/11/13/sans-trump-america-reaffirms-commitment-paris-agreement-cop23/
Singing protestors at the US delegate’s presentation on clean coal. Lukas Schulze/Getty Images.