I just finished reading a classic short story by Tolstoy, Master and Man, --it is a true masterpiece. It tells the tale of Vasili Andreevich (the Master) and his servant, the peasant Nikita, (the Man). Vasili, a greedy man who is obsessed with 'the mania of owning things,' decides to set out on a journey to a nearby village to purchase a grove of trees. He is certain he will be able to obtain it at a very good price, a fraction of what the property is worth. He insists on traveling to the village as soon as possible; if he doesn't get there immediately, he fears, somebody else might purchase it.
You know the type. He measures his self-worth by what he has. He cheats, underpays Nikita by about fifty percent; his relationships with others are functional. He is blind to the fact that he cheats employees; he has convinced himself that he is their benefactor. (Nikita know he is being cheated, but he accepts it, since he 'has no other place to go.' He compares himself to a local landowner with whom he is in direct competition. He utilizes nearly all his considerable energy and ingenuity on schemes of financial advancement.
(Digression l: Research has shown that if you live in a house that is the largest in your neighborhood, you're happy. Move your house to a neighborhood where it is now, albeit the same house, the smallest on the block, you are sad. (Provided, of course, that you're not old and wise.) Digression 2: CEOs of large corporations have an annual salary in the millions. They don't need anymore money and they know it. If, however, a rival, second CEO gets a raise, the first CEO feels short-changed and becomes jealous until his salary matches or exceeds the former's. If Vasili were a real person, and we could transport him from nineteenth century Russia to 21st century America, both of these digressions would undoubtedly apply to him.
A blizzard is brewing. He is warned not to set out on a snowy night; it is too dangerous. Vasili, set on his business deal, ignores the advice. Nikita knows it is a bad idea, but is not about to contravene his master.
Although the snowstorm has already begun, they begin their journey. They eventually reach a village, not far from their destination. They are invited by a villager, who recognizes Vasili, to come inside his house and rest. After a while, Vasili, decides to complete the journey. By this time, the blizzard is in full force. He refuses to heed the advice of the villagers to spend the night with them. Vasili acts almost as if his life is dependent on the business deal, and again sets out.
They get lost. The sledge gets stuck in a snowdrift. They are in real danger now, and they know it. They realize that they will have to spend the night in the middle of nowhere. The landowner falls into a fitful sleep; he wakes up after an hour or so. The blizzard is worse that ever; he is now in a state of panic. He is in danger of losing every thing. He can't die now! There are too many acquisitions to make! Without a thought of Nikita, he mounts the horse and rides off.
He gets lost again. He panics once more. He discovers that he has gone in a circle and has come back to the sledge. Nikita, convinced that he's dying, begs Vasili to give any money due to him to his wife.
Then something extraordinary happens. In a sudden burst of pity for the dying Nikita, Vasili lies on top of him to keep him warm. The latter has a dream that the 'one he has been waiting for' has finally arrived. The landowner is filled with joy. He refers to himself in the third person. How could Vasili have been so selfish, he muses. --"And it seemed to him that he was Nikita, and Nikita was he, and that his life was not in himself but in Nikita." After this, he falls asleep, assured that the one for whom he has been waiting is coming. He is finally happy. He finally realizes that relationships are what are important, not things. He never wakes up. Nikita, thanks to Vasili, survives.
The blizzard almost seems to be a character in the story. Is it merely a storm or the working of Providence? For Vasili was so far lost in his selfishness that it took a fierce blizzard to knock some sense into him. Although Tolstoy describes the blizzard without a trace of the supernatural, we can't help feeling that grace, whether by chance or by divine fiat, was at work here. Vasili lived in vain but he did not die in vain. His death was, in a sense, a triumph over death.
Will we need a fierce blizzard to wake us up? Scrooge was transformed by dreams while lying in bed. Will our transformation, if it ever comes, be ushered in by a cataclysm?
For our blizzard--in the form of Climate Change--is indeed coming. Will we wake up before it's too late?
2.
In my section of the world, the United States, the pandemic seems to be winding down. Fewer and fewer cases are being reported, and the vaccination program is much better than I ever expected--A full 46% of adults have received at least one shot. That we are now able to vaccinate youths from 12 years of age is another positive development. There are problems, however. Many persons are still hesitant about receiving the vaccine. And another country that I have ties to, India, is not doing well at all. It's possible that a variant that is resistant to the vaccine will evolve--viruses reproduce rapidly, raising the possibility of noxious mutations. We're not out of the woods yet; we might be, however, at the edge of the forest. Let's hope so.
Most of us have had a very difficult year. Our activities have been limited. We have had more time, I would hope, to think. The Quakers invented the concept of solitary confinement for prisoners. They thought that would give criminals much needed time to think and repent. Well, we know how that has worked out. Thinking and changing habits are of utmost importance now; it seems the confinement caused by the pandemic hasn't resulted in necessary societal change.
Climate change is a very serious problem. We are going to have to simplify our lives; if we are concerned citizens, we have no choice. It's as if an asteroid has hit the Earth while we go about our lives with the insouciance of dinosaurs.
In case you are relatively unaware of the crisis we are in, I offer the following highlights:
* The polar ice sheets are melting rapidly. Layers of ice help regulate temperature by reflecting light back into space. The melting of the ice sheets will cause significant rise in sea levels, with disastrous results. It has already begun.
* Acidification of the oceans. The oceans act as a buffer of temperature regulation by absorbing C02 in the atmosphere. This process of oceanic acidification has already reached crisis proportions. The oceans will not be able to absorb C02 for much longer, which will significantly increase the amount of greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere.
* Droughts and storms, intensified by climate change, are occurring now and are likely to get much worse.
* The C02 level in the atmosphere, currently at an unprecedented level of 417 parts per million, continues to increase.
Etc. Etc.
According to a U.N. report, the wealthy, responsible for about 40% of pollutants spewed into the environment each year, will have to drastically change their ways, if the Earth is to survive; survive, that is, to support life as we know it.
I would like to focus, however, on the carbon footprint of individuals, which is significant; about 30% of the increase of carbon dioxide is due to the action of individuals. This is largely due to the types of food consumed.
A recent University of Michigan study presents a good outline of the dietary problem. The carbon footprint of every person in the U.S. is on average 5 kg CO2 eq. per day. If Americans reduced their consumption of meat by 50% and beef--which has the worst carbon footprint of all--by 90%, the average diet-related carbon footprint would be reduced by over 50%!
Even having one vegetarian meal a week would be significant. (Reducing meat consumption would have major health benefits as well.)
Things have to change, but they are not. The disastrous American diet continues. Individuals are still bombarded by advertisements hawking bad food choices, e.g. : "We're Arbys. We've got the meats!"
The pandemic has given us time to reflect. But most of us haven't even identified this problem. What's wrong with us? What's wrong with the efficacy of scientific communication?
It's even worse. Larry Kudlow, who was Trump's top economic advisor, claimed recently that the Biden plan to reduce pollution would require Americans to stop eating meat! Fox News claimed that Biden would allow Americans to consume only one hamburger per month!
Paul Krugman, wrote an op-ed about this in the New York Times on April 26, 2021. He pointed out that Kudlow's assertion was a complete lie, and that Biden would never try to impose dietary restrictions. However, he failed to state that dietary changes are an important part in the struggle against climate change.
Democrats certainly don't do enough about informing the public about methods individuals can adopt to combat the perils of climate change. Republicans, however, as loyal members of a corporate party. do their very best to lie and to confuse the public. They figure they can get more votes by pretending that the Democrats are going to enforce dietary restrictions. Many ordinary Americans, set in their ways, continue to down hamburgers, and know no other way; instead of being educated, they are being inflamed by lies to keep the flames on the grill while they barbecue beef.
It is truly a horrible situation. Will we need to have the equivalent of a vicious blizzard to transform us? Vasili in Tolstoy's masterpiece did change--and died soon after. Are we a nation, no, a world, of Vasilis? When will we ever learn? I still hope we will change our ways before it's too late. Judging from present behavior, however, it might already be too late.
Earth, as it were, is crying. Stuffing hamburgers in her mouth is not the way to go; it is, however, a way to help her go--forever.
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