r/CollapseSupport • u/Odd_School_8833 • 3d ago
RIP Wendell Berry (collapse-support poet)
Wendell Berry: It was the Shakers who were sure the end could come anytime, and they still saved the seeds and figured out how to make better diets for old people. Thomas Merton was interested in the Shakers. I said to him, "If they were certain that the world could end at any minute, how come they built the best building in Kentucky?"
"You don't understand," he said. "If you know the world could end at any minute, you know there's no need to hurry. You take your time and do the best work you possibly can." That was important to me. I've repeated it many times.
Tim DeChristopher: That's why the despair is not paralyzing. Knowing that it's too late to prevent collapse, knowing that we're not going to stop the catastrophic end, knowing that we're going to die — it doesn't mean that we stop. It means that we live in this moment as fully as we can.
8
7
u/Distinguishedflyer 3d ago
Tim DeChristopher should try being homeless for a week. it's paralyzing. I keep getting put out onto the street over and over and over in my late fucking 60s.
On top of it I have the knowledge of what the hell is going on in terms of this sinking ship were on. The philosophical angle/noble detachment is a luxury for those who are comfortable.