the Age of Stupid

Went with our Bible Study group last night to see 'Age of Stupid' last night at a village hall in Kidlington, north of Oxford. (See http://www.ageofstupid.net/) In a sense, there was little in the film that we didn't already know, but there were some memorable images : the old Alpine mountain guide taking a party of people down 150m of ladders on to a glacier that, in his youth, he used to step on to. The look of devastation on the face of the guy seeking planning application for a wind farm on an old bomber airfield, voted down 10 to 1 by councillors in the wake of local protest. The look of smug satisfaction on the faces of the protest organisers and - a truly memorable moment - the expression on the face of the lead campaigner when asked whether she was concerned about global warming. It was a fantastic combination of initial incomprehension, followed by a sort of hysterical desire to please the questioner with the answer he wanted (hysterical, because she realised that her actions betrayed the exact opposite). No actor could reproduce it.

The most telling observation, for me, was the reflection by Mark Lynas that whilst the human species seems well-wired to respond powerfully and imaginatively to immediate crises like attack or earthquake, it seems that we just don't have the mental collective capacity to respond to crises that have a thirty-year time lag. I have a nasty feeling that this is true. Maybe it's that mysterious thing that Paul called 'sin' : "the good thing I want to do I find I can't".

What surprised me most last night was the turn-out. A good three hundred people were there (including the local MP) : tickets had sold out days before.

Dec 5th is a mass demonstration in London (http://www.the-wave.org.uk/). See you there.