The Storm Is Coming and We’re Headed Right Into it

A parable on insanity of our times

Imagine you’re a sailor out in the open seas. You have been receiving messages about the coming storm for days. The scientists predict, they said, it is going to be hell out there.

But to you, the weather has never been better. The sun was shining; the wind blew in the right direction at the right speed — smooth sailing.

The warnings on the radio continue. Seek shelter, hide in some secluded bay area, or at least take turns to avoid it.

Yet, the weather to you still seems fine. By continuing your charted path, you’ll save days on your trip, and the last thing you want to do is lose time on some storm that might happen. Scientists have been wrong in the past, haven’t they? So why bother.

If the storm doesn’t happen, you’ll sure feel like a sucker for taking precautions. But if it does, then it shouldn’t be that bad. I mean, what’s a little rain and some winds for such an experienced sailor?

A day passes, and then you see it on the horizon. Dark, heavy clouds, lightning all over it. It is still far away; still, enough time to avoid it or at least sail through the edge. But then again, it will probably be such a hard storm. It might even calm down before it comes.

Every competent sailor would seek refuge at the first signs of the alarm. No matter what the cost of the delay would be, it is still smaller than ruin. The very presence of possible ruin is something that should make anyone scared to their bones. Ruin means game over, bro.

But even if the sailor dismissed the early warnings and their inherent inaccuracy, at least when the clouds appeared on the horizon, he should do everything to sail near the edge of the storm (I suppose, I don’t know much about sailing) and prepare the boat for the worst. There is a force coming that is infinitely stronger than the boat, and if it can’t be avoided anymore, at least it should be endured with humility and respect.

Perhaps you have picked on the symbolic nature of the story. We have reached the outer edge of the storm called The Climate Change, formerly known as Global Warming, that has been forecasted since the 1980s. So far, we have done…