Moral Change Number One

As I said in my facebook posts, I have had a change in my focus in life for personal moral reasons. For most of my time with Leslie, my focus was to invest our money so we could have a comfortable retirement. I have never been a fan of capitalism, but my desire for early retirement led me to use the tax laws and investment opportunities that existed for wealth acquisition. (I feel compelled to point out that those laws and opportunities are available only for those in a position to take advantage of them, which many are not). And,  of course, it is the only game in town. Without investments, there is no way we would be retired today.  And I do like being retired very, very much.

So, what has changed?

Climate change is one of the two big drivers of my change of heart about what I should be doing with my life and money. Even though I have certainly been aware of the science, and the dire situation we are in, for decades, I really didn't change anything in my behavior to reflect that. A lot of it is my deep pessimism about people–that most would not do the right thing, so why should I sacrifice myself when I was already better in carbon-using behaviors than many–maybe even most–equally well-off folks? And what would denying myself possibly do in any case, given that it would be like a drop of water in an ocean? And of course, I know that change primarily has to come from governments and corporations.

Leslie and I have never been big consumers–some of that is just in our nature, but a lot of that was related to our desire to retire early, which we accomplished. But, my decisions were never driven with climate change as a key factor.

Then I read–upon (my brother-in-law) Doug Peterson's suggestion–The Story of More by Hope Jahren.

Basically, she just made me wake up to the fact that it is the morally responsible thing to do to use less, fly less, drive less, eat less “bad” food like meat that has a big carbon footprint, and so forth. I have no illusion that individual action is the key to solving climate change. What can I say? I just now feel compelled to consume less for moral reasons.

The big reason I came to this moral underpinning is the innocent victims of our capitalism run amuck–the world's poor–who did absolutely nothing to create the problem, but whose lives are now greatly affected due to the effects of climate change–be it ocean level rise, increased flooding or increased heat and droughts. Real people have suffered greatly while I had just floated through life in a world of plenty. And, clearly, it's going to get much worse for them. I will, it's true, continue to float.

Let me say, I am not trying to be holier than thou. Leslie might disagreed as I have done some arm-twisting with her, but she is my partner in life. We had to come to an understanding. That said, this is a personal thing, and I get totally why other people (including Leslie, to some degree) say “fuck it.”

And it doesn't mean that I will become a hermit and give away all my worldly possessions. I am just a selfish Westerner like most of the rest of us. It's ok to think I am a hypocrite! I think I am. That said we are doing less. Less meat. Less gasoline. Less flying. In other words, I do sacrifice things that I did not used to. It is now a conscious factor on my mind in a way it did not used to be.

The thing that I feel most bad about, but am keeping it as it is, is having a second home where flight is necessary. I was–I said to Leslie–willing to sacrifice having a second home here in Hilo to align my morality with my actions. I was hoping, I am afraid to admit, that she wouldn't call my bluff as I love Hilo so much. (And she did not.) Now, I would leave Santa Cruz and just live in Hilo, but I know Leslie would never do that. So, for now, I will fly twice a year–and try to keep any other flying down to once every, say, five years.

So, obviously, if I travel less, and consume less–I will need less money, right?

I realize all posts need at least one picture.  So, here is the used Prius we bought from our friend Julie when she left the island.  Less gas!

The other big driver of my life change next time...