Collapse (2009)

Thanks to Walter, this interview of investigative reporter Michael Ruppert did finally bubble up my netflix queue, and I've just watched it. Whether you buy into Ruppert's multi-faceted vision of our future or not, you really should ask yourself one question: Do you believe the world supply of oil is infinite? If you do believe it is, then you may not derive much from watching this documentary. If, however, you believe that our oil supply is limited, then you cannot possibly walk away from this film with nothing to ponder.

I'm an old guy. I'm probably within ten years, give or take, of Ruppert's age. I've seen many of the things he's seen, heard many of the things he's heard. Yes, the world we live in is not Disneyland, corruption of many kinds and at many levels is a fact, resources of all kinds are limited, the population is growing more quickly everyday --

and I'm not doing enough to help work toward solutions of our many problems.

If any viewer of this film believes that, as the netflix envelope synopsis says, "Ruppert's monologue explains how the lies and political propaganda fed to Americans by big business will eventually lead to human extinction," then you and I have been watching this from two different perspectives.

After he breaks down on camera, Ruppert turns a corner. His repeated use of the word "hope" is what I choose to carry away from this film.

I admit it: I'm as lazy and self-centered and paranoid as the next person, I guarantee you. But I do believe -- and maybe this is an old-guy thing as well -- that if I make efforts in the direction of thinking about one or two people other than myself, and if I keep getting up off my a** to make a small gesture toward the good of other people, and if I can actually spend a few seconds, from time to time, thinking about the world that future generations will inherit, that I might actually do something, no matter how feeble, that may make the state of the world move in a positive direction.

Of course my primary problem is that I'm an idiot -- certainly no self-proclaimed "critical thinker" -- as you can surely tell from everything I've said here so far, but I'm an idiot, I uncritically think, who's really attempting tiny half-a**ed efforts, when I'm not dozing off or eating bonbons, that I really hope will make a positive difference for us now, and for future generations. I'm almost 100% jaded at this point in my life, for real, but there still is a minuscule chink or two in my armor that allows HOPE to enter in to my thinking process.

Heaven help me, Ray Kurzweil.