We shape the world and the world shapes us.
In an ironic twist of meaning, present Western culture, which
is arguably the most fragmented, a-rhythmic, and linear of all
historical world societies, now uses an “it’s cyclical” argument
to explain away most every crisis thrown at it. The collapse
of the economy? “It’s cyclical.” The collapse of icefields?
“It’s cyclical.” Climate change, species extinction or, indeed,
perhaps the collapse of the entire biosphere? “It’s cyclical!”
This reply is repeated over and over again like an old-fash-
ioned vinyl record stuck in a scratchy groove. On the surface,
the idea is that something has happened before, and now it
is just happening again. Therefore, what’s the problem? But
deeper, the cyclical reply is really a thinly-veiled deceptive
cover, an excuse so that we may in good conscience continue
our remarkably non-cyclical straight-line lifestyle of destruc-
tion indefinitely into the future. Meanwhile, evidence to the
contrary—of human-caused, profound and catastrophic disrup-
tions of countless natural cycles—piles up around us like so
many broken beer bottles and stray dogs in towns filled with
people too drunk to care, or who are about to move someplace
else.
Let’s hope for the best.