Monday, March 4, 2013

Climate Change and Niemoller's refrains

Thinking about the public's slow response to issues of climate change, Father Niemøller's poem came to mind.

A version that seems suitable for adaptation:

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me -
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
 ----

My experiments with adapting Niemøller's saying:

Adaptation #1

In America carbon use was widespread,
and I didn't speak up because I too used carbon.
In China the carbon use became widespread,
and I didn't speak up because I bought products from China.
The carbon use destroyed the water and soil and homelands of indigenous peoples,
and I did not speak up because I was far away and not indigenous.
The carbon use destroyed the habitats of plants and animals,
and we didn't speak up because the plants and animals were not our food.
Finally the extreme consequences of carbon use and climate change came for us all,
and it was too late to save everyone, including me.

Adaptation #2

In Africa climate change brought drought to the Africans,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an African.
In Asia climate change brought weakened monsoons,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an Asian.
In New Orleans climate change came for the low-lying neighborhoods,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't from there.
Climate change brought floods to Great Britain,
and I didn't speak up because I was an American.
Then climate change came for me -
and by that time no one had time to come help.
They were too busy trying to survive.

Adaptation #3

In the 1980s the flowers began blooming earlier in the spring,
and I didn't speak loudly because it seemed like a small thing.
In the 1990s, the winters became wetter with rain or snow,
and I didn't speak up because I was busy with children who liked to play.
In the 2000s the killing heat waves and forest fires spread larger on the maps,
and I did not speak loudly because I was far away and had air conditioning.
In the 2010s the crops began to fail in other parts of the world,
and I said only a few things because I had food and I didn't know who else to talk to.
Finally climate change became personal,
And yet it is personal for everyone.

Joan Cope Savage

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