We are on a collision course with the realities of nature

To the editor:

A few years before I got sober 51 years ago, I spent three months in a hospital bed and a couple more on crutches after a head-on car crash, for which I was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The crash happened in the morning on my way to work, and since they didn’t have Breathalyzers in those days, I only got two years probation. I was truly sorry for what happened, and to this day if I start to nod off on the road, I pull over and take a nap.

However, I remember thinking it is hard to feel guilty about something that happens while you’re asleep. In other words, I passed the buck and didn’t really blame myself — or my drinking — for the accident; rather, its cause was a natural need for sleep. Since then I’ve learned that alcoholics don’t need a reason to drink, but I also learned that the circumstances of life will eventually provide them with a reason to quit — if they’re lucky, like I was.

I thought it was divine intervention, but most likely it was the threat of losing my job, family and a fear of homelessness that led me to seek help in “group therapy,” where I learned how to live without booze. Even so, I eventually lost everything anyway, but managed to maintain my sobriety and family ties during the next 20 years, during which time I started from scratch a couple more times. In my early 50s, I finally got things right — after a serious amount of introspection and self-honesty led me to put religion on the shelf.

Then I got involved with other people and recognized the local community as being the primary benefactor of human life. After taking some college courses, I came to know myself and my place in the scheme of things, which resulted in achieving some peace of mind.

Regrettably, the whole world is now facing a serious climate change, and as a consumer in modern life, I feel a sense of responsibility for my unconscious contribution to global warming, and I’m reminded of the lack of guilt when I “went to sleep” years ago and devastated the lives of a few kids and their mother.

But in the present situation, everyone is at fault and no one feels responsible, let alone any actual guilt. In a manner of speaking, mankind “went to sleep” a few hundred years ago and is now beginning to wake up and realize we are on a collision course with the realities of nature.

As a rule, some good always comes from adversity, and maybe our wake-up call will reveal a truer understanding of the purpose of our life. Evidently, our values and aspirations have been based on some false religious beliefs and cultural assumptions, and our pursuit of “more” now requires us to re-examine our understanding of existence and the role of mankind.

Although there is some truth in all religious beliefs, there are also contradictions that need to be weeded out. The same is true with capitalism, which needs a comeuppance that might require a measure of socialism and a dash of goodwill toward mankind. The use of personal reason and passion is the key to our salvation.

Art Carney

Wasilla