Social Climate: Mediating the Mob Mentality (1of2)

As we get nearer to the Copenhagen Conference, we collectively continue to gauge the ‘Social Climate’ for effecting genuine change. All the while still searching for any obvious signs of the required Social, Cultural, and Political motivations and leadership factors that can, and should drive some new points of agreement home before this momentous occasion expires…

The most prominent example of leadership to emerge thus far is Connie Hedegaard the Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, and also the incoming COP15 president. She has already offered a refreshingly direct response to those murmurings that we’ve been starting to hear from those who’ve already tried to lower the bar, or set more ‘realistic’ goals for COP15. Here is her hard-line stance towards anyone who would try and soften their positions before the Conference.

“If the whole world comes to Copenhagen and leaves without making the needed political agreement, then I think it’s a failure that is not just about climate. Then it’s the whole global democratic system not being able to deliver results in one of the defining challenges of our century. And that is and should not be a possibility. It’s not an option,”

It’s so very encouraging to finally hear a top official taking a hard line on this Climate Change Conference, just as it seemed to start backsliding on its mandate. As Ms.Hedegaard so succinctly puts it…

“Complexity is no excuse for complacency”

…So in the spirit of facing challenges immediately, rather than letting them grow into an ominous Future, let’s look at the Social and Cultural forces that need to be marshaled and engaged right now in order to effect positive Climate Changes right here in the Present…

Time is obviously very short, and we clearly still have so much more to learn about organizing (engineering?) Social Change from the ground up by effectively communicating our social needs and cultural views (on a wider scale) via networked Social Media. As such, lets dispense with polite protocols, and just lay it out flat. You see, (inhale) if we consider all the modern tools and resources that we have at our collective disposal, we really can’t be at all that pleased about how things have been going so far here in the 21st Century when it comes to our ability to communicate and effect positive Change.

For example…Aside from a few shining exceptions out there, we could easily point our smug little fingers at most of the Mainstream Media, and  admonish them for not really taking true and effective ownership of the Environmental issues that face all of us. Aside from ringing the warning bell when provided with a suitably alarming official report or graphical depiction of Climate Change, the Media quite easily and quickly moves on the next “bleeding” story, or spectacular disaster, and thus relegates Climate Change to the role just another passing tragedy in the daily news.

Is it really too presumptuous to expect the Media to be our greatest hope in demonstrating clarity on key issues? To work in tandem with Governments, Educators, Researchers and NGO’s to empower audiences with a deeper understanding of the underlying subjects of Climate Change, and perhaps even offer us options and avenues to action?

Admittedly, the golden age of Journalism is likely far behind us now, and to expect these overweight dinosaurs to help us all evolve is probably asking for too much anyhow. But there’s more than enough journalistic history, where political and social advocacy was held as a standard, to at least warrant a better showing on such a critical issue at this point in time. No?

Otherwise, who else is there to spur “We the People”, and other general Electorates around the Free World to greater heights?

I would have at least expected more Mainstream Media visibility for the ongoing negotiation processes and conferences leading up to Copenhagen. Instead, we are either fed a steady diet of sensationaly dire predictions, that all fall short of comprehensive coverage for the actual underlying or ongoing key issues. Perhaps after awhile, the alarm bell just doesn’t sound right if it’s been getting hammered with a feigned frantic zeal on a daily basis. Perhaps the fickle glare of the TV limelight, and the roving eyes of news reporters feel that they have already covered all the ‘officially endorsed’ angles on Climate Change, and unless something new or spectacular happens, it’s best to just move on the the next ‘balloon’ story. We can at least continue to count on a daily dose off celebrity gossip to remind us of our cultural priorities.

Even with so much shared public consensus, and self-empowering personal technology, we still have so much more to learn about effectively raising a lasting public attention on critical issues, and maintaining visibility on objectives long enough to get people all pushing in the same direction.

Perhaps Bloggers are indeed abit naive? After all, the Press has long sought to motivate it’s Readership on political and social issues (at least in the Op-Ed pages) by vetting various balanced views and presenting objectives in clearly communicated capsules.  We’re left to wonder how well this has translated into influences upon our Political leaders decisions, and leave the data/details for any results of poll-taking I suppose. At which point we arrive at the same old political question…

In a true Democracy, what mechanisms will directly communicate the will of the People and behoove our leaders to immediately act on our behalf?

Unfortunately most of the business of Government falls  into the wide and fallow troughs of process and daily procedures that easily bury key issues between the promissory notes of election campaigns.

This is no time for referenda, public soundings, or polling constituents. The Public will and intent should be clear, and the only question should really be how much loss of “lifestyle” are we willing to sacrifice in the short-term, in order to gain long-term salvation. If politicians could somehow clearly see that (for example) they wouldn’t in fact be promptly drummed out of office if the Economy took a bad (worse?) swing, then perhaps they’d be willing to get right down to the job at hand, and start building a better future. Of course there are far too many ‘externalities’ to this equation, to just give our Politicos the license to trash the old economy while they build a new one up.

So, if we could somehow leave aside ( or leash up) the well-heeled lobbying powers and political influence peddlers, and focus on the great unwashed masses of voters, who (believe it or not) can still effect change on an erstwhile pseudo-democratic Society, we could possibly look for what other forces might effectively communicate a shift in Public opinion in this rapidly changing Social Climate. Let’s start looking at our options here

Click here to form your own opinions…

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