Are we frogs … in water that is heating up?
The collapse of our social and ecological systems is not some future risk. It is happening now – but because we are swimming in it we are struggling to notice.
Here is one specific example happening in broad daylight without barely a protest. This example is most telling cause it concerns the core survival and resilience of our species – how we raise our young.
Government is reducing targeted support for babies and their families who are experiencing significant stress. This is happening when the body of evidence is increasing exponentially that affirms this is the very stage when society needs to be supporting our young and at a time when stress is increasing on low-income families. This action is insane and is an example of dysregulation in our systems.
There are reasons presented for the reduction of this service; cost pressures on specific agencies, needing to focus on core business, needing to ration services etc. And at one level these do contain some logic when viewed from a highly fragmented lens. And that’s the risk of swimming in water where the temperature is rising. It is as if the warmer temperatures dull our awareness of what is happening. Our world views are so disconnected and our planning and delivery systems so fragmented that we fail to absorb the reality around us. This pattern applies to all systemic collapse scenarios.
I’m not saying the service being cut (Family Start) is as good as it can be, or that an alternative delivery system could be more effective. However, none of this was discussed or mentioned or explored. If we aren’t frogs – which I hope we are not – then we all need to help cool the water. We can do this by fostering deeper respect and understanding across the system and helping bring the system back into self-regulation. This will involve activating leadership from the ‘edges’ of the system.