Shock the Monkey

To really understand your fear it's helpful to objectify the egocentric construct, or the part of the mind that makes and interprets fear.

Egos fear change and this will always impede any real constructive change, thereby, perpetuating status quo solutions or solving problems with the same mindset that creates them, which is always egocentric.
 
Our current climate change problem demands extremely substantive changes, and rather quickly, from egocentric minds that naturally resist any real changes out of fear. Clearly, the egos most afraid of change (social) are those most effected monetarily, since wealth maintenance and production is a chief egocentric preoccupation in regard to self-actualizing. The ego realizes its 'existence' through the numerous avenues the world provides for egos to self-actualize and increase self-esteem and improve self-image. Yet, obviously, if the world is illusional, these actualizing standards are delusional and meaningless (but don't tell that to your ego!)

Self-actualizing causes egos to congregate into groups to increase the self-actualizing potential of the individuals. 'Corporations' are a powerful type of egocentric congregate, which then further groups into syndicates or cartels in order to influence other weaker, less organized egoic groups (the U.S. Congress in particular, although any government or even the United Nations is a good model of a weaker ego-group). Egocentric congregates have an investment in avoiding substantive change, since this would result in a decrease in the continued actualization that the corporation was created to perpetuate, thereby, enriching individual egos in self-actualizing. Such groups employ fear to insure status quo solutions thereby negating substantive change.

Therefore, the only substantive change that can ever really take place must come out of 'crisis.' 

Without the sudden shock of crisis, convention is easily maintained. The collective ego must be shocked out of its complacency, otherwise it must always be "business as usual." This is similar to the sudden shock of "spiritual awakening" that many so-called "awakened" individuals claim to have experienced. For change to occur, there can be no gradual learning since the ego-self is highly adept in the skill of rationalizing anomalies or abnormalities into conventional perspectives. As history demonstrates, any significant deviation from the norm must be sudden and painful for change to take place.

For instance, no significant economic change can occur until crisis is clearly reached which, by then, may be too late. Unfortunately, governments have successfully offset the sudden impact of the current economic crisis and now we are only gradually heading toward the brink of economic destruction, which helps to anesthetize the ego-self and maintain its conventional hypnosis. . 

Gradual change is manageable, while immediate change, or crisis, can radically impact the collective consciousness creating dire consequences for egocentric groupings like corporations and governments. If I whittle away at your freedoms, gradually over time, you will easily comply, since any traumatic impact to your egocentric standards is mitigated. However, if I suddenly snatch all your rights away, you will protest vehemently and even resist. Can't have that happening now can we?

Therefore, with regard to climate change, the egocentric collective well simply dither, distract, deny and delay change until real environmental destruction makes change immanent.

Unfortunately such a high level of crisis may be prove too late even for any substantive change. Nevertheless, the ego-self is king of its experience and, even in its own self-destruction, will always remain in control...

...because egos are masters of control and will continue to assert control up until the final moments.



Painting by Kris Kuksi - "Orangutan the Messenger"