Doom played a role. That goes without saying. At that time there were all kinds of doom scenarios, some of them quite bizarre. This was the infamous 70's period of time. And at that time a cold war did rage and it looked probable some type of nuclear war was going to be fought among nations. It threw everything off kilter. A friend of mine had said perhaps it wasn't so bad. "What it does, the mushroom cloud, has not destroyed anything but history. Everything is turned back to the eternal present and all we can snatch from the cinders of the past are a few instances of inspired thought or spirit."

Perhaps but that was only one of the doom scenarios.

This scenario always came popping up: extraction from earth, constant transformation of resources into products, products supporting larger and larger populations, increased populations demanding more and more resources.

This scenario cut down my need for goods. "Ah, they do not know yet we are doomed at this pace." This was the only solcace during those bleak times.

All throughout my 20's I was aware of all this. It alarmed me but I also knew that our minds are tricksters. Most importantly I countered the doom with attempting to understand these things. I did study the cold war and war in general; geo politics trying to find "an answer" for the nuclear problem. Where was the future with the nuclear dilemma there? And if there is no future, where does that lead us?

This had an enormous impact that was only mollified in my mid-late 30's. The earth and life seemed much more solid at that time.

When I think about it that was my initiation into the present day world. Taking on these problems and fears took me out of my college days and put me at the center of something exciting. I did follow a great many leads and learned a good deal of stuff. Much of it has slithered away but my memory of all that time is very strong.

At that time I felt that novels were not going to solve any problem. The novel became nearly a frivolous item.

And I think I switched to poetry and philosophy precisely because the novel failed to address my concerns.

This time is eventually eclipsed by something lighter and more hopeful. The counter acts to this sort of doom is beauty and wisdom.

There is without question something stimulating about contemplating the death of the planet. It is one side of a huge mythology.

It's not shocking to me either that during this time or a bit later in my early 30's I absolutely connected with history, with the historic imagination, with great sprites, with common spirits, with the acts, with the existential history that can be a powerful thing.

Berkeley, of course, was very amenable to all of this. It had its on-edge doom characters but it also had great knowledge resources. It had a very active environmental community. I can remember a spate of time when people were thinking about the future, future space colonies and so on and I was interested in that. Berkeley of course blamed everyone. I took it more as an alarming fact and tried to track it all down. Blame seems to cut off the sources of enlightenment or, at least, constricts the ability to find out and keep curious.

David Eide
January 24, 2014