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Meet the doomers: The near term human extinction support group

http://joannenova.com.au/2019/11/meet-the-doomers-the-near-term-human-extinction-support-group/

By Jo Nova

In this world, the deniers are the ones who think humans will survive

There are people more extreme than Extinction Rebellion. Though in a quieter way. They’ve given up. They’re so convinced by the apocalypse — a world careering towards doom — that they only feel at home around others who share their fears. Many have lost relationships, and now often hide their beliefs from their family. Many have dropped out of protests.

Activism means growing opium poppies so they have painkillers to make the end-time easier instead of starving. Kind of like “preppers” but not that optimistic.

James Purtill the ABC journalist, admits he himself was too dark for his girlfriend. “We broke up”.

The doomers get evicted and isolated from mainstream believers because “they sound too much like deniers”. Just as the deniers (he means skeptics) say there is no point cutting emissions, so do the doomers: they figure death is coming, it’s too late, why bother? Indeed.

Unlike the XR-attention-seekers, these are the gullible but they’re introverted, nicer, not forcing their beliefs on anyone. After the fantasy leap to believe in experts and models, there’s a certain kind of logic to it.

More collateral damage of the climate scare:

Breaking up over climate change: My deep dark journey into doomer Facebook

James Purtill, ABC

The Near Term Human Extinction SUPPORT Group was set up in 2013 and now has 6,400+ members and a description that reads: “For people who have accepted that HUMAN EXTINCTION IS INEVITABLE IN THE NEAR TERM due to anthropogenic global warming (AGW) and the consequences, based on trends determined by scientific research.” (Their caps locks).

It politely adds: “This is a forum for friendly and non-threatening discussion.”

But clarifies: “Note: If you believe that humans will survive, we ask that you join other more relevant groups such as Positive Deep Adaptation.”

The admins of the group proved hostile to me, a random Australian reporter.

“Luckily” he could win them over because he too shared some of their gloom:

Roblyn explained that the people she spoke to had found refuge in these online groups after their world had fallen apart. First, they had been traumatised by what they had learned about climate change and the future, and then they had lost their friends and family and their status in the community by trying to communicate the urgency of their discovery to others.

“Many of them only had these online groups to believe them and to talk to them as though they were serious human beings,” she said.

It’s an interesting, if melancholy read. The group was traumatized when they realized there was a reporter present. They already felt isolated.

What the doomers don’t realize is that they have to get evicted from the climate religion because their do-nothing defeatism is a threat to “the cause”. To get maximal motivation, believers must balance on the fine edge of belief that the world is about to end, but that it is just barely savable. A lot of careers and $1.5 trillion dollars of industrial climate gigs benefit from maintaining this crest atop the endless wave of shifting goal posts. Tomorrow it’ll be too late…

The ABC journo draws the approved solution, of course — all roads lead to “a means to an ends”:

Like Flannery, I’m beginning to think climate rebellion is the only way, which is scary.

On the plus side:

”But at least I don’t have to worry about retirement any more.” — one doomer to another.

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