First - very good presentation Ugo, I read the original through.

I have said before that there are forces much larger than us at work here, and this is exactly the kind of thing I meant. I am equivalent to a Roman citizen along the way, regardless of what I may understand about what is happening. It just happens to be my lifetime, so I will live it the best I can.

The world is changing. There are plants and animals and insects all around me that were not here just a few decades ago, and many that are no longer here. I cannot get rid of the Japanese knotweed, the autumn olive that invades all my woods, the wineberrys (that I love), the stinkbugs, the orange ladybugs, giant Asian hornets, etc. The ashes are all dying, and soon will be gone.

The climate is only beginning what will eventually be very radical changes, altering coast lines and entirely changing the characteristics of probably most every area. Human kind neither can nor will do much of anything to address these issues - this is how the world is now - it will not change back. This is my world.

Into this reality I send two children (10 and 15) that I love and must raise - that endeavor will never end as long as they and I live. I don't give a fig about the present geopolitical entities, my focus is elsewhere - let the empire collapse, why should I fret? Someone will make a new flag one day, and I won't care about that either. I will adapt as best I can, because I have to - and hopefully I will be a benefit to the community around me in the process.

But I do believe that even though we will go through a period of chaos and tragedy and hard work that will last longer than my lifetime and those of my children, there will still be moments of happiness, and the possibility for meaning in life. What more should one hope for?

We are not the first to see changes such as this - it's a cycle that has gone on for all of human civilization. The difference is that this time we found the power of fossil fuels, and used it. We never had such power before, nor will we ever have it again, but the effects of having used it will not fade out entirely for the rest of human existence. Still, I must live the rest of my short life with whatever those effects are.