The Past is always Present

In the restless, breathless lives we lead, often, gentle reader, we think our moment — the here and now — is the only one that matters. That is the hallmark of ‘modernity’, an octopus-like epoch which, with its tragedies and comedies, poverties and luxuries, makes us sink into the present and become amnesiac of the past. Yet, the past is always present, its shadows colouring every corner of our lives.

Interestingly, this extends to our collective, shared existence as experienced in the Anthropocene or the era of indelible human impacts on Earth — we now live amidst intense planet-warming emissions, carbon dioxide releases in 2024 rising to a record 41.6 billion tonnes, the hottest year in history featuring 40% ocean acidification, global tropical forest losses of 6.7 million hectares — twice that of 2023 — and biodiversity facing a staggering 73% decline. The irony of all these losses is our obliviousness to them — even as Earth heats, expressing its state in wildfires and storms, we continue burning more fossil fuels, releasing pollutants and choking natural cooling mechanisms.

We can do this by wilfully turning our backs on a better future — and a wiser past. The roots of the Anthropocene are watered by our current continuous thirst for mobile phones and vinyl dolls — but they lie deep in time. Today’s climate crisis can be traced to the first contact between coloniser and colonised — the former came seeking rich materials and hardy labour they could exploit for their own gain. The latter found themselves embattled and robbed, their forests destroyed, rivers dammed, jungles made into monocropping plantations, lands torn apart to extract gold, coal and diamonds. Carried off to the West, these materials were poured into beautiful streets, grand theatres, slick trains, imposing universities and awe-inspiring industries which continue to enrich this part of the world. No wonder the West wasn’t satisfied with a little colonialism — it had to turn this into a vast imperial chase, clashing murderously with its own neighbours for lands far away. The minerals, fuels and farm products thus robbed by imperialism, which wore these arrogantly like Kohinoors, were poured into factories that never sleep, emitting pollutants stored for millennia — thus began the climate crisis.

However, there are solutions. As Times Evoke’s global experts emphasise, a knowledge of history — our story — is key to understanding the way forward. Whether it is the saga of an alternative but awry vision, like the former USSR, or tales of ecological resilience from ancient Mesoamerica, there are lessons to be learned in every corner of our past. Join Times Evoke in journeying through times gone — they can help better times to come.