SAVING REMNANTS

[letter from a fellow blogger today]

Hi Danny,

I very much enjoyed your excellent, thoughtful—and sometimes
humorous—replies RE POLAR CITIES idea....

I understand one of the Scandinavian countries is currently assembling
a world seed bank, [THE DOOMSDAY VAULT], for precisely the survival
purposes you outline in your project description......

In the early
1950s , Lewis Mumford used the phrase "saving remnants," referring
to small groups of people who would act as cultural seed-groups in the
post-apocalyptic future. His immediate concern at the time was the
destruction of civilization by nuclear warfare—which danger, we should
note, has not diminished one whit— but he was also well aware of other
ecological threats growing out of our mostly unconscious worship of
all technologies great and small.

I find myself thinking often about that phrase, "saving remnants,"
since I think it may just come to that — and well before 2500. (You must
be an optimist!)


It is stunning to me to see how few people even want to think about
the "intolerable" future you and I are contemplating. I still hear
people saying that "global warming" is a natural climate fluctuation
not caused by human activity. Amazing.

So, I applaud your conscientiousness and wish you great success in
your project.

Thanks again,

P.