Modernity as a runway

Working on my book, I have been looking for a suitable analogy to capture our current ecological predicament. For a frequent flyer like myself, I am surprised to find that it may have been there all along: “modernity as a runway”.

Think of it this way: when an airplane is racing down a runway, there comes a point at which the pilot must decide whether to take off or abort. Beyond that point, the remaining runway is too short to allow the aircraft to come to a safe stop. In a similar fashion, modernity as a historical process initially offered two very different possibilities: either acceleration into a space-faring civilization or deceleration back into a “sustainable” way of life. As we continue to use up non-renewable resources and fill the planetary sinks, we are moving down that runway at ever higher speeds, still without any clear commitment as to whether we should attempt to ascend or instead apply the brakes.

In this situation, some (read: cornucopian neoliberals) believe that the aircraft will take off without deliberate intervention, guided by the invisible hand of the market-pilot. Others (read: greens) argue that the very idea of flying is ecocidal, yet lack a realistic account of how the brakes could be applied given the momentum the aircraft has already achieved. Yet others (read: me) contend that we need to wake up to our predicament and at least attempt to make a conscious, democratic decision about whether to try to fly – or not.