(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Ukraine, Climate, everything: The Ring must be destroyed or the War is in vain. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-10 Outside there was a starless blackness as Gandalf, with Pippin beside him bearing a small torch, made his way to their lodging. They did not speak until they were behind closed doors. Then at last Pippin took Gandalf’s hand. ‘Tell me,’ he said, ‘is there any hope? For Frodo, I mean; or at least mostly for Frodo.’ Gandalf put his hand on Pippin’s head. ‘There never was much hope,’ he answered. ‘Just a fool’s hope, as I have been told. ...’ -J. R. R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings pg. 846 Tolkien claimed in his forward to The Lord of the Rings he was not writing allegory, but it was and is hard for many to resist drawing parallels to the themes of hope, pity, perseverance, and struggle in the face of two cataclysmic world wars followed by the Cold War threat of nuclear annihilation of the planet. It is a book about the titanic struggle against a powerful enemy who threatens to plunge Middle Earth into a darkness of autocratic obliteration of anything good. Despite Tolkien’s stated dislike of allegory, I offer the following not as a statement of his intent, but rather to use his text as an inspiration for our current times. While the world is not new to the idea of a civilization ending catastrophe, climate change brings us the threat of doom, but with the new twist of a time limit. It is the challenge of our time in which we can choose to come together to deal with climate change, or through insufficient action watch as it upends our world into annihilation or dystopic future. Ukraine has claimed the role of Gondor, mounting a valiant defense against the forces of Russia, playing the role of Mordor. Putin threatens to expand his influence around the world, his oil and gas providing both funds and moving us forward to climate doom all at once. You can fill out the rest of the cast on your own, but I wish to focus on the ring. The One Ring, for those unfamiliar with the Book, is a magical ring of great power which if used by a sufficiently powerful being would make the wearer the most powerful force in Middle Earth. It was made by Sauron in secret to be the ruling ring of all the great rings of power, even those not made by him. Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. But the ring comes with great peril for those who would use it, for it corrupts the user to evil ways with possession and use. It also works on those nearby to covet it, and attempt to take it by force if they are not strong willed to resist the temptation. Gandalf, Aragorn, Galadriel, and Faramir all have opportunity to take it, but each refuses knowing that it would lead to their own corruption. Others fail in this test, most famously Boromir and Saruman and the ring’s hold on the psyche of creature Gollum leads him to always search for it and take it again. There is obviously no (known ;) Ring of Power in the real world or a single item which leads to power over everything if possessed, so our analogy fails here to a degree. But the ring’s effects on those around it does have an analog in the real world. The ring represents temptation, corruption, revenge and power at the expense of one’s own humanity. It represents an authoritarian’s hold on a country. It’s an enforced order upon the world, the “law and order” those of authoritarian bent seek to impose upon us all. It is colonialism seeking to conquer other people and lands. It is the temptation to use the tools of the oppressor against the oppressor, but in the process of doing so it makes us the oppressor in turn. In Ukraine we see this at play. For all the atrocities that Russia commits against Ukraine, there are some who would see Ukraine justified in committing atrocities in return. Some might see returned atrocities as just punishment for Russia’s crimes. But thankfully Ukraine has so far mostly resisted returning like with like. Ukraine might be tempted to thrash out at Russians in inhumane ways, but to do so risks taking into themselves the very evil they are fighting against in Russia. Russia treats its soldiers horrifically in part so that they will commit horrific actions against Russia’s enemies. Ukraine treats its people and soldier as justly as possible (though imperfectly of course in an imperfect world). It is trying to be free of Russian oppression, not recreate it inside their own borders. In the book, Boromir attempts to take the ring from Frodo by force. His country, Gondor, is in great need of assistance and could use a powerful weapon of war. He fails and pays for it with his life. His brother, Faramir, later has Frodo essentially captured and could easily take the ring, but instead aids Frodo on his journey. The father, Denethor, later chastises Faramir for this act of mercy and generosity. But Gandalf’s response shows us the nature of the ring and those decisions: "In no case would Boromir have brought it to you. He is dead, and died well; may he sleep in peace! Yet you deceive yourself. He would have stretched out his hand to this thing, and taking it he would have fallen. He would have kept it for his own, and when he returned you would not have known your son". -The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book V, Chapter 4: "The Siege of Gondor" The danger to Boromir or any who wish to use it is that it represents a quick route to power but requires the oppression of others. In the real world, fossil fuels have been a quick route to real world power, but its use fuels the power and greed of oligarchs. And even in those cases where the profits go to good causes and the workers are treated well, the emissions still destroy our climate. Ukraine must defeat Russia. We do not have the “luxury” of biding our time, letting them fall to Russia, and fighting Russia the next time they attack. Such a position is both ethically horrific and has greater repercussions in terms of strengthening oil oligarchs and weakening countries like Taiwan. You think, as is your wont, my lord, of Gondor only,' said Gandalf. 'Yet there are other men and other lives, and time still to be. And for me, I pity even his slaves. But as important as Ukraine is, it is but one front in a larger war against the oligarchs (which includes both Putin and those in the west spreading autocracy here). But it’s not just a struggle against power, it’s also a struggle within ourselves. Despair and inaction aid our enemies. In the middle book The Two Towers , Theoden, King of Rohan, has succumbed to passivity and inaction in the face of a clear threat from his neighbor Saruman. Theoden thinks himself old and infirm. His counselor Grima Wormtongue has been advising him to be overly cautious and passive. Grima is stalling action by Rohan in order to allow Saruman time to prepare for an attack on Rohan. But when Gandalf arrives, his advice is simple. Theoden must take action. Gandalf doesn’t expect him to march to Mordor and singly defeat Sauron and throw the ring in Mt. Doom. He just wants Theoden to rediscover his own agency in events and to do his part. This advice is rejuvenating for Theoden, who discovers he is not as weak or infirm as he had let himself believe. Later in book three, we watch as Denethor succumbs to despair. Instead of doing his part in the fight, he is overwhelmed by the task at hand and commits suicide while attempting to kill his sick son Faramir in the process. Despair is constantly on the edge of many of the characters in the book who fight it back by plunging forward in action. The different characters give voice to despair throughout the book, including Gandalf himself quoted at the beginning of this article. The most powerful and knowing character in the book admits to long odds. But he powers on regardless as do many of the characters, most notably Frodo. The destruction of the ring comes not through combat, but through perseverance and ridding ourselves of the corruption, despair, revenge, greed and lust for power in each of us. Frodo’s journey ends not with him willingly casting the ring into the fires of Mt Doom, but with losing that part of himself which the ring holds onto him by. The creature Gollum bites Frodo’s ring finger off, ring included, and in the process loses his balance and falls to the fires below, unintentionally destroying the ring. But that act is only possible because of Frodo’s (as well as Bilbo’s, Aragorn’s, and Gandalf’s) earlier acts of pity. Instead of destroying the murderous Gollum, who has committed heinous acts including stealing babies out of cribs to apparently eat them (or maybe for spite, the intention is not made clear), they spare Gollum’s life. Pity and mercy in the end are the only paths to ridding ourselves of the evils of the ring. That and a lot of action standing up to the bullies as we do the hard internal work. We can defeat Putin. We can take the power of the Oligarchs away. We can control climate change and return our world to sanity. But it takes action. It takes wisdom. It takes perseverance. It takes mercy. This is part of my personal challenge to write more Climate Articles. 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