Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The fight against the far right is not just a political struggle—it’s a battle for the soul of society. By understanding the roots of this movement and organising effectively against it, we can create a world where justice, equality, and true democracy are more than just ideals, but realities for all.
But… I have to admit that hope is not why I garden nor why I cook. Not really. I do these things because they make me happy.
If we can learn to navigate the ethical complexities of our non-ideal world, we will be much better prepared to transform it.
For decades, fossil fuel propagandists have tried to weasel out of responsibility for climate change by blaming their customers, ordinary people like Debbie and Ernesto. The hurricane names reinforce that narrative. Let’s change it.
Rich countries have exported climate breakdown through extractive industries, creating a “carbon colonialism.”
If we expect the next generation to do better than the present one at protecting our precious blue marble, however, we have an obligation to help them as much as possible.
Modernity has no choice but to end, although it seems very likely to me that humans will survive the trauma and come out the other side experimenting with new (and/or old) ways of living, necessarily in closer connection with local ecological realities.
Most big-think essays like this end on a note of inspiration and hope. For once, I’ll resist the temptation to go that route. Can we humans make ourselves useful to the rest of life? It’s an open question.
Wetland restoration and conservation, in combination with agricultural stakeholder best management practices, is a promising model for success.
A just and fair Local Power Plan would disperse power to those who use it and produce it, not those who profit from it.
You see, as we foolishly escaped our ecological context, we recklessly re-fashioned the world so that we are destroying the ecological context crucial to millions of other species—including ourselves, eventually.
I want my garden to be useful. And that means it should produce a harvest that I can use. It also means it should provide home and shelter to as many other beings as possible.
