Something Wicked This Way Comes
While mathematics and chess offer more-or-less “tame” problems with solutions that everyone agrees on, wicked problems lack clarity and are subject to real-world constraints that prevent risk-free resolution.
Society featured
Confessions of a disillusioned scientist
After a rocket ride through science, I am hanging up the gloves, feeling a little ashamed and embarrassed to have devoted so much of my life to what I now see as a misguided cause that has done more harm than good in this world.
Why we need to grow an ecosocialist party in America (part 1)
America has no idea how to live after the end of fossil fuels. When the country is ready to listen, ecosocialism can provide the answers it needs.
Holding the Fire: Episode 10. Dismantling Destructive Narratives with Yuria Celidwen
How do we find true belonging, and true community in the most literal sense of that word? To answer this question, Dr. Yuria Celidwen, from Chiapas, Mexico, combines Indigenous studies, cultural psychology, and contemplative science in her research.
Visit to a future sustainable neighborhood
As I took my first breath in this future neighborhood, the air had a fragrant quality that I didn’t recognize. I could hear a person shout something, maybe a block away. It’s much quieter than the world I left. There’s certainly a smell of home cooking in the air. And there’s a lot more plants of all sizes and description wherever I look. That’s it! The air carries a mixture of fruit scents.
Putting science in its place
Think of science as a powerful tool, like maybe a power saw. It can really take things apart. But it’s not always the right tool. Maybe it seldom is, in fact. We also don’t want to put it in the hands of children, or use it without first thinking carefully about the consequences and if there might in fact be more productive paths.
Climate politics: The view from Washington
Legislation is not enacted in a vacuum. Successful advocacy strategies begin with understanding the political context in which proposed climate-related policies are to be debated and acted upon.
Holding the Fire: Episode 9. Finding Encouragement in Community with Shoba Liban
Shoba is a Boorana woman who promotes health and education in pastoralist communities in Kenya. Her work, and how she lives her life, offer a model of how to continue to serve and do our work, no matter the results.
So We and Our Children May Live: Following Jesus in Confronting the Climate Crisis (excerpt)
A Mennonite book on the coming crisis: “We are fighting to dismantle structures designed to remove Indigenous Peoples from their land so that our economic system can continue to extract and consume resources at an ever-increasing pace. This growth-based system, designed to generate wealth and profits for individuals, is threatening the survival of all life on this planet. Climate change, I have realized, is only one symptom of the real threat, which is ecological overshoot. “
Poverty and climate overheating: flip sides of one coin
The diseases overrepresented in impoverished communities – obesity, diabetes, emphysema, osteoporosis, HBP, asthma, coronary blockage, mental illness, etc. – are deeply entwined with shrinking habitats and overheated climate. We might even think of poverty and climate as a single, indivisible issue.
And why is that desirable?
This is ultimately a post about values. More specifically, it presents a technique by which to get at people’s (or your own) values. Values are important, because they drive much of what we do:
Holding the Fire: Episode 8. Navigating Multiple Crises with Alson Kelen
In this podcast we’ve heard several people speak of the grave crisis facing humanity today, but from the perspective of how Indigenous communities have been living in these crises for hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of years. Yet, despite facing the most challenging forces of colonialism, they are still here, still persisting with resilient cultures. Alson Kelen, a native of Bikini Atoll, is one of the world’s few masters in the ancient art of wave-piloting.
