Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The New Possible is an eclectic assortment of essays by activists, experts and other prominent figures from around the world. The thread that ties them together is a recognition that, for all the harm it has caused, the COVID-19 pandemic has opened up exciting new possibilities for societal change.
I have no comprehensive proposal for how we can get to “fewer and less,” nor does anyone else. The scale and scope of the challenge is unprecedented, and beyond the reach of conventional policy proposals. But we can enhance our chances of success by cultivating restless and relentless minds.
So how could shared spaces, and shared facilities work in the developed world where we have become accustomed to private spaces, and having ownership of almost everything we use?
Understanding the alley’s past reveals it for what it is today: a hidden resource for making our cities stronger and more prosperous.
Fish traps have a long history around the world, and a vast network in a Vancouver Island estuary reveals generations of ecological wisdom.
Today, Native nations are creating vibrant children’s programs, using the most up-to-date and culturally appropriate means to keep their youngsters involved in tradition and community—while still ensuring their safety in these dangerous pandemic times.
When the current IPCC report was first released, the UN Secretary General described it as a “code red for humanity,” and called for decisive action.
The Americans failed at ‘nation-building’ because they spent all the money on the military. The British delusions of being an independent ‘global’ power have been shown up for what they are. And the people who pay the price for this are the Afghanis, still living in one of the poorest states in the world.
One way to overcome our thrust to mutual destruction could be to transform the global climate movement into a global climate insurgency.
It is rare to find a street in America that does not seem to be almost wholly oriented around the movement of cars from one point to another. The street understood as part of the public realm seems to be forever lost, a thing of the past.
My concern is: how can we combine the passion, energy, and creativity of these youth movements with the insights of the generation of elders who have developed the systemic vision of life so that the youth movements don’t have to reinvent the wheel?
Unless the elites of the world transform their understanding of security, things are going to look good for extreme movements in the 2030s and beyond, whether they stem from perverse religious identities, ethnicities, nationalisms or political ideologies.
