Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
In reality, the municipalism of the Fearless Cities means that winning local governments and making them stronger is only part of a broader political strategy based on building power from the bottom up, both within and outside formal institutions.
This document offers a systems approach derived from my own work and experiences to articulate a way of approaching these crises through the lens of ‘collective intelligence’.
Why do civilizations collapse? It is a question that has been haunting the nebulous entity we call “The West” from the time when Edward Gibbon published his “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” in 1776.
They launched Every One, Every Day in November 2017, opening two shops (the first of five) on high streets in Barking and Dagenham. The shops don’t sell anything but are places where people meet, discuss ideas and launch projects.
Deniers—particularly those in political circles—are intuitively sensing just what the surveys seem to be suggesting—people’s increasing confidence in mainstream climate science based on their own experiences.
The solutions to this crisis will not be handed down from a mountain top to the grateful hordes: they will rely on us taking power for ourselves. Three decades after Reagan, the nine most laughable words in the English language are: “I’m from the elite and I’m here to help.”
I just want to see a culture, both economically and politically, and in the community, where people are encouraged to come forward with new ideas and they’re listened to.
Devon Peña is Professor of American Ethnic Studies and Anthropology at the University of Washington. He is also founder and president of the Acequia Institute an organization devoted to strengthening traditional communal irrigation practices in the San Luis Valley of Colorado.
We need to find affinities with the natural world and connect with them. For when we do we will find it is easy to love the world, to naturally care for and renew it… just as it cares for and renews us.
The Green New Deal is the title of a story that’s yet to be written. It being a work in progress is both blessing and curse.
To fully and systematically address the climate/energy crisis, the plan will have to be far broader in scope than what is currently being proposed. And while we need to mobilize society as a whole with a World War II-level of effort, the reality is that there’s never been a challenge like this before.
“The greatest good for the greatest number” seems like an enlightened view until you examine its application. Then things get very messy.
