Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Alexandria Shaner Jeremy Brecher’s new book, The Green New Deal from Below: How Ordinary People Are Building a Just and Climate-Safe Economy, is a timely and important contribution for organizers and anyone thinking about rebuilding the world from the bottom up.
Only by shifting decision-making power away from bureaucratic institutions (like parliaments) and mechanisms (like the profit-driven capitalist market) towards grassroots participatory organs (such as popular assemblies and councils of delegates) that a new, much more sustainable, ecological, and democratic future can emerge.
My belief is that the plants can save the people; my hope is that we’ll let them. And in reconnecting with our local landscapes, we can reconnect with each other, so that four years from now, the people will be able to save the people once again.
While the ruling on Shell’s appeal might undermine other lawsuits asking courts to set company-specific emission reduction targets, the affirmation by the appeals court of a general obligation for companies to reduce emissions offers plenty of room for further litigation against companies.
Anyway, as I’ve often said here, I don’t think renewal is going to come from the centre. So while I genuinely mourn the misery to come for people who, unlike me, are going to be in the frontline, I guess I’m finding it hard to get invested in the politics of the centre.
We need to act where we can most effectively act now, in our communities and bioregions, cities and states. We’re only going to make it working together, building the future in place.
The future of republicanism depends on the U.S. shaping its domestic agenda for the common good and using its influence on the global stage in line with democratic principles.
I find it intriguing that there is so much discussion about emissions and climate justice from a consumption perspective and so little from a production perspective.
Is capitalism aging gracelessly, full of hubris and making trouble for everyone who loves it? Name me an empire that has gone out gracefully.
In today’s episode, Nate speaks with Earth scientist Carlos Nobre to explore the critical challenges facing the Amazon. They delve into the rainforest’s unique ecological dynamics, the devastating impact of deforestation and wildfires on its ability to function, and how the health of the Amazon directly influences the climate of the entire world.
What you feel when you finally close this long book is the pointlessness of quests and knights and kings and, well, points… The point is that there is no point. And Grossman, being a wizard, actually makes that feel comforting. Particularly in these times. Because, he whispers, we are the story… We are collapsing… But we will not end.
A brave and hardy band of creative insurgents is pioneering entirely new models of textile production, garment design, production and distribution. Their goals are to rehumanize and relocalize garment production, and to escape the hamster wheel of endless consumerism and economic growth.
