Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Tom Murphy You can recognize that modernity does not pursue appropriate goals, and look forward to a changed world. That attitude shift alone will make you a driving force for a changing world. And that doesn’t sound too hard, does it? You can start today!
But we all need to understand: this is a fight for survival in which cooperation and sacrifice are required, just as in total war. Until we feel that level of shared urgency, there will be no real energy transition, and little prospect for a desirable human future.
And though this remains true for farmers and shepherds in areas like the Carneddau today, this need-to-know and name-your-environment according to its natural features and function within the rural economy held much more broadly across pre-industrial Wales.
The incident offers a rare window into some of the inner workings of private oil companies while also revealing how taxpayers can wind up paying enormous subsidies to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) operations that generate far more climate-altering pollution than they prevent.
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.
Wetland restoration and conservation, in combination with agricultural stakeholder best management practices, is a promising model for success.
