Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
In this transformative moment, how do we make sense of what’s happening? Even more importantly, what can we do to help steer change toward a more desirable future?
Peter Buffett is a musician, author, philanthropist and co-president of NoVo Foundation. With his varied background, he presents his thoughts on “What could possibly go right?”
So, how do we connect this many dots? Every movement, organization, systemic alternative, and countless activists, theorists, and intellectuals are asking this as the crisis unfolds.
The time has come to ask new questions of our own as teachers.
It is both reasonable and even moral, I think, to long for, to look for the embodiment and instantiation of (and, yes, to memorialize through song and statuary, with the understanding that statues can come down and, just as Hamilton did, songs can be resung), one’s people and place, one’s vine and fig tree, one’s home.
Under capitalism the wealth, goods and services of a country are very unevenly distributed. Capitalists, banks and multinationals hold the lion’s share, while the vast majority of salaried, unemployed and marginalized people (including indigenous and black communities in Latin America) are left with the crumbs.
Appeals to self-interest will not, of themselves, stem the Amazon’s hemorrhage. We must also invoke our love of life and the purpose of service that it points to.
The need to adapt to a virus that may be with us for some while yet, might serve as a broader prompt to forge social equity, community resilience, and a necessary redirection of resources.
Nina Simons considers our question of “What could possibly go right?” from her view as Co-Founder of nonprofit, Bioneers.
President & Founder of Hip Hop Caucus, Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., brings his perspectives on racial justice, youth empowerment, climate change, and faith to the big question of “What could possibly go right?”
For today’s “What Could Possibly Go Right?” Carolyn Raffensperger brings her perspective as an environmental lawyer and Executive Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network.
We will need more resourcefulness, capacity for divergent thinking, and self-initiative in future events related to climate change and economic slowdown.
Beyond the divides of black-and-white thinking, can humanity realize its one shared human heart, and rise up together in action on behalf of all life and the planet we all call home?
