Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Here, I round up what I believe to be the five most significant ‘revolutions’ that constitute the positive components of this phase shift, and whose inexorable evolution and proliferation offer profound opportunities for systemic transformation that benefits humanity, and the planet: information, energy, food, finance and ethics.
“How can we create an environment that doesn’t just respond effectively to harm once it happens but also actively creates safety on our communities’ own terms?”
People are also the environment, we are our own ecological system integrated into the larger systems.
A social-purpose cooperative that leverages the buying power of community institutions, the Community Purchasing Alliance (CPA)…helps over 130 churches, synagogues, schools and other institutions save money and make investments in environmental sustainability, worker equity, and community organizing.
One way to make the apathy of privileged whites irrelevant is to build institutions that guarantee material economic justice.
The tsunami that struck Indonesia in 2004 obliterated vast areas of Aceh province. But villagers there are using an innovative microcredit scheme to restore mangrove forests and other coastal ecosystems that will serve as a natural barrier against future killer waves and storms.
When the indignados occupied the public squares of Spain on May 15, 2011, demanding ‘real democracy’, they changed the terms of public debate.
Maybe the true act of love for our planet, our home, is to repaint, tidy the garden, repair the torn pants, patch the jacket, sweep the sidewalk, bake some bread and give it to the neighbors. Maybe less can still be more. Maybe less is still abundance.
As the 21st century unfolds it is increasingly clear that we are entering more deeply into times of travail.
The violence, police-state rules, military occupation, censorship – it could absolutely happen in your neighbourhood next time, and most news reports didn’t appreciate that.
What if Icarus’ father—knowing his son would fly too close to the sun—had made the wings he designed more resilient?
Remember there are just two classes of people—there are the ruling class and the ruled class.
