Thanks so much for this, Karen. I especially appreciate you highlighting how our resistance to “what is” saps our energy and enthusiasm to work for change...
I go back to Laudato Si's call for a new kind of solidarity, Karen. I think in times like these to come, that may be the best place to put our energies - especially building solidarity with Earth and Indigenous communities around the ethic of shared responsibility for the climate, and focusing as well on our local ecosystems. We can still work on changing our relationship to Earth at the grassroots level, in part by strengthening cross-cultural alliances, while things proceed to fall apart at the national level. And then, hopefully, we'll be in a better position to resume progress when the opportunity arises. After a lifetime of futility in defending Nature, I'm just not a big fan of mass protests. It seems we could direct our energies instead to building a movement from within rather than making a big show of things and/or getting arrested. We need to be real about what is not working. Of course, we need to come to our allies defense if and when they are threatened. I think the Tribes at Standing Rock got it right when they characterized themselves as "protectors" not "protesters." We need to build solidarity around protecting our Mother, protecting one another, and improving our local ecosystems. Everywhere all at once. Thanks for your wisdom! (Circuit analysis is what caused me to abandon electrical engineering! ; )
Thanks so much for this, Karen. I especially appreciate you highlighting how our resistance to “what is” saps our energy and enthusiasm to work for change...
I go back to Laudato Si's call for a new kind of solidarity, Karen. I think in times like these to come, that may be the best place to put our energies - especially building solidarity with Earth and Indigenous communities around the ethic of shared responsibility for the climate, and focusing as well on our local ecosystems. We can still work on changing our relationship to Earth at the grassroots level, in part by strengthening cross-cultural alliances, while things proceed to fall apart at the national level. And then, hopefully, we'll be in a better position to resume progress when the opportunity arises. After a lifetime of futility in defending Nature, I'm just not a big fan of mass protests. It seems we could direct our energies instead to building a movement from within rather than making a big show of things and/or getting arrested. We need to be real about what is not working. Of course, we need to come to our allies defense if and when they are threatened. I think the Tribes at Standing Rock got it right when they characterized themselves as "protectors" not "protesters." We need to build solidarity around protecting our Mother, protecting one another, and improving our local ecosystems. Everywhere all at once. Thanks for your wisdom! (Circuit analysis is what caused me to abandon electrical engineering! ; )