When things aren’t working, you can do something about it.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve thought – and found – that we all have far more in common than we have differences. The trouble is, there’s an awful lot about life that tries to make us all focus on the differences.
For a long time that misplaced focus might have been more-or-less understandable. For a lot of people in the West at least, there have been and are a lot of people who profit, one way or another, from promoting differences. But now? Now, things are failing. Things are falling apart. What we have taken to be both ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ no longer is … And the result? Take your pick, from wars to failing governments, from major climate changes to unaffordable day-to-day living costs, and so on. And if you personally are getting through it all more-or-less OK, that doesn’t mean the society you live in is going to be able to carry on carrying on. We are all part of a larger community. Every member of it is vulnerable.
As to what to actually do, regarding the local level, we thought this article by Brian Eno, in the Radio Times, was positive, practical and inspirational. There is a path to hope that’s open to all of us: (There’s a second link/button which is to a pdf of the same item.)
To look at the broader picture, fundamentally, the climate will determine and dominate all our present and future lives. What we do in the light of that fact is a huge and crucial topic. Elsewhere under the Unstated.name umbrella you will find A New Future, where there’s more about this bigger view – and about finding a positive way forwards:
And, talking about the broader context we’re all in, we have also found Rebecca Solnit’s co-authored book, Not Too Late, offers helpful and realistic perspectives on planet-wide issues. There’s a summary-essay about it here on the Third Act site:
Rebecca Solnit’s own site is here:
Of course, you can buy your books anywhere, but as per this other recent post on this site, we’d encourage you to use local shops:
