It has been a while since my last post. Amongst other aspects, I decided to drastically limit my attention to email and other distractions. For about two months now, I am only opening emails from those whom I know personally — all the others are trashed immediately. As a result, I find myself more relaxed with more available time, which of course I have already filled with (more beneficial) activities. Being “retired,” I am actually at least as busy as when I was in practice, perhaps more so (as I am more actively responding to the social issues of the day).
Yet it also leaves me somewhat unclear as to how to contribute. I am still active in promoting the skills of managing polarized conflict and I am still invested in a variety of other social contributions. On the one hand, I am not certain that I have missed anything important in the news by trashing most of my emails; nevertheless I still have mild guilt and overwhelm that I am missing vast quantities of good information in books and other more reliable sources. It is so difficult to manage the information age!
As noted in the last link attached to this post, I strongly believe that every intelligent response is important (and hopefully these posts are regarded as intelligent). The changes required of our culture are massive — here, an interesting link is the first one. It notes that intractable conflict, a major issue that has become much more prominent in the past twenty years, is the central issue preventing our effective response to climate disruption. This parallels my own thoughts concerning cultural acedia as the major issue.
And so I truck on!
A very interesting site with many resources. They name themselves as “Providing support to those working to address the intractable conflict problem, as well as those struggling with the many tractable, but still troublesome, disputes that characterize everyday life.” and note that “Destructive Conflict is the Most Serious Threat to Our Common Future. It ruins personal lives, prevents us from solving common problems, and underlies dystopian trends toward authoritarianism, chaos, and large-scale violence.”
What is Extinction Rebellion and what are its demands? (20191008)
A brief description of a movement that is making a difference in challenging for government action — British based originally, it affiliates with The Climate Mobilization group in the States.
Yes, the Climate Crisis May Wipe out Six Billion People (20190918)
This is an extreme yet entirely feasible scenario of our future.
XR and the Defence of Necessity (20191019)
An excellent analysis of the legal difficulties that will underlie civil disobedience, especially when associated with any degree of violence/violation.
No Accounting (20191009)
As with the previous link, this is another from Dave Pollard’s blog, this time on advertising and the media. As mentioned on other occasions, I do not subscribe to Dave’s fundamental philosophy (which I find nihilistic), I continue to value his depth of thinking about issues related to global collapse.
An interesting and important response. Although small in the overall need, every intelligent response is important.
The Human Side of Global Warming 