Post-covid becomes present-climate change

After four years of crazy we finally come back to the moment of reality where we have to think about climate change again.  If the Trump years were an attempt to hide from it we’re done with that. 

Covid is still with us, but hope is on the horizon.  Huge gratitude to all the medical and scientific communities who have battled so mightily to carry us through despite the crazy. 

So here we are.  At that crossroads again.  Where how we live is killing us and our planet home. Where is the spot with the leverage to change this dynamic?

The thought in my mind today is a memory from when we started Omni Center at a time we realized that world peace wouldn’t be coming from the top.  Neither could it come from the bottom.  We in the grassroots just didn’t have enough clout to push back on the oligarchs who’d trapped the economy in their pockets.

The sweet spot for big and effective change appears – in my humble opinion – when points of alignment are found between the top and bottom and they can work together.  We may not be at quite that point yet.  But let’s move that direction for pete’s sake.  For our own sakes.

Since both political parties and the oligarch collective will be trying to salvage their reputations after the recent fiasco there will be openings where grassroots voices can push for a bit of wisdom where only greed had power before.  Now is the time to get ready for those moments of opening.

For you, what is your vision of wisdom in action in our world today?   Those are the words that need to come out of the fiasco.  We need to begin surfacing them and sharing them among ourselves and the leadership of our communities and our nation.

We need a commitment to true democracy, and renewed sense of community that cares for each other.  We must find ways to address the deep race, gender and other issues that have poisoned the American dream.  And shifts in our lives and economy that stop poisoning the earth that sustains us.

Is that a realistic hope?  It’s too late for anything but realistic.  We have to be clear about that.

Here are some thoughts from good ‘ol Yes! Magazine that gave me hope that feels realistic.   They start from an old memory of the first New Deal.

“… during his first 100 days in office, FDR created the Civilian Conservation Corps, which would reinvigorate the national economy by putting millions of young men to work…”

They built lots of beautiful stuff that’s still present in our national parks.  Could a re-envisioned Civilian Conservation Corps – minus the racism, sexism and authoritarianism that were engrained in the culture of that earlier time – also take on re-forestation, clean-ups, re-builds, inner city revitalization, small town re-invigoration, alternative energy start-ups, and whatever else the wisdom of our communities surface to begin the healing and make our nation and our people more whole than they’ve ever been.

Neil Maher in Yes! offers a short list of inspiring things President Biden could do in his first 100 days, without Congress, to put a plan into motion. 

It’s something to ponder.  Something to write a few letters to the editor about.  Something to put into the cauldron of vision for a future that works for all of us.

What else needs to go into the pondering stew in this cauldron?   Your best visions to make this new world tasty and wholesome are part of the recipe.  We can’t go into the maelstrom of climate change without a vision.  One that includes all of us – people and planet in community together.

PS: There was also a Women’s Conservation Corps. I didn’t know that. Eleanor Roosevelt started it, but the way it was mis-handled says a lot about the authoritarian misogyny of the times. Every goof-up of the past tells us how to do better next time. Thanks to Wikipedia for this info.