“Minimum Viable Planet” is a weeklyish commentary about climateish stuff, and how to keep it together in a world gone mad. This week, what “I love lamp” has to do with climate communications. By Sarah Lazarovic Yes! magazine I really liked this piece by Canadian climate super-force Cat Abreu about working on climate as an act […]
It is one hundred seconds to midnight by the Doomsday Clock. For seventy-five years the world has lived on the edge of nuclear terror, the horrific knowledge that in a time frame as short as one hour, life as we know it on Planet Earth could be obliterated if nuclear weapons are used. By Thea […]
A growing number of young people are returning to the land. The appeal of the homesteading lifestyle has attracted millennials to live differently, growing their own food and living a bit lighter on the earth. Even as a generation raised in a technology-focused time, these young people are seeking out ways to live more connected to […]
Harley-Davidson is one of the most iconic brands in the world. Harley-Davidson, however, doesn’t sell motorcycles – it sells a lifestyle. Look at any Harley-Davidson advertisement and you will see someone riding the open road. The Harley-Davidson brand is about freedom. Attitude. Living by your own rules. Todd Newman, University of Wisconsin-Madison The Conversation A […]
I’ve long fretted about the personal change/system change debate, worried that the weight was unevenly born by individuals even though I strongly believe the former is a necessary catalyst for the latter. But maybe I’m J.K. Rowling-level wrong. Maybe we can skip the skipping straws and go straight to table-flipping the system. At least, that’s how I […]
It might appear opportunistic to link the climate and racial justice movements at a time when race is shaping the conversation in the media, in our workplaces, and in our homes. But as Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has recently explained, on the air and in her recent Washington Post op-ed, “Our racial inequality crisis is intertwined with our climate crisis. […]
As the United States reels from the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide anti-racism protests, pundits from both sides of the political aisle have speculated that a new New Deal is in the offing. It could happen. Crises, after all, often produce social policy gains, and the similarities between the 1930s and today are hard to ignore. […]
Langston Hughes was a great man and a great poet. In particular he is the perfect antidote for MAGAism. “Let America Be America Again (America never was America to me.)” We should have trumpeted today’s poem from the moment Trump came down the escalator. We should be declaiming it in chorus every day. For myself, I […]
Over the past two years, Extinction Rebellion (XR) emerged into the climate movement with explosive energy. Thousands of people in Europe and the United States mobilized to engage in civil disobedience to demand that our political leaders take radical action to avert climate catastrophe. Particularly in Britain, XR has catalyzed an unprecedented level of public […]
These are difficult times, especially for people who lack safe shelter, food and other necessities — and for those on the front lines. Even though we must maintain physical distance, we need to come together more than ever. As bad as things are, and could get, compassion and wisdom will ensure that good emerges from this. […]
This pandemic could be a trial run for how we respond to the almost-inevitable next pandemic. Or it could be the wake-up call that finally compels us to employ the many available and developing solutions to resolve this and other related emergencies, including the climate and biodiversity crises, as well as the severe inequality crisis. […]
People may try many different lifestyle trends at various points. You may have once decorated your home in a hygge style or decided to dedicate more time to volunteering in your community. Now you’ve read about minimalism and sustainability, but you’re not sure which one you should choose. The good news is that these two […]
In the two decades Generation Z has been alive, we have experienced an entire lifetime of crises. Within the first few months of my life, my parents fled the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack with me in their arms. When I was seven, I watched the 2008 global financial crisis cripple Wall Street. When […]
Let us now thank the tiny island of Corsica for our American Revolution. By Jeff Biggers Common Dreams “The greatest in the United States Constitution is its first three beautiful words,” President Donald Trump declared in his first address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 19, 2017. “They are ‘We the people.’ Generations of Americans […]
I teach in gender studies, where I spend time with university students discussing critical issues that shape our society — power, violence, racism and colonialism. My students learn that histories are complicated and alive in the present. Yet at a recent Black Lives Matter march in Winnipeg, Canada, I was struck by two simple messages: one […]