Thanks for another thoughtful, compassionate and incisive essay.
I also relate, at 48 years of age to feeling much more at peace, mellower, more full and less attached to the incoming change than I used to. And, simultaneously, also feel frightened at times.
We’ve been through major changes as batches of humanity throughout our history. The Hopi speak of the 5 worlds, which correspond to the 5 root races written about in theosophical work. Humans will still be around after the next major change. And I’m with you Daniel that our work as humans who care, is in large part to mitigate the level of destruction as major changes ensue. To that end..Harris/Walz just makes..so much..more..plain sense. Let’s get out there and vote people.
In my home country of Argentina, we get fined if we don’t exercise our right to vote, if we don’t cast a ballot. Not saying Argentina is any paragon of democracy or any well functioning government for that matter..but we do have an small mechanism at least to curb apathy by way of a small fine for not taking advantage of the privilege to participate in democracy. Compulsory voting has also been shown to curb voter suppression. We probably instilled that compulsory voting fine in part because we lived through a military dictatorship and therefore have some perspective. Hopefully we don’t have to go through a dictatorship here in the US. We’ll see.
I cannot believe that I find myself stuck in resonance with some red white and blue idea of America when reading this.
I know myself to be of the cosmos. Not just citizen of, but part and parcel with the cosmos, made of cosmos, maker of cosmos. I understand myself to be made of the elements cast off by supernovae.
I also understand myself to be of life, not just cosmos, but life. To be of the sapphire planet, luckiest in the universe. To be, in this infinite and expanding ever faster universe, on the only planet with any life is a miracle not lost on me.
I am of the earth. Of this process we are engaged with as the being/s of earth.
I am of earth is the identity I have always felt.
Much more so than being an American. My kids have dual citizenships with the countries of their other parent. I've been self conscious as an American in other countries all my life. And I can see full well how grotesque America appears in the world. The America I believed in as a kid seems like a hoax, red white and blue like a coke can, a pepsi can, as if it's nothing but a schtick.
So what is interesting to me when reading this piece, is that I am worried about America. In relation to the whole she-bang! I mean, it seems foolish and self-centered. And yet. Somehow. It seems relevant? That's what's curious to me.
I do share the sense that we have entered the phase of transformation. I do intuitively feel that we are moving forward yes, at an ever accelerating pace (in pace with the rate of expansion of the universe itself?) towards a phase of transformation.
It does seem that envisioning ourselves beyond nations , as part of a planet is more appropriate.
Globes always look dumb with all the words written on them.
I think the danger is wealth.
Maybe with the wealth of Musk and co nationstates just feel like a joke. They could buy and sell countries. The scale of power/ money makes nations seem ridiculous, like yesterday's technology.
What is the way to transition beyond nations? And why does my heart ache as I ride a horse through purple mountains majesty singing this land is your land, this land is my land ....
As a scientist who answered questions on my qualifying exams in graduate school about the risk of the conveyer belt in the ocean slowing and maybe even halting with rising global temperatures—THIRTY YEARS AGO—it has been a long slog for those of us who study, love, and revere this planet and all its wonder. A slog through heady academia to warrior to ultimately breathing deeply from the sidelines in a place of radical love—a path that includes therapy, yoga, art, writing, travel, deep wilderness expeditions, and stepping off the path almost entirely.
Hi Wendy it is incredible how many good and thoughtful people there are in the world yet we still have to deal with people like Trump, Vance and Thiel who only seek power and lack authentic compassion. Thanks for writing here.
"Or, you’re a radical activist—Extinction Rebellion, Stop the Oil—you protest against anything, but there’s no loving heart in it." <<- I'm calling bullshit, Daniel. There's a preponderance of brilliant, loving, soulful, radically loving humans in this struggle/these movements -- to accuse them/us of being loveless? Terribly lazy.
I fully identify with your feeling at the top — I’m experiencing life in a much different way, more full, mellower, less attached to problems most of the time but also frightened by all this calamitous world shit and I guess “hide” from it by embracing spiritual readings and teachings a lot more, and honestly I don’t feel “guilty” for doing so amidst so much suffering, and I think I used to. I was wondering if I was the only one glad to hear I’m not, but there’s still that burning question — am I inherently being selfish?
the disconnect in US protest movement I cannot fathom: between the ukraine and gaza war. ukrainians are being hunted by drones, citizens are hunted for sport by drones. north korea now will be sending troups. Is this not hell on earth?
Palestinian children shot - burned....children hunted and killed by soldiers. Utter depravity and hell. Utter irredeemable horror.
the brutality of the original hamas attack on Isralies.
I say to myself,: Look at the manner of warfare, that is what joins the pieces. Look to the manner of warfare, and that is like following the money. The manner of warfare shows who is manipulating us.
what I wonder, the souls, do they ever recover??? Centuries of trauma, what does such shock do to a soul?
Another thing I wonder, why does the christian right not see Musk as the person who wants to chip humans? How can they not see this? Isnt that in their apocalyptic canon?
Has the US press done such a good job of making us stupid that we do not see such connections?
“The whole cosmos is my country. The whole planet is my home. Nature is my nationality. Love is my religion. That’s radical love."---It feels funny to critique this apparently universally accepted(atleast to this forum) statement, but balance is my mission!
Statements like this, though a well intentioned utopian vision, to me lead nowhere and are essentially meaningless. What about truth, morality, connection to particular land, culture, and history? There is no mention of a transcendent source, so what is the source love?
I see identifying with nature as an over-idealization of what nature is. Nature is not our creator, but a creation. The relationship with creation is important, but it is always in the context of a divine order, where humans are called to sanctify the world, not to equate themselves with it. If we want to establish a right relationship with nature, I think it is a flattening out of these distinctions that actually get in the way.
"The whole cosmos is my country" to me reflects a kind of universalism that blots our any particularities of culture and tradition, including indigenous ones. Should customs, culture, morality be homogenous across the whole globe?0
"Love is my religion" sounds good, mine too, but without repentance and self-sacrifice, what does this actually amount to? Although this all sounds nice and gives a sense of cosmic belonging and oneness, without any metaphysical grounds, this doesn't provide a solid foundation for the living of an ethical life, nor a way of communing and worshipping the creator of the universe.
Thus, i think it creates a false sense of oneness and a vague sense of cosmic belonging, that is actually damaging to identity formation individually and communally, and doesn't set a concrete path towards spiritual transformation and communion with God and others.
Thank you for the introduction to Satish Kumar. Again, your essays always make me think.
I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but I don't feel radical love from this essay nor from any of the comments. I liked your last paragraph, I can't waste time hating on these people .. It was nice you came to this conclusion. But as long as we blame and ridicule the other side, Republicans are repulsive, Trump is a disease, we will never evolve, make the real radical changes we so desperately need or even come close to love radically. A death mid-wife said radical love for her was holding Hitler in her arms, cradled like a baby, and loving him fully. How many of us are here?
I'm curious as to how many people on here, including you Daniel who know a Republican, let alone are friends with one, taken a step further know someone who is voting for or do I dare say likes Trump? The coastal elites is a descriptor for a reason. It wasn't until I left LA and the LA NY mind set (I lived in NYC too), that I realized how I was being played by politics. Being from a town outside CA and NY the world is very different. I was hating on people who I love, who I had loved forever and who are good decent people, lifelong friends, not diseased or broken or brainwashed.
Living in Spain, I learned there are still people who love Franco. Young people who love Franco. The right-wing party Vox started because there are people in Spain who still think this way and they needed a place to go. Better to have your enemy's above ground than under as the saying goes. Fascism never died in Europe. It creeps in slowly, as it has in America.
Power corrupts entirely, this is what history has taught us. The dismantling of religion with no alternative for the masses and the projection of our savior complex, we have given the technocrats their pedestal to pursue their quest to become God. One religion replaces another.
Transhumanism is being disguised in the Transgender Ideological movement, which is destroying women's rights as we speak. Nevada just made women's sports illegal. Illegal to have an all women's sports team. The Patriarchy is oh so tricky. Technology is already being used and built to take reproduction into the tech sector, on their way to make women almost obsolete, and the Left is All In. Both sides are promoting Transhumanism.
Until we can move away from this place, of hating and blaming the other and picking sides, I don't see any evolution of the species.
Daniel - as always thanks for writing the stuff that no one else is and provoking ideas within myself.
This essay had me reflect on something I’ve been thinking about since Trump first got elected.
After Trump first got elected, I reflected on Plato’s argument against democracy. He gave the argument that democracy is a popularity contest and the most charismatic person wins regardless of their skill set as a leader. Plato gives the example of hiring a naval captain in the same way. The charismatic one says they got the biggest ships, the best cannons, the best crew, but if they have never navigated a ship or crew, their lack of experience in the job would make them unfit for the position.
My point is democracy got us here and I am questioning the notion that it will get us out.
All alternatives seem horrible and I am doubtful that there’s anything that would be an improvement on democracy.
Plato’s suggestion is to leave the governing to the Philosopher Kings (seems Thiel and Musk are self appointing themselves). I’m unclear how a society would choose who would be a Philosopher King and that these philosopher kings would be above the corruption that comes with absolute power….
Anyway - wondering if anyone else has explored Plato’s argument against democracy and have any thoughts around it.
Thanks for this amazingly comprehensive and thoughtful piece of writing. I first met Satish over 50 years ago when he had recently arrived in London and was setting up the London School of Nonviolence before becoming editor of Resurgence Magazine.
MAGA is a disease. It's the only way I can make sense of half the country being so uncoupled from the truth of what is happening. This by Matthew Sheffield who has a podcast called Theory of Change:
"I understand MAGA as an epidemic disease, infecting many through what I call “brain flaws.” It is not their fault. There are brain pathways for copying and following others — in the cortex, dopamine system, and pain centers, to motivate conformity and violence. This is a movement of violence. Violence is a disease, and specifically, a contagious disease. The disease spreads through these brain processes. The MAGA movement is a dangerous and lethal syndrome of what I describe as “Authoritarian Violence Disorder.” Donald Trump is a massive superspreader. The contagion and the moral disengagement it causes provokes cruelty and obedience. This is accelerated by the effects of “constant-lies.” Streams of lies are not just lies to be fact-checked, but an accelerant that impacts people’s brains, causing moral disengagement, allowing people to abandon their own decision-making and obey."
Okay . . . so what's the antidote or is it incurable?
I certainly experience some of the contrast you describe. I have been an activist all my adult life and, at 65, i look back and am able to see much of what I have participated in and accomplished with an equanimity that i did not have even ten years ago when I had to step back from a lot of the activism in which I was involved when i found myself rather suddenly a poor single parent responsible for two traumatized children (4 and 11). They became, without question, my priority. And we've done okay.
I've read Kumar's work - though not recently - and have always been inspired by it. So i look forward to reading this more recent work. I know i will agree with a lot of it. And i can infer plenty in the notion of radical love. It resonates with much of the study and contemplation i've done over the decades (Buber and Levinas and Frankl, the stoics, Lao Tsu, Buddhism, Joanna Macy).
I've recently been reflecting on the four brahmaviharas: loving-kindness, compassion, muditha, and equanimity. I find this set of qualities/practices compelling. Briefly: the first is relatively self-evident. Compassion is something that i think is too quickly equated with empathy but is actually much, much more than mere empathy (as important as empathy is). Muditha I learned about in the 80s and it was a revelation. There is no pithy english equivalent but it means joy in the joy of others. Some might see this as another facet of of empathy but that would be a mistake. Just as compassion means to share the suffering of another person, so muditha means to share the joy of another person. And, finally, equanimity is something that i've recently realized I feel much more than i used to.
I could happily add "radical love" to this set of four "attitudes" (?) and certainly believe deeply that we need to be, in these dire times, radical. Trump or no Trump, the stage seems set for ever-worsening (and accelerating) environmental and social breakdown and, while I am a big fan of the science of all this, I also believe that the future is not written. And we need to fight like hell (echoing Mother Jones) for a better future even while we also fight like hell to mitigate the worst extremes which, you could say, is fighting for a less-bad future. But fighting for better and less-bad are not mutually exclusive tactics. We need a multiplicity of approaches even while we also need to come together. I find powerful guidance in the futures imagined by such as Octavia Butler (Parable of the Sower) and even Cormac McCarthy's The Road which is set in a brutal and harrowing future but which is about the endurance of love and the growth from innocence to what i think of as "the bittersweet" (a la Anne Carson's Eros, the Bittersweet).
A change from obsessing over your former friends, who I assume you are trying to radically love. I do prefer this side of your writing/thought process, but understand the compulsion to ‘get to the bottom’ of human peculiarities, as they cause so much damage. The zoom call is mentioned in this article so it peaks my curiosity as a theme if you care to elaborate on that. Thanks for the book recommendation here
Thanks for another thoughtful, compassionate and incisive essay.
I also relate, at 48 years of age to feeling much more at peace, mellower, more full and less attached to the incoming change than I used to. And, simultaneously, also feel frightened at times.
We’ve been through major changes as batches of humanity throughout our history. The Hopi speak of the 5 worlds, which correspond to the 5 root races written about in theosophical work. Humans will still be around after the next major change. And I’m with you Daniel that our work as humans who care, is in large part to mitigate the level of destruction as major changes ensue. To that end..Harris/Walz just makes..so much..more..plain sense. Let’s get out there and vote people.
In my home country of Argentina, we get fined if we don’t exercise our right to vote, if we don’t cast a ballot. Not saying Argentina is any paragon of democracy or any well functioning government for that matter..but we do have an small mechanism at least to curb apathy by way of a small fine for not taking advantage of the privilege to participate in democracy. Compulsory voting has also been shown to curb voter suppression. We probably instilled that compulsory voting fine in part because we lived through a military dictatorship and therefore have some perspective. Hopefully we don’t have to go through a dictatorship here in the US. We’ll see.
Nice idea - compulsory voting
I cannot believe that I find myself stuck in resonance with some red white and blue idea of America when reading this.
I know myself to be of the cosmos. Not just citizen of, but part and parcel with the cosmos, made of cosmos, maker of cosmos. I understand myself to be made of the elements cast off by supernovae.
I also understand myself to be of life, not just cosmos, but life. To be of the sapphire planet, luckiest in the universe. To be, in this infinite and expanding ever faster universe, on the only planet with any life is a miracle not lost on me.
I am of the earth. Of this process we are engaged with as the being/s of earth.
I am of earth is the identity I have always felt.
Much more so than being an American. My kids have dual citizenships with the countries of their other parent. I've been self conscious as an American in other countries all my life. And I can see full well how grotesque America appears in the world. The America I believed in as a kid seems like a hoax, red white and blue like a coke can, a pepsi can, as if it's nothing but a schtick.
So what is interesting to me when reading this piece, is that I am worried about America. In relation to the whole she-bang! I mean, it seems foolish and self-centered. And yet. Somehow. It seems relevant? That's what's curious to me.
I do share the sense that we have entered the phase of transformation. I do intuitively feel that we are moving forward yes, at an ever accelerating pace (in pace with the rate of expansion of the universe itself?) towards a phase of transformation.
It does seem that envisioning ourselves beyond nations , as part of a planet is more appropriate.
Globes always look dumb with all the words written on them.
I think the danger is wealth.
Maybe with the wealth of Musk and co nationstates just feel like a joke. They could buy and sell countries. The scale of power/ money makes nations seem ridiculous, like yesterday's technology.
What is the way to transition beyond nations? And why does my heart ache as I ride a horse through purple mountains majesty singing this land is your land, this land is my land ....
We all yearn to belong.
yes, and while our Selves belong to everywhere, our selves need a home.
As a scientist who answered questions on my qualifying exams in graduate school about the risk of the conveyer belt in the ocean slowing and maybe even halting with rising global temperatures—THIRTY YEARS AGO—it has been a long slog for those of us who study, love, and revere this planet and all its wonder. A slog through heady academia to warrior to ultimately breathing deeply from the sidelines in a place of radical love—a path that includes therapy, yoga, art, writing, travel, deep wilderness expeditions, and stepping off the path almost entirely.
Hi Wendy it is incredible how many good and thoughtful people there are in the world yet we still have to deal with people like Trump, Vance and Thiel who only seek power and lack authentic compassion. Thanks for writing here.
Thank you. Yes, it’s terrifying. I appreciate your work and the space you’re holding.
"Or, you’re a radical activist—Extinction Rebellion, Stop the Oil—you protest against anything, but there’s no loving heart in it." <<- I'm calling bullshit, Daniel. There's a preponderance of brilliant, loving, soulful, radically loving humans in this struggle/these movements -- to accuse them/us of being loveless? Terribly lazy.
Well I was quoting Satish and yes I agree with you!
The US constantly valorizes wealth, of which there are myriad examples. With disturbed folk like EM and DT, it's writ even larger.
I fully identify with your feeling at the top — I’m experiencing life in a much different way, more full, mellower, less attached to problems most of the time but also frightened by all this calamitous world shit and I guess “hide” from it by embracing spiritual readings and teachings a lot more, and honestly I don’t feel “guilty” for doing so amidst so much suffering, and I think I used to. I was wondering if I was the only one glad to hear I’m not, but there’s still that burning question — am I inherently being selfish?
Did you make it to the end?
Appreciate the sharing of Radical Love -- I agree with your guru that it is the answer and what we need most
🙏🏼❤️🔥
the disconnect in US protest movement I cannot fathom: between the ukraine and gaza war. ukrainians are being hunted by drones, citizens are hunted for sport by drones. north korea now will be sending troups. Is this not hell on earth?
Palestinian children shot - burned....children hunted and killed by soldiers. Utter depravity and hell. Utter irredeemable horror.
the brutality of the original hamas attack on Isralies.
I say to myself,: Look at the manner of warfare, that is what joins the pieces. Look to the manner of warfare, and that is like following the money. The manner of warfare shows who is manipulating us.
what I wonder, the souls, do they ever recover??? Centuries of trauma, what does such shock do to a soul?
Another thing I wonder, why does the christian right not see Musk as the person who wants to chip humans? How can they not see this? Isnt that in their apocalyptic canon?
Has the US press done such a good job of making us stupid that we do not see such connections?
radical love. It's what we have.
“The whole cosmos is my country. The whole planet is my home. Nature is my nationality. Love is my religion. That’s radical love."---It feels funny to critique this apparently universally accepted(atleast to this forum) statement, but balance is my mission!
Statements like this, though a well intentioned utopian vision, to me lead nowhere and are essentially meaningless. What about truth, morality, connection to particular land, culture, and history? There is no mention of a transcendent source, so what is the source love?
I see identifying with nature as an over-idealization of what nature is. Nature is not our creator, but a creation. The relationship with creation is important, but it is always in the context of a divine order, where humans are called to sanctify the world, not to equate themselves with it. If we want to establish a right relationship with nature, I think it is a flattening out of these distinctions that actually get in the way.
"The whole cosmos is my country" to me reflects a kind of universalism that blots our any particularities of culture and tradition, including indigenous ones. Should customs, culture, morality be homogenous across the whole globe?0
"Love is my religion" sounds good, mine too, but without repentance and self-sacrifice, what does this actually amount to? Although this all sounds nice and gives a sense of cosmic belonging and oneness, without any metaphysical grounds, this doesn't provide a solid foundation for the living of an ethical life, nor a way of communing and worshipping the creator of the universe.
Thus, i think it creates a false sense of oneness and a vague sense of cosmic belonging, that is actually damaging to identity formation individually and communally, and doesn't set a concrete path towards spiritual transformation and communion with God and others.
Thank you for the introduction to Satish Kumar. Again, your essays always make me think.
I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but I don't feel radical love from this essay nor from any of the comments. I liked your last paragraph, I can't waste time hating on these people .. It was nice you came to this conclusion. But as long as we blame and ridicule the other side, Republicans are repulsive, Trump is a disease, we will never evolve, make the real radical changes we so desperately need or even come close to love radically. A death mid-wife said radical love for her was holding Hitler in her arms, cradled like a baby, and loving him fully. How many of us are here?
I'm curious as to how many people on here, including you Daniel who know a Republican, let alone are friends with one, taken a step further know someone who is voting for or do I dare say likes Trump? The coastal elites is a descriptor for a reason. It wasn't until I left LA and the LA NY mind set (I lived in NYC too), that I realized how I was being played by politics. Being from a town outside CA and NY the world is very different. I was hating on people who I love, who I had loved forever and who are good decent people, lifelong friends, not diseased or broken or brainwashed.
Living in Spain, I learned there are still people who love Franco. Young people who love Franco. The right-wing party Vox started because there are people in Spain who still think this way and they needed a place to go. Better to have your enemy's above ground than under as the saying goes. Fascism never died in Europe. It creeps in slowly, as it has in America.
Power corrupts entirely, this is what history has taught us. The dismantling of religion with no alternative for the masses and the projection of our savior complex, we have given the technocrats their pedestal to pursue their quest to become God. One religion replaces another.
Transhumanism is being disguised in the Transgender Ideological movement, which is destroying women's rights as we speak. Nevada just made women's sports illegal. Illegal to have an all women's sports team. The Patriarchy is oh so tricky. Technology is already being used and built to take reproduction into the tech sector, on their way to make women almost obsolete, and the Left is All In. Both sides are promoting Transhumanism.
Until we can move away from this place, of hating and blaming the other and picking sides, I don't see any evolution of the species.
Love the idea of radical love!
Daniel - as always thanks for writing the stuff that no one else is and provoking ideas within myself.
This essay had me reflect on something I’ve been thinking about since Trump first got elected.
After Trump first got elected, I reflected on Plato’s argument against democracy. He gave the argument that democracy is a popularity contest and the most charismatic person wins regardless of their skill set as a leader. Plato gives the example of hiring a naval captain in the same way. The charismatic one says they got the biggest ships, the best cannons, the best crew, but if they have never navigated a ship or crew, their lack of experience in the job would make them unfit for the position.
My point is democracy got us here and I am questioning the notion that it will get us out.
All alternatives seem horrible and I am doubtful that there’s anything that would be an improvement on democracy.
Plato’s suggestion is to leave the governing to the Philosopher Kings (seems Thiel and Musk are self appointing themselves). I’m unclear how a society would choose who would be a Philosopher King and that these philosopher kings would be above the corruption that comes with absolute power….
Anyway - wondering if anyone else has explored Plato’s argument against democracy and have any thoughts around it.
Thanks for this amazingly comprehensive and thoughtful piece of writing. I first met Satish over 50 years ago when he had recently arrived in London and was setting up the London School of Nonviolence before becoming editor of Resurgence Magazine.
MAGA is a disease. It's the only way I can make sense of half the country being so uncoupled from the truth of what is happening. This by Matthew Sheffield who has a podcast called Theory of Change:
"I understand MAGA as an epidemic disease, infecting many through what I call “brain flaws.” It is not their fault. There are brain pathways for copying and following others — in the cortex, dopamine system, and pain centers, to motivate conformity and violence. This is a movement of violence. Violence is a disease, and specifically, a contagious disease. The disease spreads through these brain processes. The MAGA movement is a dangerous and lethal syndrome of what I describe as “Authoritarian Violence Disorder.” Donald Trump is a massive superspreader. The contagion and the moral disengagement it causes provokes cruelty and obedience. This is accelerated by the effects of “constant-lies.” Streams of lies are not just lies to be fact-checked, but an accelerant that impacts people’s brains, causing moral disengagement, allowing people to abandon their own decision-making and obey."
Okay . . . so what's the antidote or is it incurable?
is MAGA to blame for the countless atrocities of the last 3.8 years of Biden/Harris?
Or MAGA more of a symptom and the root cause settler colonialst psychopathy that is very much present in Team Blue as well?
I certainly experience some of the contrast you describe. I have been an activist all my adult life and, at 65, i look back and am able to see much of what I have participated in and accomplished with an equanimity that i did not have even ten years ago when I had to step back from a lot of the activism in which I was involved when i found myself rather suddenly a poor single parent responsible for two traumatized children (4 and 11). They became, without question, my priority. And we've done okay.
I've read Kumar's work - though not recently - and have always been inspired by it. So i look forward to reading this more recent work. I know i will agree with a lot of it. And i can infer plenty in the notion of radical love. It resonates with much of the study and contemplation i've done over the decades (Buber and Levinas and Frankl, the stoics, Lao Tsu, Buddhism, Joanna Macy).
I've recently been reflecting on the four brahmaviharas: loving-kindness, compassion, muditha, and equanimity. I find this set of qualities/practices compelling. Briefly: the first is relatively self-evident. Compassion is something that i think is too quickly equated with empathy but is actually much, much more than mere empathy (as important as empathy is). Muditha I learned about in the 80s and it was a revelation. There is no pithy english equivalent but it means joy in the joy of others. Some might see this as another facet of of empathy but that would be a mistake. Just as compassion means to share the suffering of another person, so muditha means to share the joy of another person. And, finally, equanimity is something that i've recently realized I feel much more than i used to.
I could happily add "radical love" to this set of four "attitudes" (?) and certainly believe deeply that we need to be, in these dire times, radical. Trump or no Trump, the stage seems set for ever-worsening (and accelerating) environmental and social breakdown and, while I am a big fan of the science of all this, I also believe that the future is not written. And we need to fight like hell (echoing Mother Jones) for a better future even while we also fight like hell to mitigate the worst extremes which, you could say, is fighting for a less-bad future. But fighting for better and less-bad are not mutually exclusive tactics. We need a multiplicity of approaches even while we also need to come together. I find powerful guidance in the futures imagined by such as Octavia Butler (Parable of the Sower) and even Cormac McCarthy's The Road which is set in a brutal and harrowing future but which is about the endurance of love and the growth from innocence to what i think of as "the bittersweet" (a la Anne Carson's Eros, the Bittersweet).
We are seceding from Reality
Nothing more is real
So nothing can really matter
May as well just do what occurs to us to do
What is occurring here and now
What we are doing here and now
For each succeeding here and now
That's what reality we have
A change from obsessing over your former friends, who I assume you are trying to radically love. I do prefer this side of your writing/thought process, but understand the compulsion to ‘get to the bottom’ of human peculiarities, as they cause so much damage. The zoom call is mentioned in this article so it peaks my curiosity as a theme if you care to elaborate on that. Thanks for the book recommendation here