Good question, Carleton. These are easy days for falling into despair which is what I often do. Beyond the “transestablishment” image. in my more positive moments, I also totally believe that an indirect focus on culture, rathere than direct efforts on the political or economic, still makes total sense. So how is it to be done? That’s the rub, of course.
I personally have found inspiration in Margaret Wheatly who, I discovered, has had her own bouts with serious despair. She said she used to think it was a matter of enabling people to see the wisom in objective scientific data, especially in regards to climate change. Then she realized that people simply put on their blinders and deny it. She says such stubborn clinging to that which is passing away means we find ourselves living in a “sea of insanity.” Rather that beating our head against rocks trying to convince others to correctly read the signs of our times, she suggests that the job of awakened people (that might be my words not hers) is to create “islands of sanity” within that dominant “sea of insanity.” This is what give me courage to continue with my personal investment through time, energy, talents, and financial resources, etc., in endeavors like Acclerate 77 and its heir, the Chicago Sustainability Leaders Network, and the transformation of an old broken-down building, which marks its centennial in 2021, into the GreenRise Learning Laboratory, i.e., a demonstration. Local action has never been more urgently required than now.
For what it’s worth, that's the story and active engagement that keeps me going.
Terry