You make me feel like I’m not insane for always rambling that direct action is the only solution. The only way to change the status quo is going to be uncomfortable, and it’s going to suck.
I guess it’s just sensing who’s going to be down to martyr with me I guess. Even if I am willing to die on a hill, of I die alone nothing will change.
Among friends on substack that i don’t know- im starting to think so! Will 2025 be the year America develops class consciousness beyond a few fringe groups? Let’s pray
Well said. I’m in LA, my parents and I have been very lucky not to have our house burn down and not to be displaced but it’s been a scary, exhausting few days. We’ll have a lot of work to do here to rebuild with as much healing, equality and sustainability as possible and to do everything possible to make the next disaster less severe and more prepared for, and like you said nobody will do this for us. Thanks for your writing, it gives me hope and ideas in these difficult times 🙏💗
Making it less likely would literally mean not rebuilding all the houses there and focusing on restoring a diverse costal habitat. Maybe a new type of house can be reimagined in burnt spaces but as the article so beautifully points out, it wont because people would have to detach from their ideas around ownership
You consistently cut through the BS and tell it like it is. You're right, there will be no wake-up call, for exactly the reasons you discuss. The people who think there WILL be a wake-up call are actually part of the problem because they are still invested in the belief that as soon as enough people get on board, we can work within the system to fix things.
Daniel Quinn used to talk about 'living in the hands of the gods.' In this case, she is Mother Earth. She will do what she needs to do to bring balance back to her planet. A few of us may or may not have the chance to join her in that effort, but it won't be a 'choice,' not really. Nor will those few include folks who now spend countless hours contemplating our predicament. So just be as kind, helpful, loving and present with all who cross your path. That's what we should have always been doing, anyway.
Hello! Thank you for your posts as always. Climate disaster is scary to hear and think about but I have always found your work to provide insight into what a better world can look like and how we should move forward; something that (as you know) is essential to counteract the overwhelm and despair. This is an invaluable resource.
I have a question for you: I am a city-dweller. I want to start implementing more sustainability and permaculture in my life, but that looks very different from a city apartment than it does from a homestead. Do you have any links or recommendations for where to start with that? Any direction at is gratefully welcomed.
Instead of “forcing human beings to do something they don't want to do,” which of course won’t happen, there’s changing humanity’s mind from a shared understanding that a thriving humanity, let alone a surviving one, will only come from humanity becoming a cooperative species. We need to become like a family, where humanitarian ends surpass economic ones. That’s what my Substack is all about.
"The only possible wake-up call is a mugging. Such a "call" can only come from within human society, and it will have to be an act of extortion. The only way to accomplish that is to make the status quo impossible to maintain, while offering a viable alternative. "
Your musings provoke thoughtful responses. I wonder about the dynamic embodied in your speculations and the two examples that you provide. In your system, to be blunt about it, there is the Power and the Counterpower. But in the circumstances that we are experiencing, e.g. L.A.'s firestorms, there is a Third Force - Climate Change and Civilizational Chaos.
I conceive of a strategy that builds upon the exodus to meaningful lives of a tiny minority precipitated by that Third Force - e.g. small organic farms (& CSAs), mutual aid groups, community-conscious retail (mainly food co-ops and worker- co-ops), alternative energy efforts, and so forth.
The strategy would entail raising funds for the expansion of these efforts based on the history of the Hoedads and the Unemployed Unions during the Depression.
btw In California the unemployed supported the End Poverty in California (EPIC) movement that framed the gubernatorial race of Upton Sinclair. The Depression did act as a kind of Third Force, but one that could be managed more easily than the Climate Chaos we are experiencing.
"there is no mechanism for making any change that isn't in the immediate interests of the ruling class. "
I always struggle with double negatives, but don't you mean ... ""there is no mechanism for making any change that IS in the immediate interests of the ruling class. "?
No. I mean that all existing institutional mechanisms for change only allow for changes that are in the immediate interests of the ruling class. Their interests are necessarily opposed to the interests of both the working class and our ecosystem.
Insightful and incredibly true, thank you for putting this into perspective
Thank you so much for reading, I’m super grateful 🙏
You make me feel like I’m not insane for always rambling that direct action is the only solution. The only way to change the status quo is going to be uncomfortable, and it’s going to suck.
I guess it’s just sensing who’s going to be down to martyr with me I guess. Even if I am willing to die on a hill, of I die alone nothing will change.
You’re not insane!
Among friends on substack that i don’t know- im starting to think so! Will 2025 be the year America develops class consciousness beyond a few fringe groups? Let’s pray
Well said. I’m in LA, my parents and I have been very lucky not to have our house burn down and not to be displaced but it’s been a scary, exhausting few days. We’ll have a lot of work to do here to rebuild with as much healing, equality and sustainability as possible and to do everything possible to make the next disaster less severe and more prepared for, and like you said nobody will do this for us. Thanks for your writing, it gives me hope and ideas in these difficult times 🙏💗
Making it less likely would literally mean not rebuilding all the houses there and focusing on restoring a diverse costal habitat. Maybe a new type of house can be reimagined in burnt spaces but as the article so beautifully points out, it wont because people would have to detach from their ideas around ownership
Good point.
Sad but true. That’s why I believe that each and every one of us must think what they can do. We can’t wait for a saviour.
You consistently cut through the BS and tell it like it is. You're right, there will be no wake-up call, for exactly the reasons you discuss. The people who think there WILL be a wake-up call are actually part of the problem because they are still invested in the belief that as soon as enough people get on board, we can work within the system to fix things.
Thank you Lynn 🙏
Very cool, dual power is required
Wrote about that here https://open.substack.com/pub/thelastfarm/p/on-dual-power?r=1v2ifi&utm_medium=ios
Deep in our souls we know this is true. Deep in my soul when I look at the sky filled with clouds, I wish I were a cloud.
Daniel Quinn used to talk about 'living in the hands of the gods.' In this case, she is Mother Earth. She will do what she needs to do to bring balance back to her planet. A few of us may or may not have the chance to join her in that effort, but it won't be a 'choice,' not really. Nor will those few include folks who now spend countless hours contemplating our predicament. So just be as kind, helpful, loving and present with all who cross your path. That's what we should have always been doing, anyway.
Hello! Thank you for your posts as always. Climate disaster is scary to hear and think about but I have always found your work to provide insight into what a better world can look like and how we should move forward; something that (as you know) is essential to counteract the overwhelm and despair. This is an invaluable resource.
I have a question for you: I am a city-dweller. I want to start implementing more sustainability and permaculture in my life, but that looks very different from a city apartment than it does from a homestead. Do you have any links or recommendations for where to start with that? Any direction at is gratefully welcomed.
It really feels like this sometimes.
Instead of “forcing human beings to do something they don't want to do,” which of course won’t happen, there’s changing humanity’s mind from a shared understanding that a thriving humanity, let alone a surviving one, will only come from humanity becoming a cooperative species. We need to become like a family, where humanitarian ends surpass economic ones. That’s what my Substack is all about.
"The only possible wake-up call is a mugging. Such a "call" can only come from within human society, and it will have to be an act of extortion. The only way to accomplish that is to make the status quo impossible to maintain, while offering a viable alternative. "
Your musings provoke thoughtful responses. I wonder about the dynamic embodied in your speculations and the two examples that you provide. In your system, to be blunt about it, there is the Power and the Counterpower. But in the circumstances that we are experiencing, e.g. L.A.'s firestorms, there is a Third Force - Climate Change and Civilizational Chaos.
I conceive of a strategy that builds upon the exodus to meaningful lives of a tiny minority precipitated by that Third Force - e.g. small organic farms (& CSAs), mutual aid groups, community-conscious retail (mainly food co-ops and worker- co-ops), alternative energy efforts, and so forth.
The strategy would entail raising funds for the expansion of these efforts based on the history of the Hoedads and the Unemployed Unions during the Depression.
btw In California the unemployed supported the End Poverty in California (EPIC) movement that framed the gubernatorial race of Upton Sinclair. The Depression did act as a kind of Third Force, but one that could be managed more easily than the Climate Chaos we are experiencing.
"there is no mechanism for making any change that isn't in the immediate interests of the ruling class. "
I always struggle with double negatives, but don't you mean ... ""there is no mechanism for making any change that IS in the immediate interests of the ruling class. "?
No. I mean that all existing institutional mechanisms for change only allow for changes that are in the immediate interests of the ruling class. Their interests are necessarily opposed to the interests of both the working class and our ecosystem.
Stand with me, and we’ll make it one.
I talk about that in the piece