“In the face of public anger and apathy, and democratic decline, the need for desirable transformation goes much deeper than climate. We need institutional and cultural tools and spaces that enable everyone to contribute. In other words, the work of our time is to reweave the fabric of our democracy even as the broken systems seem overwhelming, even as the work we each can do feels so small.”
-Kate Knuth, “Becoming a Climate Citizen,” from All We Can Save
How do we enable and encourage everyone to contribute, and how do we ensure that different forms of contribution are equally honored?
There is this belief among some that the most noble or most effective thing a person can do is run for office and sit on committees, ignoring that we all have different skill sets. Many of us have strengths that look like planting trees. Many of us are not the type who do well serving on boards. There is a particular culture that is reinforced through commissions and we choose not to be part of something that requires behavior that we see as being part of the problem. Let those who know how and/or are willing to work from inside the system do that, and respect those whose strengths are elsewhere.
But to enable contributions be made at all, everyone requires time and energy for that. Does our system grant that to everyone? You know the answer.
Climate Possibilities is a series about climate mitigation, along with resilience, resistance, and restoration. It’s about human habitat preservation. It’s about loving nature and planet Earth, and demanding the kind of change that gives future generations the opportunity for vibrant lives. Doomers will be eaten alive, figuratively. All photographs are taken in Hartford, Connecticut unless stated otherwise.
