Category: Polycrisis

Climate Abandonment Areas

First Street has released a new report about climate migration explaining this complex issue. Over 3.2 Million Americans Have Left High Flood Risk Neighborhoods Creating “Climate Abandonment Areas." You can download the report here: https://report.firststreet.org/ I've been concerned about how climate migration patterns might affect the Midwest for a long time. This graphic shows my simplistic … Continue reading Climate Abandonment Areas →

Language

The point of this post comes from the article, It’s time to rethink the climate emergency narrative. The language we have been using has not resulted in any significant environmental action. But to get to that point, some context might help. One of the first memorable experiences I had with language was when I learned … Continue reading Language →

It’s Official, We are now Living in “Bomb Time”

The story "The Emperor Has No Clothes" came to mind as I've been learning about hypernormalization and absurdity. These concepts describe how we cope with a reality that is too complex and chaotic to understand or change. We accept the lies and illusions that are presented to us, even when they contradict the facts and … Continue reading It’s Official, We are now Living in “Bomb Time” →

Resisting absurdity

I've been studying and writing about change my entire life. Social, environmental, political, economic, and cultural change because the status quo in this country is unjust and unsustainable. We need to identify where our efforts to create change can have an impact. The greatest threat we face is deepening environmental chaos and its consequences. This … Continue reading Resisting absurdity →

Absurdity

I shouldn't have been surprised by the evolution of language to help make sense of the collapse of the world I grew up in. Each new concept required work to begin to understand it. Work, meaning participation in the implementation of the concepts, because increasingly, academics fail to teach us what we need. Experience must. … Continue reading Absurdity →

As the Light of the World Seems to Flicker

As the Light of the world seems to flicker, the Light of art shines more brightly. Following are some seemingly disparate examples of Light. But they are all interconnected, as we are all interconnected. Poetry I have resigned as poetry editor of The New York Times Magazine.   The Israeli state's U.S-backed war against the people of … Continue reading As the Light of the World Seems to Flicker →

HyperNormalization documentary

The concept of hypernormalization defines why change doesn't happen, describing a state where everyone in a society realizes that the system is failing, but no one can imagine an alternative. That has been predominantly the case in this country for a long time. We are constantly bombarded with news about one disaster after another. Environmental, economic, … Continue reading HyperNormalization documentary →

Hypernormalization and polycrisis

I've been writing about polycrisis for some time because I think it is a useful way to look at the risks, local and global, that we are facing. (See: https://polycrisis.center/). Hypernormalization is another new term. As soon as you hear its definition you recognize how helpful it is in trying to make sense of what … Continue reading Hypernormalization and polycrisis →

Hypernormalization

New terminology is needed to describe unprecedented global collapse. I've struggled for years to try to motivate people to resist the conditions that are are fueling this collapse. I grew up in a Quaker community that worked against injustice. Where men and their families refused to participate in the militarism in this country, knowing they … Continue reading Hypernormalization →