In my last chronicle I laid out the need to develop a climate change culture. I noted that our current culture is, in effect, an economic culture and it is dominating Earth. Because it is ravaging Earth’s resources it is the major cause of our climate change crisis. We need a different kind of culture, one that will help us deal with this crisis on a long term basis. So how do we go about creating a climate change culture?
Read MoreFirst, because the world is in the midst of climate change. This global phenomenon has already affected many countries and regions of Earth. It will continue to do so in different ways. We need to develop a culture specifically designed to deal with climate change, a culture we can share with other communities who are developing their own climate change cultures. To borrow a motto from the not too distant past, “Think globally, act locally.”
Read MoreIn many of these chronicles I’ve stressed the need for us to help young adults deal with climate change. Most of the time when we adults try to help young people we call upon our own personal experiences. But most of us don’t have experience dealing with climate change. We are trying to figure that out for ourselves. So is there any other experience we know about and can share with them? I think there is. I think we can get some insights from war zones.
Read MoreAs impressive as the demonstrations were, the students are relatively powerless to change things. They are depending on many of the same people who are causing the climate change problems. But what would happen if they had some real power? What would happen if sixteen year-olds had the right to vote and run for office?
Read MoreWe all live in frames. They are the intellectual, psychic and emotional contexts within which we send and receive messages, establish and maintain relationships, see the world and give it meaning. In a word we don’t see the world the way it is; we see the world the way the way we are. And, we live in our stories about our world. When we work with people in different cultures and want to communicate with them we have to reframe. We have to try and understand their cultures and perspectives.
Read MoreToday we are experiencing regular hurricanes coming across the Caribbean wreaking destruction on the Islands and Lower U.S; huge forest fires in Australia, the western United States and Canada; massive flooding in the farming areas of the Midwest; temperatures of 110 degrees scorching Paris, Berlin and most of Western Europe.
And all the while President Trump is removing as many protective environmental laws as he can get his hands on. It is not a pretty picture.
Recent Comments