by Otto Scharmer in Medium…In short — the key to the profound changes that our current polycrisis is calling for lies in the cultivation of the social soil. Every one of us can be (and is) a gardener or farmer of that soil. In our forthcoming book Presencing we outline the core practices for doing so.
Blueprint 2025; Gerry Salole in conversation with Lucy Bernholz
Youtube conversation between Gerry Salole and Lucy Bernholz…We are deeply moved to share insights from an extraordinary dialogue between Lucy Bernholz and Gerry Salole on the launch of Blueprint 2025. This conversation couldn’t be more timely as we face unprecedented challenges to democracy worldwide.
At some nonprofits, a delicate balance of grief and strategy
by Sara Herschander in The Chronicle of Philanthropy…After the election, many leaders are balancing emotional support for rattled staff with practical preparations for funding cuts and policy changes.
There are many ways Trump could trigger a global collapse. Here’s how to survive if that happens
by George Monbiot in The Guardian…It could be wildfires, a pandemic or a financial crisis. The super-rich will flee to their bunkers – the rest of us will have to fend for ourselves
Our common purpose
from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences…Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century, a report of the American Academy’s Commission on the Practice of
Democratic Citizenship, comes at a pivotal moment in the history of the
American experiment.
Left organizing is in crisis. Philanthropy is a major reason why.
by Nina Luo in The Nation…Progressive philanthropy lacks good strategy, so too many of our organizations are hollow—and that left us unable to prevent a second Trump term.
More in this category
Arundhati Roy: The dismantling of democracy in India will affect the whole world
Millions live on subsistence rations delivered in packets with Modi’s face printed on them. India is a very rich country with very poor people. One of the most unequal societies in the world. For its pains, Oxfam India has been raided too. And Amnesty International...
Chartbook 218: “So far from god” … friend-shoring and the debate in Washington over whether to bomb Mexico.
by Adam Tooze in Chartbook….Proximity brings safety and harmony only if you have sorted out your neighborly relations. That is far from being the case between Mexico and the USA.
Beyond growth: speech by President Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, delivered this speech during the opening plenary of the Beyond Growth conference
The second phase of the Biden presidency
By David Brooks, The New York Times…f you ask me now what the Biden administration is for, my answer would be different. Today, its main purpose is to prepare the nation for a period of accelerating and explosive change.
The man who leaked the pentagon papers is scared
Daniel Ellsberg, now 91, says “I’m leaving a world in terrible shape and terrible in all ways that I’ve tried to help make better during my years.”
Davos man must pay
The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, has always been more than a little problematic. But in recent years, the annual gathering of the rich and powerful has become an increasingly wasteful exercise in vanity.
Attacks on Pacific north-west power stations raise fears for US electric grid
A string of attacks on power facilities in Oregon and Washington has caused alarm and highlighted the vulnerabilities of the US electric grid.
Physical attacks on power grid surge to new peak
People are shooting, sabotaging and vandalizing electrical equipment in the U.S. at a pace unseen in at least a decade, amid signs that domestic extremists hope to use blackouts to sow unrest.
Political coverage is changing to get beyond ‘us versus them’
A more nuanced depiction of voters and issues can help newsrooms better report on elections and political campaigns.
Can we fix our battered politics to deal with converging crises?
We live whipsawed by “polycrisis.” That’s the word historian Adam Tooze uses to describe multiple, simultaneous systemic crises that intensify as they collide, resulting in dire and deadly disruptions.
The closing statement of Alla Gutnikova, an editor of Moscow student journal DOXA
I believe, as wrote Yehuda Amichai, that the world was created beautiful for goodness and for peace, like a bench in a courtyard (in a courtyard, not a court!). I believe that the world was created for tenderness, hope, love, solidarity, passion, joy.
Framing the next paradigm and the challenge facing democratic governance with Philip W. Yun
Omega founder Michael Lerner and guest Philip Yun engaged a discussion about the nature of the struggle ahead for democratic governance in the new world we are facing.
America’s (likely) violent future
Does the nation have a new lease on life? One would like to think so. Sadly, however, it looks to me as though the current period of relative calm may be brief, to be followed by worsening civil hostility.