Do you think that a mind can be made new, and if so, what might it take? Does it come down to willingness? Rejection? Dissatisfaction? If new minds save the world, do you think love is a part of their equation? I am afraid that when love becomes too powerful, fear will do anything to overtake it. It's like death is necessary to combat fear, otherwise if humans got ahold of, say, a way to live forever, they'd consume the whole universe before "somebody else could". The people with the most power on Earth build giant clocks in mountains, fly their empty jets to pick up their boyfriends, and use their daddy's money to fuck around and find out. Power isn't love, and we couldn't do anything more than they are if we made it that far, because you don't make it that far with love unless you're prepared to get capped for it. The truth is that love is the most powerful thing, and people with power, people who want power, hate love.
Your pain is palpable, and this reading inspired me to finish my first piece I've been nursing since the winter of 22. Thank you for being vulnerable. We are on the same page, and so are many other people who need help to face this stark reality beyond memes or the dread they can't shake. It is not just our future we are wanting to fight for. I look forward to more of your work.
As a pan / bison sexual, midnight green environmentalist, anarchist ginger liberator, and Prius pilot, I was inspired by that parable and only thought about killing myself once or twice, not because of the parable but because being conscious is a doozy.
I gotta say, If Edward Abbey taught me anything, blowing up dams is damn good time, so I’m on team dambusters. Buy your “recycled” plastic floaties cause the seas are about to get rough!
It’s apparent that suffering is not a strong enough catalyst to inspire a new vision. We are all treading water, swept up in this program. No time to change when you are too burnt out. What are some potential catalysts aside from destruction that may inspire a new vision?
Based on my understanding of history, those who believed they could control nature conquered those who surrendered control via force, violence, and disease. Do we need the same response or will opting out and creating a new path be enough? And can we defend the new path?
I think we are already on that path, but in the age of convenience, we are all a little impatient. And we may be able to get there without resorting to violence aside from finding joy in watching the current vision decay. But also, maybe blow up a few dams here and there, just for entertainment purposes.
Well that was depressing… I might as well go kill myself now. I’m 73 and have been a committed recycler, vegetarian, anti-racist, socialist lesbian-feminist for over 50 years and now the youth wish me dead. 🙏🏽 I am angrier than ever that those in power didn’t heed our warnings. But if younger ones don’t know the past, you will also find yourself at the edge of the world. I guess we are all just doomed.
Interestingly, I find this piece to be very hopeful, and I have no idea where you're getting the idea that the youth want you dead. That has nothing to do with me, but I'm sorry that you feel that way. As a 27 year old, I have my entire life ahead of me, and when I analyze our current predicament, and the fact that "those in power didn't heed" the warnings from people from before you were even born, I have to ask myself why didn't they? What can we do differently? What didn't work? Is there a different way to move forward? If you read this piece as depressing and hopeless, I do think you need to consider that that's not how it's intended, and is also not what I wrote. I am a young person who is writing about the need to change vision, and that if we do, we may find life and connection, and escape the predicament we're in - I'm not someone saying we are "doomed", though we may be without radical responsibility.
Hi Maren,
Do you think that a mind can be made new, and if so, what might it take? Does it come down to willingness? Rejection? Dissatisfaction? If new minds save the world, do you think love is a part of their equation? I am afraid that when love becomes too powerful, fear will do anything to overtake it. It's like death is necessary to combat fear, otherwise if humans got ahold of, say, a way to live forever, they'd consume the whole universe before "somebody else could". The people with the most power on Earth build giant clocks in mountains, fly their empty jets to pick up their boyfriends, and use their daddy's money to fuck around and find out. Power isn't love, and we couldn't do anything more than they are if we made it that far, because you don't make it that far with love unless you're prepared to get capped for it. The truth is that love is the most powerful thing, and people with power, people who want power, hate love.
Your pain is palpable, and this reading inspired me to finish my first piece I've been nursing since the winter of 22. Thank you for being vulnerable. We are on the same page, and so are many other people who need help to face this stark reality beyond memes or the dread they can't shake. It is not just our future we are wanting to fight for. I look forward to more of your work.
As a pan / bison sexual, midnight green environmentalist, anarchist ginger liberator, and Prius pilot, I was inspired by that parable and only thought about killing myself once or twice, not because of the parable but because being conscious is a doozy.
I gotta say, If Edward Abbey taught me anything, blowing up dams is damn good time, so I’m on team dambusters. Buy your “recycled” plastic floaties cause the seas are about to get rough!
It’s apparent that suffering is not a strong enough catalyst to inspire a new vision. We are all treading water, swept up in this program. No time to change when you are too burnt out. What are some potential catalysts aside from destruction that may inspire a new vision?
Based on my understanding of history, those who believed they could control nature conquered those who surrendered control via force, violence, and disease. Do we need the same response or will opting out and creating a new path be enough? And can we defend the new path?
I think we are already on that path, but in the age of convenience, we are all a little impatient. And we may be able to get there without resorting to violence aside from finding joy in watching the current vision decay. But also, maybe blow up a few dams here and there, just for entertainment purposes.
Well that was depressing… I might as well go kill myself now. I’m 73 and have been a committed recycler, vegetarian, anti-racist, socialist lesbian-feminist for over 50 years and now the youth wish me dead. 🙏🏽 I am angrier than ever that those in power didn’t heed our warnings. But if younger ones don’t know the past, you will also find yourself at the edge of the world. I guess we are all just doomed.
Interestingly, I find this piece to be very hopeful, and I have no idea where you're getting the idea that the youth want you dead. That has nothing to do with me, but I'm sorry that you feel that way. As a 27 year old, I have my entire life ahead of me, and when I analyze our current predicament, and the fact that "those in power didn't heed" the warnings from people from before you were even born, I have to ask myself why didn't they? What can we do differently? What didn't work? Is there a different way to move forward? If you read this piece as depressing and hopeless, I do think you need to consider that that's not how it's intended, and is also not what I wrote. I am a young person who is writing about the need to change vision, and that if we do, we may find life and connection, and escape the predicament we're in - I'm not someone saying we are "doomed", though we may be without radical responsibility.