building a new world

People who are good at solving poorly defined problems don't get the same kind of kudos. They don’t get any special titles or clubs. There is no test they can take that will spit out a big, honking number that will make everybody respect them.

And that’s a shame. My grandma does not know how to use the “input” button on her TV’s remote control, but... See more

“Our ability to dream of something different, to name longing, to articulate a vision and commit to it, directly correlates to the likelihood that we will experience it, that it will be realized. It's the way we bring about change for ourselves, and for the world. When we are besieged by visions that do not match our longing, some of which are... See more

“the successor to mass social media is emerging not as a single platform, but as a scattering of alleyways, salons, encrypted lounges and federated town squares – those little gardens. Group chats and invite-only circles are where context and connection survive. These are spaces defined less by scale than by shared understanding, where people no... See more

freedom doesn't become real just because it's written into founding documents. It has to be experienced — in neighborhoods, schools, libraries, and local digital spaces. It's in the daily work of building trust, solving problems together, and showing up for one another that we bring life to our universal ideals. That's the work of local community.

... See more

I’m reminded of what Spencer R. Scott describes as ‘becoming a person of place’ – the idea that rooting yourself somewhere makes the future feel more valuable because its wellbeing becomes intertwined with your own. It’s a beautiful and necessary reframing of commitment as expansion rather than limitation.

I don’t have any answers because I don’t think there are any. But I’m fond of Margaret Wheatley’s framing of creating “islands of sanity,” which a kind reader reminded me of in the lovely comments of my last post. These islands are crucially not places of retreat, but rather of contribution — hyperlocal, small in scale, yet deeply meaningful. To... See more

The next stage of human economy will parallel what we are beginning to understand about nature. It will call for the gifts of each of us; it will emphasize cooperation over competition; it will encourage circulation over hoarding; and it will be cyclical, not linear. Money may not disappear anytime soon, but it will serve a diminished role even as... See more