A better way

Social activism, permaculture, resiliency, inclusivity and other keys to a better way of living

The author Starhawk has come up with a very helpful way to understand power. She writes about three different kinds of power: power over, power with and power from within. The last two of these are the twin engines that drive all social change movements: people working together and believing in themselves.

Power Over -We’re all very familiar with th... See more

The Three Types of Power | Access Press

Power forms

guerrilla gardening is a way that people can take back not only their present, but also their future – even as it seems under dire threat from an economic and social system apparently hellbent on human self-eradication.

Damien Gayle • ‘I Call It Botanarchy’: The Hackney Guerrilla Gardener Bringing Power to the People

Activism encompasses all the ways we show up for justice. It can take a multitude of shapes, depending on a person’s skills, interests, and capacity. An activist might conduct research, canvass, fundraise, or attend marches or meetings regularly, or they may simply practice a skill in their own home, such as art making, in the service of a cause or

Kelly Hayes • Let This Radicalize You

A thousand little sparks are harder to stamp out than one big fire. That’s why dictators always dream of one big centralized movement—they can shut it down in a single blow. But when resistance lives in tiny networks, scattered everywhere, nobody can kill it. It spreads like a wave, quick and quiet until it crashes into the shore.

So don’t waste you... See more

Rosie • The Revolution Will Be Small (And Everywhere)

micro-networks (also known as mini-networks, clandestine cell systems, small-world networks, and affinity groups). Here’s the big secret nobody tells you: saving a country doesn’t start with a million people on the National Mall. It starts with two or three people sitting at a kitchen table, or trading texts, or meeting on a city street. That’s it.... See more

The Revolution Will Be Small (And Everywhere)

I find myself slowing changing from an agent of change to an agent of care. I’m less confident in the impact my activism might have on policy than I am about the impact my care may have on other human beings, as well as how they might trickle up to the systems that need changing.

What I've seen work in real life are activities such as mutual aid, c... See more

Douglas Rushkoff • Everything is In-Between

Permaculture: A way for humans to consciously design systems that support ourselves — food production, energy, buildings, transportation, technology, even human relationships and financial systems — while acknowledging our roles as equal, co-creative members of natural ecosystems with the ability to regenerate our environment while we’re providing

Toby Hemenway • The Permaculture Promise: What Permaculture Is and How It Can Help Us Reverse Climate Change, Build a More Resilient Future on Earth, and Revitalize Our Communities

Jarod K Anderson

2d

What if everyone got a month of paid leave each year to molt, to shed their rigid exoskeletons in order to grow?

Not vacation. Not sick leave. Just recognition of a natural necessity.

What if the exoskeleton wasn’t literal?

What if the growth wasn’t always visible or aimed at obvious profit?

What if nobody expected us to pretend t... See more

Jarod K Anderson | Substack

The term, which was coined by the sociologist Ray Oldenburg in the 1980s, essentially refers to a physical location other than work or home where there’s little to no financial barrier to entry and where conversation is the primary activity. The historical examples that Oldenburg cites in his book The Great Good Place include French cafés, German A... See more