Society

I light the candles in the dark room as a pledge, to be honest with myself and truthful with others. To do no harm. To create a safe haven, a sanctuary. To stay present. To listen harder. To act with intention. To shine my own light into the darkness no matter how faint it might be.

I’ve no desire to make strong claims about what is achieved by serving mince pies to neighbours and strangers, but I will say that, from these humble, stumbling experiments in convivial economics, I am learning things that I would not have caught sight of, had I tried to do all my thinking through books and screens and the kind of conversations that come with footnotes

As you continue along your journey in fighting against the climate crisis, use whatever resources or privileges you have not just to advance positive change but also to make sure those who that change will most impact are actively in the room and are being listened to.

We don’t need to save the world, but we might want to think about saving ourselves. No, not think, do. We need to do more and think less and maybe not order anything at all.

If we want to bring universal school meals to all children, regardless of income, it’s going to take a combination of imagination, tolerance for criticism, and a shift in how we consider this issue.

Rather than exalting brains and our thoughts, a successful human culture will be suspicious of where these narcissistic, unconstrained, decontextualized shortcut machines might lead us, if left unchecked.