August 23, 2022, Waging Nonviolence
My beach reading stack was less whodunits and guilty pleasures and more of a Climate Change 101 survey course. But in this summer of widespread drought, heatwaves melting roads, super storm events, a deadlocked international climate meeting, the protracted political saga of the senator in Big Coal’s back pocket, and lots of other top-of-the-fold climate catastrophe news, my deep dive was in the service of survival and wide-eyed hope creation.
Across four books, ranging from memoir to “how-to” and beyond, I found myself immersed in a set of topics that drive most Americans to drink, denial and more driving. And yet, unless we change, there won’t be any change. The goals of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius and getting to a carbon neutral future require systemic change at every level of society. But where does it start? With individuals going vegan, getting on bikes and installing solar panels? Or with demanding that corporations like Nestle, Amazon and Chevron clean up their act (or go out of business trying)? Maybe it’s with global nuclear disarmament as a path to a healthier planet? How about ending the stranglehold weapons manufacturers have on our politics, pocketbooks and prospects for peace?
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