We are not a good and virtuous nation. God does not bless us above other nations. Victory is not assured. War is not noble and uplifting. The clash between the reality of combat and the Disneyfied version of combat consumed by the public, one that propels many young men and women into war, creates not only dissonance and moral injury, but an existential crisis, an existential crisis combat veterans, at least those who are self-reflective, must cope with for the rest of their lives.
Andrew Bacevich, a retired Army colonel who fought in Vietnam, and Danny Sjursen, a retired Army major who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, have just published Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America’s Misguided Wars. Bacevich and Sjursen, West Point graduates like many writers in the book, come out of the military culture. They began as true believers, embracing the myths of American goodness and virtue, and the military honor code pounded into them as young cadets at the military academy. The reality of combat, as it has for generations, exposed the lies told by the generals and politicians.
Andrew Bacevich is a West Point graduate, retired Army Colonel, and Vietnam war veteran. He is also an emeritus professor of history and international relations at Boston University and the co-founder and president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. His books include The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism and After the Apocalypse: America’s Role in a World Transformed. He is the editor of the book Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America’s Misguided Wars.
1️⃣💢Faith Dialogue Informing the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health💢 ⏰: 10:00 am – 11:30 am EST The Faith and Food Coalition, which held Food Systems Dialogues before the UN Food Systems Summit, has begun to hold regional dialogues to narrow in on food systems challenges and solutions faced by faith communities in specific geographic regions. At a time when the United States is planning a White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in late September 2022 – the first conference of its kind in 50 years – the Faith and Food Coalition will host a dialogue to uplift faith community actions and suggested policies and approaches needed to end hunger and increase healthy eating and equity in the U.S. by 2030.
As part of the Good Food Dialogues process, input from this session will not only be submitted directly to the White House for review, but will also feed into a larger synthesis report of policy ideas and innovations that will inform a movement mobilized far beyond the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. Participants will have the opportunity to contribute to the design of the national strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases and health disparities especially by sharing actions that faith communities are taking to promote well-being through diet and food systems transformation.
2️⃣💢Explorations of the Climate Security Nexus💢 ⏰: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EST Creating spaces for learning, experience sharing, and collaboration for young people working on climate change, peace, and security is important to strengthen advocacy and policy-level collaboration on sustainable peace. It is important to note that the root causes of both the peace and security and climate crises are interconnected. Whether related to intra or inter state conflict, the same challenges posed by our inability to act in full appreciation of our interdependence poses roadblocks to effective policy making in the areas of conflict resolution and climate action.
Convened during the 2022 UN General Assembly High-Level Week, NYC Climate Week, and in observance of the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, this side event brings together representatives from government, UN agencies, civil society, youth peacebuilders, and climate activists to explore the opportunities to advance the climate security nexus with the aim of building sustainable peace.
3️⃣💢The Building Blocks of Mutual Aid for Disaster Resilience💢 ⏰: 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm EST With many impacts of climate change already locked in, there is a growing understanding that preparedness is one of our communities greatest tools to create resilience, recognizing that for many at risk of being left behind, no one is coming to save them: we must save ourselves. If communities at risk anticipate not being able to receive government assistance following major disasters, then we must create mutual aid networks, to ensure that we are ready for any situation that may emerge.
This workshop will explore, in the lead up to disasters, how marginalized communities can create preparedness, connecting with existing systemic resources, and make the case for the importance of mutual aid, training attendees on how to create, maintain, and support their own networks of mutual aid. Participants will walk away understanding how we can work, from a bottom up approach, aligning with government systems and existing community resources, to strengthen our preparedness thru building disaster resilience using mutual aid networks.
Democracy Now! co-host Juan González says people are showing resilience in the face of Hurricane Fiona in his native Puerto Rico, where the power grid crashed across the entire island due to the storm. Many who learned from 2017’s Hurricane Maria are dipping into their personal water reserves and using power generators, he says. “Puerto Rican people … have actually been able to recognize the fact that the government, when it comes to these crises, is inept, and many people have been able to develop their own ability to survive,” says González.
An open letter signed by over 200 humanitarian groups calls on world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly to urgently take action on world hunger, citing that one person dies of hunger every four seconds. We speak with Abby Maxman, president and CEO of Oxfam America, one of the letter’s signatories, who just returned from Somaliland, where a famine may be declared as early as next month. Climate change, COVID and conflicts such as the war in Ukraine are largely to blame for rising hunger, she says, and “those who are the least responsible are suffering its worst impacts.”Food-matters,
Half of full-time workers in the United States cannot make ends meet. Thousands of them work for the Walt Disney Company. One of them reached out to the dissident heiress Abigail Disney, whose grandfather Roy Disney built what is often called the “happiest place on Earth.” Now she’s made a documentary about how the family business exploits its workers: “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales.” The film follows workers who have difficulty making ends meet despite the lofty claims of the Disney conglomerate. “This is a phenomenon that’s happening across this country in corporations and even around the world,” says Disney, who co-directed the film with Kathleen Hughes. Employees who agreed to be filmed “had a hope that if they could change Disney from within, Disney could lead the way for other corporations,” notes Hughes.
Sea levels are rising faster and faster, threatening 700 million people who live on the world’s coasts. Will water become the habitat of the future? Visionary projects for a life with the tides are forging ahead worldwide.
Experts forecast that by 2100, sea levels will be two meters higher than they are today. This could force 40 percent of the world’s population out of their homes, for example, in Mumbai, Tokyo, Guangzhou or Bangladesh. The US won’t be spared either. Miami, New Orleans and New York would also have to be evacuated. Entire city districts would be under water. Climate change would drastically alter our metropolitan areas.
That’s why ideas that originated in science fiction have now becoming reality. Floating and underwater buildings could become places of refuge. What sounds like a utopia is soon to become reality. The first pioneers are already living in floating neighborhoods. Could the South Pacific paradise of Tahiti also be saved in this way?
This is still all tantalizing luxury. Visionary hotel operators offer rooms with an underwater view. Or dinner during which fish and marine life are a feature in floating restaurants. Many of these futuristic plans involve water. Will we be farming on the sea? Will the “SeaOrbiter” floating research station designed by Parisian architect Jacques Rougerie get underway soon? Or will we walk through seaports on floating boulevards?
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
This weblog explores the transition to a sustainable future on our finite planet. It provides links to current news, key documents from government sources and non-governmental organizations, as well as video documentaries about climate change, environmental ethics and environmental justice concerns.
The links are listed here to be used in whatever manner they may be helpful in public information campaigns, course preparation, teaching, letter-writing, lectures, class presentations, policy discussions, article writing, civic or Congressional hearings and citizen action campaigns, etc. For further information on this blog see: About this weblog. and How to use this weblog.
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