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The government — governments — will not solve the problems of the world (that’s a silly daydream); people will solve the problems of the world: individuals, working together on a local scale, globally, simultaneously. There is no policy proposal that will fix things; policy tends to muddle — just look at the 20th century, and the little slice of our own. Every time I hear the phrase ‘Great New Deal’,I think: well, that’s all very nice, I agree with the ideas, I would vote for this even, if I were in Congress, but where is the intangible moral and practical leadership to address the problem of ecology while we’re waiting for this Leviathan to get signed into law (which it’s not any time soon)? And what about the other six or seven billion people outside of the United States: where is the international leadership, co-operation, spontaneous action? If anywhere, as we’ve seen, it’s among teenagers — but even teenagers seem to stop at the level of the demonstration (and photoshoot). Across the spectrum — the full spectrum of civilization on earth — there is a problem of agency: we are not stronger than the counter-productive, even silly, habits we’ve created. If you’re at home, watching the news about Iran tonight, wringing your hands at the TV, or your phone, or both, certainly, you’re on the wrong track: you’re complaining; you’re not doing; you’re feckless; you’ve lost all your power. You’re really just a drone unhappy with your droneness; a helpless recipient of a feeding-tube. Have you created a bond with the earth lately? Or with your neighbors? Or with yourself? Or with the divine? You could be doing all of those things? It’s a shame you haven’t, really — if you’re reading this.
