All life is interrelated

Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash

In Davos this week, world leaders spoke of a splintering of the world order. Once in a leadership role, the U.S. now seems to scoff at former diplomatic “norms,” replacing them with direct antagonism, blackmail, and bullying of former allies. Even for a group of people who do not often speak in strong terms, world leaders seems to have had enough of Trump. Have they finally found their courage and moral compass? Or have they finally seen the interconnectedness of our collective predicament? 

We remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “All I’m saying is simply this: that all mankind is tied together, all life is interrelated, and we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until what I am ought to be - this is the interrelated structure of reality."

Those words land as true today as when Dr. King spoke them in 1965. As we watch ICE brutalize people of color in Minnesota today, Portland (Maine and Oregon) and Chicago and New Orleans and Los Angeles yesterday, we must know that wherever we are in the US, it will be our turn tomorrow. A bully never stops until they are stopped. And stopping the current bully-in-chief and all his enablers will take immense courage and coordination. Perhaps we are finally seeing some courage from world leaders. 

In the meantime, regular people are showing incredible courage, continuing to show up and stand with their neighbors, bear witness to the horrors, and put their bodies on the line. 

May we all find inspiration from them and the courage needed for our current moment. 

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weekly wonder

  • Add cows to the very short list of animals that can use tools! An Austrian cow named Veronika has demonstrated the ability to use tools (e.g. sticks, scrub brushes) to scratch her body.

check it out

  • This week’s intense geomagnetic storms made the “northern lights” visible in regions further south than usual. 

  • Want to stop ICE? Go after their corporate sponsors. A few to prioritize include Dell, UPS, FedEx, Motorola, Comcast. AT&T, LexisNexis, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Amazon (and remember that Amazon owns Whole Foods), Palantir, and local hotels that may be housing agents. #boycottswork 

  • Is civil war inevitable in the US? We may be getting a glimpse of what that may look like in Minnesota.

around the world

  • The killing of innocent people continues in Gaza, despite the cease fire, as many wonder if the region’s cities and towns will be able to rebuild.

  • Since wildfires broke out last week, 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) have burned in Chile’s Biobío and Ñuble regions

more of this please

perennial reads

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all ears

  • What does rebellion sound like when the weapon is music? Check out the new podcast “Fela Kuti: Fear No Man”

we got the beat

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  • Watch Canada Prime Minister' Mark Carney’s full speech at the World Economic Forum. “The system’s power comes not from its truth but from everyone’s willingness to perform as if it is true and its fragility comes from the same source” and there lies our collective power.

…by the way

“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right.” 

-George Orwell, “1984”

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