We are in the middle, not the end of this story. I just replied to someone who's devastated: "What's happening now is deeply unstable and we have a role in determining where it goes from the destabilization of this moment.... With climate I took to saying "I respect despair as an emotion, but don't confuse it with an analysis," and I think a lot of us feel deep grief and fear, and that can be motivation to act.... The grief doesn't mean action is hopeless, the action doesn't mean the grief isn't real and valid." They can coexist. And there's no guarantee we will win, but if we do nothing there's a guarantee we'll lose.
No matter what, damage has already been done. But we don't have to surrender, and we do have an opportunity to build on the fury, fear, outrage, and loss into action. The response to Luigi Mangione last fall was a reminder that the brutality of oligarchy was already unpopular. Authoritarianism has to be authoritarian because it's unpopular--it doesn't have the support of the masses and must try to terrorize them into accepting the unacceptable. Part of how they do that is by trying to convince us we're powerless. But we are powerful.
We are in the middle, not the end of this story, and it is our sacred duty on behalf of the climate, all the species, life itself, and the most vulnerable of our species here and abroad to do our utmost to resist. What that looks like will continue to unfold. Because we're also in the territory Antonio Machado described: "Walkers, there is no path. The path is made by walking." Let's make a path toward justice and human rights and climate protection.
— Rebecca Solnit
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