After first reading this, I went and watched about eight hours of Stewart in various venues. Americans are not very familiar with him, but he is quite impressive. I was especially struck by his passion for global poverty and his frustration that the public profile has shrunk even though the problem has grown. It's in that light that I interpret his failure to share the same angst about climate issues.
A friend of mine tells a story about dumpster diving with the noted American Catholic dissenter Philip Berrigan. They were doing this to get food for the soup kitchen where they fed the homeless. Young and passionate, my friend wanted to engage Berrigan on all sorts of philosophical and political issues while they sorted through the supermarket trash. Berrigan was intent on more practical things. "How do you maintain hope in the face of so much discouragement?" my friend asked. And Berrigan, without looking up said, "Hope is where your butt is" and continued going through the trash.
I get the feeling that global poverty is simply where Stewart's butt is. There are people to be fed. No one is perfect or perfectly aware of all the crises we face. The known known, the known unknown, and all that...
Thank you for conducting this interview, and for insisting we watch it.
The contrast between you and Rory that stood out most for me was your insistence to do what is necessary even when it seems impossible versus his insistence not to attempt what is impossible even when it seems necessary.
For instance, about the donut theory, Rory seemed really frustrated that Kate would ignore all practical concerns about how to get there from here, while you kept saying: Can't you see it is absolutely necessary?
FWIW, I think both sides are fundamental. We need to expand our thinking frame to accommodate both, and I think we are working on that.
One last thing: I liked it that both you and Rory regularly took a moment to get to the felt sense of the problem. I wish more people would do that.
Politics is not a ground I’m familiar with. The last time I delved deeper in it was in writing an essay for political science about Gandhi when I was 19. I wanted to tear apart the boring political literature I had to digest during my studies. Gandhi was not only out of the theoretical cage, it brought to me a sense of what politicians could look like in the future.
The whole piece you present (video and text) provided a similar “future” flavour. It is a quality of politics that blossoms in a trans personal ground, that is, both personal and collective. That is context bound and is universal. Where integrity and truth rule and integrate conflict dynamics. Great new stuff often reminds me of great old stuff: ex the I Ching wisdom for governance. Material like this provides stepping stones for the bridge we are crossing between worlds. Thank you.
Gosh! Thank you Elsa. I’m glad you saw it that way. And I’m not saying you’re wrong, but your words were so evocative that they made me wonder, if politics is not that familiar, do you work in advertising?...😉
“Hope is where your butt is” (!) “Very good”, as Rory would say. I’m not sure it’s that simple for me though. It’s not that I need or want him to focus on climate change in particular, it’s more about whether he perceives the metacrisis as I understand it, and if not, why not...
Thanks- well put. Better conflicted than not.
After first reading this, I went and watched about eight hours of Stewart in various venues. Americans are not very familiar with him, but he is quite impressive. I was especially struck by his passion for global poverty and his frustration that the public profile has shrunk even though the problem has grown. It's in that light that I interpret his failure to share the same angst about climate issues.
A friend of mine tells a story about dumpster diving with the noted American Catholic dissenter Philip Berrigan. They were doing this to get food for the soup kitchen where they fed the homeless. Young and passionate, my friend wanted to engage Berrigan on all sorts of philosophical and political issues while they sorted through the supermarket trash. Berrigan was intent on more practical things. "How do you maintain hope in the face of so much discouragement?" my friend asked. And Berrigan, without looking up said, "Hope is where your butt is" and continued going through the trash.
I get the feeling that global poverty is simply where Stewart's butt is. There are people to be fed. No one is perfect or perfectly aware of all the crises we face. The known known, the known unknown, and all that...
Thank you for conducting this interview, and for insisting we watch it.
The contrast between you and Rory that stood out most for me was your insistence to do what is necessary even when it seems impossible versus his insistence not to attempt what is impossible even when it seems necessary.
For instance, about the donut theory, Rory seemed really frustrated that Kate would ignore all practical concerns about how to get there from here, while you kept saying: Can't you see it is absolutely necessary?
FWIW, I think both sides are fundamental. We need to expand our thinking frame to accommodate both, and I think we are working on that.
One last thing: I liked it that both you and Rory regularly took a moment to get to the felt sense of the problem. I wish more people would do that.
Thanks for watching so closely Esther. Nothing in particular to add to what you shred, but it’s good to be seen.
Same here, it's good to be seen. Your comment found me in one of those "nobody ever hears what I say" moods, so it's very welcome.
Politics is not a ground I’m familiar with. The last time I delved deeper in it was in writing an essay for political science about Gandhi when I was 19. I wanted to tear apart the boring political literature I had to digest during my studies. Gandhi was not only out of the theoretical cage, it brought to me a sense of what politicians could look like in the future.
The whole piece you present (video and text) provided a similar “future” flavour. It is a quality of politics that blossoms in a trans personal ground, that is, both personal and collective. That is context bound and is universal. Where integrity and truth rule and integrate conflict dynamics. Great new stuff often reminds me of great old stuff: ex the I Ching wisdom for governance. Material like this provides stepping stones for the bridge we are crossing between worlds. Thank you.
Gosh! Thank you Elsa. I’m glad you saw it that way. And I’m not saying you’re wrong, but your words were so evocative that they made me wonder, if politics is not that familiar, do you work in advertising?...😉
“Hope is where your butt is” (!) “Very good”, as Rory would say. I’m not sure it’s that simple for me though. It’s not that I need or want him to focus on climate change in particular, it’s more about whether he perceives the metacrisis as I understand it, and if not, why not...