When compromise is not possible

Scrolling through the headlines this week gave me whiplash. On one hand you have unprecedented heatwaves, wildfires, droughts and floods at a time when millions of people are about to be evicted and houseless once the moratorium is lifted. On the other hand you have a media machine enamored by billionaires who are racing to space to build a future for the few.

It’s not just that the space race neglects the hungry and houseless, its that it distracts us from the disasters capitalism is causing right here on earth and that the very wealth used to fund space exploration has and continues to viciously exploit human labor and natural resources.

There is no reconciliation or compromise to the conflict of deep injustice and inequality playing out all around us. The world is on fire. And no amount of compromise or space exploration is going to save us.

If we want to survive and thrive, we need radical action that creates wealth redistribution and systems of care that center human dignity and climate recovery. And we need it now.

Kerri (she/her)

Art by @culturestrike

1. Human beings are not bargaining chips, a lesson America has yet to learn. Resmaa Menakem on why when compromise is not possible, integrity can emerge. [click to tweet]

2. The climate crisis will create two classes: those with the freedom to flee from growing threats and those who will be left behind to suffer the consequences in the form of illness, death and destruction. [click to tweet]

3. If the twenty-first century is to be one of peace and caring, says His Holiness the Dalai Lama in this heartfelt personal plea, we must develop a new ethic for a small planet. [click to tweet]

4. The space race playing out among billionaires has little to do with science — it’s a spectacle designed to distract us from the disasters capitalism is causing here on Earth. Leave the billionaires in space. [click to tweet]

5. A turning point is often something you individually or collectively choose, when you find the status quo unacceptable, when you turn yourself and your goals around. Our climate change turning point is right here, right now. [click to tweet]

Senate Democrats have reached an agreement on a $3.5 trillion budget proposal that would dramatically expand Medicare, provide for paid family leave, subsidize child care, make community college free, and fund meaningful—if still insufficiently—climate crisis initiatives. While it is not perfect, if this plan is enacted it will be “the most significant piece of legislation passed since the Great Depression” according to Bernie Sanders. Here’s what you need to know:

“WHERE’S THE MONEY” IS A LIE: Don’t fall for the “but where’s the money going to come from” fallacy you will hear from the right and from moderates. This wealthy country has the money and resources to fund a fair and equitable future for all Americans…as long as everyone pays their fair share of taxes.

TAX THE RICH: Senator Sanders reminds us that “billionaire wealth has steadily increased since 1990, but 1/3rd of their wealth gains have occurred during the pandemic. U.S. billionaire wealth increased 19-fold… from an inflation-adjusted $240 billion in 1990 to $4.7 trillion in 2021.” An unapologetic “tax the rich” is how we build a care economy.

SUPPORT CARE INFRASTRUCTURE: The popular narrative needs to shift from congressional negotiation and the phony need for bipartisanship, to a popular demand that the needs of our communities MUST be met. Working families can’t wait. We need a bold infrastructure package that takes care of all of us. Follow Working Families Party for more on building a care economy.

Art by @ryanlemere

While Congress continues to aspire to bi-partisan solutions, our country is falling apart. But Resmaa Menakem reminds us that “human beings are not bargaining chips” and some things must not be compromised. Compromise is baked into American history since its inception, trading people’s lives for profits and power. And now it’s catching up to us. “We can either compromise with the white supremacists, the insurrectionists, or we can forge a bold paths for a future that includes all of us and repairs historical harms” says Maurice Mitchell of the Working Families Party. In a recent article in Psychology Today, Resmaa says“As a country, we have reached critical mass. Now, finally, we are having the fight that we should have resolved in 1787. This fight cannot be avoided. It cannot be addressed by "compromise." No reconciliation of two long-held irreconcilable visions is possible. Yet, somehow, America must find a way through this conflict—not around it. It is a situation rife with possibility and rife with peril.”

Michelle Cassandra Johnson’s new book “Finding Refuge: Heartwork for Collective Healing” is the medicine for this moment. Buy it HERE.

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