Thank you Alex this is spot on,the consultation’s aren’t worth the paper their written on. There is no regard for public opinion,only those who are pushing forward their agenda. If we can’t open our business,pick up our children what can we do?
I know stay at home order online food & stay looked in.
It seems to me this is nothing to do with climate change or helping out planet, but all to do with control.That if you don’t compile you get fined.
I used to think about this in terms of China’s 1 baby rule when i was younger, because it made perfect sense to me- after all we need to be mindful of our impact, however I couldn’t deny that something about it felt so inherently wrong. Inhuman. Telling another being how they could and should give life. It wasn’t till I got older and had lived experience with my resources, developed relationship to those resources and place that I realized that yes, if we’re in right relationship to our environment, each other, if we have relationship we than have context which informs us about our actions. Then the rules become much more grounded in place and direct community. More directly connected to how and where we resource.
How ever this is hard to do when disconnected from relationship and self and living mostly in the ethers. And it is becoming clearer and clearer that our barely elected leaders are just as discombobulated, context doesn’t exist,relationships are breaking down and the rules are becoming more and more meaningless.
I have a lot of compassion for folks who really feel that we don’t have time to figure it out and develop these relationships which inform us of our actions, which give actual context so we can collectively decide how best to bring ourselves into balance. I get the panic. And the need to just be in control and tell everyone the right way to act. However as an expat who lives in the USA mostly because we still have the space to let the forest tell me when and what to burn I don’t comply. And I don’t agree. In fact Im championing for us all to be come as unruly as we can.
Very well-written, well thought-out piece and I also appreciated both songs you introduced me to (I'd heard of Rodriguez a few years ago but never followed up. I like it!).
Yes, this topic seems to extremely salient, though your piece might be ahead of the time and will thus be seen as prescient in another year or two.
I think what you're pointing to is the desire most of us have to live in accord with our environment, to treat it as we do ourselves, with respect and care, while also retaining many of the liberties that modern society claims to be the spoils of many years toiling against things like monarchies, dictatorships, etc.
From my wide consumption on this topic, it certainly does seem like a global agenda and you've hit the nail on the head in discussing the sheer lack of public input and how it reflects a growing disdain the leadership class has for the citizens.
Anyway, I'm going to share this article widely because I think it's a really great invitation into actually discussing these challenging topics with nuance and care. Thanks again for writing it!
The salient issues are that councillors have already decided what is 'good' for the people, ignoring any negative feedback from consultations. Also, that while localisation is good thing, it shouldn't be a pretext for travel restrictions and more surveillance. There is a clear disconnect between the 'working from home' laptop class, that includes much of academia and the genuine working class, for whom mobility with a private vehicle is essential. In Oxford this could manifest itself as yet another 'gown' vs 'town' conflict. As an ex-native who was priced out of the place in the late 1980's here's my take on the issue:
Thank you Alex this is spot on,the consultation’s aren’t worth the paper their written on. There is no regard for public opinion,only those who are pushing forward their agenda. If we can’t open our business,pick up our children what can we do?
I know stay at home order online food & stay looked in.
It seems to me this is nothing to do with climate change or helping out planet, but all to do with control.That if you don’t compile you get fined.
I used to think about this in terms of China’s 1 baby rule when i was younger, because it made perfect sense to me- after all we need to be mindful of our impact, however I couldn’t deny that something about it felt so inherently wrong. Inhuman. Telling another being how they could and should give life. It wasn’t till I got older and had lived experience with my resources, developed relationship to those resources and place that I realized that yes, if we’re in right relationship to our environment, each other, if we have relationship we than have context which informs us about our actions. Then the rules become much more grounded in place and direct community. More directly connected to how and where we resource.
How ever this is hard to do when disconnected from relationship and self and living mostly in the ethers. And it is becoming clearer and clearer that our barely elected leaders are just as discombobulated, context doesn’t exist,relationships are breaking down and the rules are becoming more and more meaningless.
I have a lot of compassion for folks who really feel that we don’t have time to figure it out and develop these relationships which inform us of our actions, which give actual context so we can collectively decide how best to bring ourselves into balance. I get the panic. And the need to just be in control and tell everyone the right way to act. However as an expat who lives in the USA mostly because we still have the space to let the forest tell me when and what to burn I don’t comply. And I don’t agree. In fact Im championing for us all to be come as unruly as we can.
Downright ungovernable. https://open.substack.com/pub/natashaclarke/p/becoming-ungovernable
Very well-written, well thought-out piece and I also appreciated both songs you introduced me to (I'd heard of Rodriguez a few years ago but never followed up. I like it!).
Yes, this topic seems to extremely salient, though your piece might be ahead of the time and will thus be seen as prescient in another year or two.
I think what you're pointing to is the desire most of us have to live in accord with our environment, to treat it as we do ourselves, with respect and care, while also retaining many of the liberties that modern society claims to be the spoils of many years toiling against things like monarchies, dictatorships, etc.
From my wide consumption on this topic, it certainly does seem like a global agenda and you've hit the nail on the head in discussing the sheer lack of public input and how it reflects a growing disdain the leadership class has for the citizens.
Anyway, I'm going to share this article widely because I think it's a really great invitation into actually discussing these challenging topics with nuance and care. Thanks again for writing it!
The salient issues are that councillors have already decided what is 'good' for the people, ignoring any negative feedback from consultations. Also, that while localisation is good thing, it shouldn't be a pretext for travel restrictions and more surveillance. There is a clear disconnect between the 'working from home' laptop class, that includes much of academia and the genuine working class, for whom mobility with a private vehicle is essential. In Oxford this could manifest itself as yet another 'gown' vs 'town' conflict. As an ex-native who was priced out of the place in the late 1980's here's my take on the issue:
https://warwickvegan.wordpress.com/2023/02/15/green-routes/