After reading this, I went through a few books of poems to see if I could find a single line or stanza that meaningfully captures where we are. I couldn’t. I am sure that something exists, but my thought for some time has been that we have burned so many bridges behind us, we have in a way cut ourselves off from the wisdom of the past while at the same time also facing an increasingly unrecognizable world.
This piece validates all the feelings I have looking out at our broken, troubled world. Thanks for this realist approach and not sugarcoating the crises we're facing. Shit's bad but I doubt we'll see the urgency and severity of it in mainstream media's roundup of 2023.
There are some glimmers of hope. Some of the Liberal-NDP programs are coming to fruition: childcare, dental and (hopefully!) pharmacare will make material differences in so many lives. The BCNDP housing reforms come into law, upending a century of restrictive zoning laws and replacing it with something bold. I suspect that will also be coupled with a historic investment in public housing construction here through BC Builds. And while we're facing a provincial election, it's likely the BCNDP cruise to victory - a fact which they will hopefully use to be more bold on more fronts.
I am dismayed that I agree with every word you’ve written. What a bleak time.
After reading this, I went through a few books of poems to see if I could find a single line or stanza that meaningfully captures where we are. I couldn’t. I am sure that something exists, but my thought for some time has been that we have burned so many bridges behind us, we have in a way cut ourselves off from the wisdom of the past while at the same time also facing an increasingly unrecognizable world.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming
This piece validates all the feelings I have looking out at our broken, troubled world. Thanks for this realist approach and not sugarcoating the crises we're facing. Shit's bad but I doubt we'll see the urgency and severity of it in mainstream media's roundup of 2023.
There are some glimmers of hope. Some of the Liberal-NDP programs are coming to fruition: childcare, dental and (hopefully!) pharmacare will make material differences in so many lives. The BCNDP housing reforms come into law, upending a century of restrictive zoning laws and replacing it with something bold. I suspect that will also be coupled with a historic investment in public housing construction here through BC Builds. And while we're facing a provincial election, it's likely the BCNDP cruise to victory - a fact which they will hopefully use to be more bold on more fronts.
In part, yes, and the broader shift towards a multi-polar world -- but also the decline of multilaterialism and challenges to global institutions.