Hi all!
Long time lurker here on slrpnk.net and just signed up to participate more. I have myself been moving on a fairly slow but steady trajectory towards a life aligned with solarpunk values (although not with zeal or even the knowledge of solarpunk for most of this time). I still have a good distance to go, but I also have some concrete ideas in mind going forward.
So I thought I’d make this post where people could share their stories to inspire each other to take bolder steps: what steps have you so far taken and what do you plan to do going forward to live more true to a real solarpunk? What turned you onto these ideals in the first place? If not all ideals speak to you, which do and why? etc. etc. Anything goes!
I’ll post my story in a separate comment.
Welcome! Here’s to the “good new days.” I like the solarpunk framing because it drops some of the historical baggage associated with anarchism (and anti-anarchist propaganda) but still has a strong focus on building solutions to purpose while maintaining ideals that I think are fundamental to the kind of world we want to live in including self-autonomy, ecological balance, mutual aid, and global cooperation. It dares us to say “okay how do we accomplish this?” and strike out to actually try one step at a time with an eye always looking towards collective human flourishing.
Like anarchism it seems to adopt a “let’s just build a better version to meet all our needs and the existing version, built on many generations of snowballed corruption and bad intentions, will fade” perspective which will continue to face resistance from existing power structures but will eventually prevail. It’s a difficult project from where we perch now, but it’s one that feels worth putting time and effort into.
I gotta admit that I’ve fallen for the anti-anarchist propaganda, because I’ve for a very long time equated anarchists with either clueless, immature punk-rockers or conflated them with these liberalist people (private police force for the people… who can afford it). I understand now that it is not an accurate picture of it at all. This idea of grassroots emergence is beautiful, and I believe a prerequisite for a truly resilient way of life. I still know little of any anarchist theory though, but I would want to read up on it to understand better.
I like this perspective. I really don’t like the prospects of a big, sudden revolution. Even though the intentions behind a revolution are good, i.e. I can fully stand behind the ideals driving it, I think these things tend to leave major power vacuums that are filled in very unpredictable ways by people very adept at exploiting such situations.
But I also think that the rate of change towards this “better version to meet all our needs” is way too slow, and I am uncertain how we accelerate it through just building this alternative world. I wonder if we just end up with a subculture on the fringes of society that the vast majority are clueless about. But we should at least be trying to live that ourselves and at the very least be a good example for others to follow. “Be the change you want to see” and whatnot. I don’t know, it’s still new to me…
I enjoy reading theory so I do (my partner is a philosopher for work) but I actually don’t think it’s super necessary. This is one reason I like the solarpunk framing. The principal is very simple, everything we do both individually and collectively should be in balance with the environment. We should exercise the bit of us that is often atrophied living under a liberal bureaucratic way of organizing where we 1) notice things our communities could use and 2) come up with ways to achieve them. I’ve actually been working on a kids coloring book along these lines where it offers worksheet pages for kids along this theme. For ex. search your neighborhood for 3 things that need to be fixed (presented a bit like a scavenger hunt). What are some ways we could accomplish this? I think if more of us treated our surroundings as somewhat more self-determined like this we would be better primed to attack the bigger things too.
Definitely agree that the parallel social structures approach thing is only realistic to a certain point. There are things like power distribution to dense areas and water distribution to most people that would require a major and collaborative shift (there are only so many waterways). And agreed it all feels too slow, and would be (is already) too slow for many. Unfortunately I think this is the nature of the beast and we won’t arrive at the kind of transformation we need without a true transformation in how people think about their place in society and a refocusing of our priorities towards sustainability and cooperation. This just is a much slower and difficult sort of process than getting angry people to follow a well spoken dictator (which is fast but not transformative in the right ways).
Anyway I think the things you’re already doing with your family are already helping contribute to this mindset and I’m optimistic that it matters. Perhaps too optimistic but I think some blind hope is important when you’re between a rock and a hard place and the solarpunk dreamers are taking the first important step; imagining something better.
Nice, way to go! I think kids these days have enough bad influence from society, so we need them to be exposed to more of this good stuff.
Where are all the optimistic HBO dramas showing what kind of future we should strive for? :(
Revolution doesn’t have to be violent. We do need a revolution, but I agree that violent revolution leaves a power vacuum any shithead can fill. We desperately need a grass roots, community based, cultural revolution though. One that firmly opposes our current consumerist culture.
I was trying to make something like this, and you guys beat me to it! Bravo! Now what? How do we achieve this? Is there a roadmap? I know I want to make enough passive income, or at least hoard enough money to at least cover the minimum monthly bills. The rest I can try to manufacture myself I suppose?