Tag: deep adaptation

Our Humanity Dictates that the Collapse of Other Societies Matters to Us – including Palestine

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Update on July 31st 2025:

After publication of this essay, there were a couple of months of what I considered unsatisfactory responses from various persons in senior volunteer roles in the DA Forum, who complained about my public criticism. However, by July, there was a widening of focus to include addressing matters of online group moderator capacity, diversity and accountability. Conversations are ongoing to improve systems. In addition, the original post that was blocked by moderators of the DA FB group has subsequently been accepted here.

It is painful to think that many of the children pictured above are now starving to death, and the world has watched, without a way to intervene until too late for so many. 

For over a year some people have been saying “one day everyone will have always been against this”. They recognised that many people only move with the herd, as defined by legacy media and cultural bias, and such complacency provides abusers with the time to do great harm. In a metacrisis with societal disruption and collapse, we would benefit from more people with greater ‘critical wisdom’ as I explain in in Chapter 8 of Breaking Together. We can also ask people to learn from their mistaken compliance and complacency, to avoid repeating it.

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Many of us are lucky that societal collapse is still only a concept. It can be our way of understanding the increasing difficulties we experience, or the increasing damage to the natural world, or can describe a future breakdown of basic services in our societies. However, for some people the collapse of basic systems for living has been happening for a long time. Moreover, some people are experiencing the daily risk of being killed, the pain of hunger, grieving loved ones, and coping with trauma from regular bombing and displacement. A military-induced collapse of society is one that could be stopped, unlike the wider collapse that unfolds due to environmental and other factors. Therefore any such volitional collapse is something we could try to prevent, or reverse. It is something that calls for our attention and action. That is especially so if our taxes are funding part of it or our financial savings are benefiting from it. 

What I have just written seems self-evident. It should not need explaining. Therefore, it is heartbreaking that a few people who made the reduction of harm from societal collapse a major theme in their lives have been blocking people with a similar perspective from discussing how we might help people in need, with no transparency about that censorship, which means we develop a mistaken impression of the response of our fellow man. I am writing about it here because I think that with your help this situation can change, and with it, both systems and cultural dynamics will improve in the Deep Adaptation communities and movement. 

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What did you do in the genocide Daddy?

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Jewish voice for peace, April 15th

Why should we talk about Gaza and genocide on Earth Day? Partly because we should be talking about it everyday. Partly because the same mix of forces that are destroying the planet are destroying life and land in Gaza. Partly because the mainstream environmental sector won’t be talking about it, as they lie that all we need is more technology, hope and charismatic leadership to save the world. My friend and colleague in the field of collapse readiness, Matthew Slater has marched with the Palestinian flag nearly everyday for the last 18 months. We discussed what he has learned and what more can be done, which resulted in the following guest essay. Please read and then share with individuals by email, not on social media, where such content is likely buried by algorithms.

Thx, Jem

What did you do in the genocide, Daddy?

by Matthew Slater [listen to an audio of this essay]

I find it difficult talking about Palestine.

What is happening is so much more than a regional conflict or an antiterrorist operation. So much more even, than the alleged genocide that is picking up pace. Before I put my case, it will help some readers who rely on mainstream media if I lay out some facts. I will limit myself to 10!

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How People Get Ready – building the commons in working-class communities is key to collapse preparation.

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The one talk that I’m scheduled to give in the UK this year is at the Festival of Commoning in Stroud. My reason for that is my support of what Michel Bauwens describes as cosmolocalism [0] in the face of collapse, and what I term the ‘Great Reclamation’ of our power. It is best explained and illustrated by one of the organisers of the Festival, Dave Darby, in a guest article…

“All civilisations collapse in the end. The Roman Empire is long gone, along with the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Sumerians. Will the global civilisation of corporate capitalism buck the trend? Of course not, but how long does it have left? In such a complex system, it is impossible to predict when there will be a sudden shift, but there is good evidence that the process of breakdown has already begun. Damage to soils, water tables, forests, the oceans and climate is occurring alongside economic and political upheaval. No longer is this a theoretical matter about the distant future, but something we should be preparing for today. But how? 

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“Water is Love”: restoring an ecological approach to climate change and beyond.

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Skeena Rathor was a founder-member of the campaign group Extinction Rebellion, which changed the conversation on climate change in 2019. The group called for carbon neutrality in Britain by 2025. So the growing global emissions and worsening climate has been generating some reflection amongst activists. I invited Skeena to share her experiences and why she is now focusing on the importance of water. In the following essay, she shows how we can experience nature and climate as part of us, and vice versa, so we meet the challenges of social and ecological breakdown in a more holistic way. We publish on World Water Day to encourage attention to a wonderful new documentary on this theme: Water Is Love. Over to Skeena…

Water is more than just H2O. For times immemorial, many Indigenous and other wisdom traditions have regarded water as a living, spiritual entity, as a medium connecting the physical world with the spiritual, and as an essential force that sustains all life. For example, the Akan people of West Africa see it as a divine energy, the Māori view rivers and lakes as living entities with spiritual significance and the Lakota tradition reveres water as “the first consciousness bestowed upon Mother Earth” (Tiokasin Ghosthorse).

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Global Justice Starts at Home

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I invited Malika Virah-Sawmy to share her reflections on the changes in approaches to international solidarity at a time of rising poverty and political disquiet in Western nations, as well as the degradation of the global environment. I met Malika through working on Deep Adaptation, and she served for a time as a holding group member of the DA Forum. I hope you find her perspective important for your own efforts.

Witnessing the political saga in many Western countries over the past year gives the impression of deep political upheaval. As inflation persists and family budgets become increasingly strained, frustration is manifesting in various ways. Elites are promoting narratives that shift attention away from exploitative economic systems. That means migrants like myself, refugees, and even bureaucrats are blamed – but never the rich. It leaves me wondering what politics will rise after people wake up to this false dawn promised by the xenophobes and anti-bureaucrats. Because it can’t take that long for people to realise their pay hasn’t increased and their bills haven’t decreased as a result of backing the opportunist politicians. At that point, the path might be open for more meaningful engagement with the difficulties in this era of ‘permacrisis’. If you are not satisfied with the ideas from your political leaders and pundits, then I’d like to offer an outside perspective. It is a view that might not only help citizens in the West, but also help people in less wealthy regions of the world.

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Indigenous Wisdom for an Era of Collapse

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[NB: two places have become available on the last online course Leading Through Collapse that I’ll teach, starting Mar 17th – apply before 3rd Mar]

I’m noticing increasing Western engagement with Indigenous teachings and elders. One reason might be that as people wake up to societal collapse, they reconsider deep assumptions in their culture, and are open to learn more from the wisdoms of Indigenous cultures. That seems like a great thing, but, like anything, there are both benefits and pitfalls. It’s something I’ve mused on for a while, so I’d like to share a few thoughts with you.  

For decades, some strands of the Western environmental movement cited the wisdom of Indigenous cultures, from Aboriginal Australians to Native Americans, and many places in between. Then, like me, they largely failed to integrate such wisdom into life choices and professional or political activity. Even the environmentalists who work in solidarity with Indigenous peoples have tended to bring their own assumptions and interests which then distort the teachings, insights and ways of being in the world. That is not only due to modernist ideologies of progress, hope, and happy endings, but also from the distortions that can come from privilege. Let’s face it, the middle classes and elites tend to be the ones in the West who make time to learn from Indigenous cultures. The theories of social change favoured by the privileged anywhere tend to be that education, awareness and reform are what matters. That makes organising to resist and reclaim power to meet basic needs and aspirations in more independent and self-reliant ways a secondary concern, if at all. I know of that strategic preference because my past career was shaped by it. Without these filters, I wonder what more we could learn from listening to, and experiencing with, those people who live with a different cosmology, and who experience life differently to our urban commercial norms.

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Sacred Fevers – Always One (Om Mani Padme Hum)

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Sometimes fevers have been a psychological medicine for me. They force me to stop, which eventually makes me reflect on life. But that’s not the only impact. The delirium from a raised body temperature and cytokines involves an altered state of consciousness. Feelings can bubble up and new perspectives appear. Without my fevers, I might not have taken some of the ‘sharp turns’ of direction in my life. That doesn’t mean I welcome illness, for myself or anyone else. But I now recognise that when we get sick we can welcome potential insights from an altered state of consciousness, as a silver lining to what is otherwise a worrying, painful and boring experience. Why people like me need something as dramatic as a high fever to discover new meanings and directions in life is an interesting question. More on that later. But first I want to share with you a few stories of fevers, which led to me writing my latest song: Always One (Om Mani Padme Hum).

My last high fever happened a few days after I had been bitten by a dog. I had been saying goodbye to the head of the Buddhist Temple, and his dog seemed friendly until I responded with a pat on his head (the dog’s). I doused the wound in iodine, bound it, and said goodbye, leaving with a question in my mind about whether they should keep the dog away from the guests. It was an odd way to end a meditation retreat – a reminder of the random ups and downs of life. Later that day I waited with apprehension for a reply to my whatsapp to the Temple office. “Yes, the dog has been vaccinated for rabies” came the reply. When home, I began searching what the disease risks might be and looking up when I’d last had vaccinations for tetanus and rabies. I discovered I was a couple of years past the time when boosters are recommended. I then discovered the good news that tetanus isn’t as bad as I’d thought, whereas rabies is worse – once you have a fever you will certainly die within weeks. Fortunately, there were no signs of infection at the wound site, and I felt fine, so I decided to do nothing; a decision which I’d wonder about later.

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Should Deep Adaptation spaces be discussing contentious social issues that are (arguably) not directly related to collapse? 

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Sometimes people object to any discussions of politics, pandemics, wars, racism, or gender, in Deep Adaptation fora. The ‘little’ matters of ecological destruction and the collapse of societies are stressful enough, even before airing any of our disagreements about politics or current affairs. Consequently, some people wish for a place where such topics are avoided, so the discussion is limited to how to help each other emotionally and practically. Some groups in the Deep Adaptation movement even make it explicit that politics should not be discussed. However, I’ve said for a few years that I think that such a position is no longer tenable, with the issue now being how such conversations can be well held, so they advance understanding rather than discord. That is simply because collapse has been shaped by politics and will be made better or worse by politics in future. Additionally, contentious social issues involving inequality, gender, race, neurodivergence, health and human rights, amongst others, don’t become irrelevant just because societies are fracturing. In fact, for many people such matters can become more important, as they wish to maintain their values and reduce suffering as situations become more difficult. I’ve wondered over the years if we don’t try to apply the ethos of Deep Adaptation to matters of policy and power then how robust is our commitment to that ethos? 

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Final call for the last ‘Leading Through Collapse’ online courses

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Happy New Year. One of my resolutions involves stepping back from my role as an advocate scholar on unfolding societal disruption and collapse. Over the past year I’ve written a lot and travelled a lot to promote what I consider to be thoughtful and caring responses to our predicament. Working on this topic full time isn’t easy: it is huge, heavy, and regularly attracts anger in response (from Berlin to Tasmania!). I feel grateful for the many people I have met or heard from who have positively changed, or are changing, their lives as a result of the analysis I shared over the last 6 years. But I also know that my views on the patterns of thought and behaviour that got us into this mess appear too radical for many. The most recent reminder of that are some responses to my previous essay about the Pope’s Xmas message on hope. The time it took to explain what I didn’t say, rather than what I did say, was a good reminder to focus in future on where there is resonance and synchronicity.

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Christianity and Hope – when the Pope does hopium, what do the mystics do?

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For anyone who has grown up in a Christian country, the past week can be a time for reflection on values and purpose. It can be a moment where we find calm away from the rush of our normal lives and re-assess. Any religious festival can provide us with that opportunity, if we are open to that. On religious occasions like Christmas and Easter, people exposed to Western media will read or hear about what The Pope says about the world. So that’s why I heard the Pope’s new message on hope in difficult times. My discomfort about his message meant I shared some thoughts on social media, which generated feedback and dialogue. Rather than repeating myself in comments on those threads, I thought I’d write a post about ‘Christianity and Hope’ on my blog… so here goes.

The Pope’s message seemed to be asking us all to have hope in a better tomorrow. But he went much further than that, when claiming that hope for a materially better situation in the world is a requirement and concomitant with being loving towards others. He wrote:

“Those who love, even if they find themselves in uncertain situations, always view the world with a gentle gaze of hope.”

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