I would like to recommend The Future and its Enemies: In Defense of Political Hope, by Daniel Innerarity, Stanford Uni Press. 2012.
In view of all the current crises we are facing, it seems imperative that we prepare new ways of thinking about both space and time, resources and actions, in order to preserve the future for the next generations, indeed for the planet itself.
The lure of the immediate advantage, the present, our present, is morally corrupt in so many ways. From the current pandemic, to the long-standing slow-burn emergency of the civil rights of blacks and every other “minority” -based on the white male as the “norm”-, to the insidious destruction of our democracy by the Republican Senate and the current White House, we are inundated by frantic demands for our attention. But there is wisdom in taking the long view. We can start by reading Innerarity (and many of the works cited by him). We need a national conversation at this level, but we could start locally with town and county councils, school boards, churches, and other sites of leadership as we face each budget, each local planning session, each school reopening, each legislative session.
I could cite whole paragraphs but I think it best just to ask that thoughtful people, especially our elected leaders, read The Future and its Enemies (already eight years old ! ) and get thinking about how to insure that future generations will not be saddled with any short-sighted choices, ones we do not have to make, by default or by selfish interest in the present. We can choose otherwise, with the long view in mind and with the understanding that future generations must be free to adapt to their own circumstances. It takes resiliency, a tolerance for some risk, a reasonable amount of imagination and planning, and the generosity of hope. Surely, among all those called to serve, there are a few, many?, who can find these qualities and these talents in themselves. Ultimately, we must all find these traits in ourselves and demand them in our leaders at every level.
Margot Miller, PhD
Easton
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