The Climate Movement Must Be Together Enough — Introduction
Olympian Fields of Action Series: Post #10
Thus far in the this Subseries on the Climate Movement’s seven characteristics/imperatives/goals we have discussed how we must be:
dynamic enough, combining the tried-and-true, discipline, freedom, and creativity, and
The sixth characteristic that describes what the Climate Movement needs to be, our sixth imperative and Movement-building goal, is being together enough.
By the nature of the subject matter this discussion will be much, much longer than those of the other characteristics/imperatives/goals. It will require a plethora of posts. It will be a large Subseries (within our Fields of Action Series) where I will discuss the various social forms in which we can be together.
In being together enough we must achieve and embody the other essential characteristics of what the Climate Movement needs to be to fulfill our purpose and Major Goal, and for us to be the hope we’ve been waiting for, for us to make the impossible possible and the possible actual and the actual beautiful as we make our future come faster.
When I say we must come together, or we must join together, or we must work together, etc., I mean three things simultaneously that are mutually reinforcing.
We are unified as a Movement by working to achieve the same or similar goals on all of our Fields of Action, as well as our particular, tailored objectives designed to meet these shared goals.
We engage with others in strategic actions, like a march or rally or simultaneous rallies, or sit-in, or dance-a-thon, or boycott or its opposite, a “buycott” where we all purchase certain climate-friendly products around the same time, or the collective, coordinated use of Social Media.
We meet with other Climate Action Artist-Athletes on a regular basis.
To sum it up: shared goals, a constant supply of action events, meeting together regularly.
Some may have assumed the first two, but not thought of or considered the third. Given the speed and scale of change that’s needed as we make our future come faster, given the breadth of actions required and the complexity of all that must be accomplished, given all the Fields of Action where we must engage and game plans we must implement and adapt in real time, we simply can’t just do the first two, as powerful and important as they are. We need to be doing the third to do our best on our Fields of Action and achieve our common goals and objectives and make common actions much more numerous and organic and strategic.
We must be together enough by doing all three. We must do all three to become the hope we’ve been waiting for and make our future come faster. Together we are hope.
For us to be together enough in all three ways will require a number of social forms.
But there is one in particular that needs to be highlighted right from the start because we need to create as many of them as possible, as quickly as we can.
For us to be together enough to achieve our vision, purpose, and Major Goal, many of us must join or form a group/team that we belong to, i.e., a Climate Action Team that fits our particular Olympian Fields of Action. Such a group gets together regularly to support one another and help each other become what we are meant to be and work together to play a vital part in achieving our Major Goal.1
I’m not saying that to be in the Climate Movement requires an individual Member to be connected to these social forms. Nor am I saying, with my emphasis on the need for Climate Action Teams, that individuals must be a member of one of them. As I’ve said, to be part of the Movement simply requires a sustained commitment to collective action over time to achieve our vision, purpose, and Major Goal. Movements are organic, with freedom as one of our Movement Values. Movements abhor control.
But I’ve also said that we need to be constantly active and engaged in every political municipality, district, state, and country around the world; we need to overcome opposition from powerful vested special interests, archaic laws and regulations and bureaucratic inertia, entrenched companies trying to undermine innovations and new products. Wherever there is resistance to needed changes, wherever better ideas are ridiculed, wherever traditions impede action, we must be there. Wherever, whenever we are needed to stop bad stuff, set things right, and make things better via climate action we must be there.
We must show up — but not just to stand around aimlessly, or faddishly, fashionably, flit in and out, or beat our chests as movement posers taking self-righteous selfies. We must show up with a plan and with sufficient numbers to make a difference — and that means being strategic.
Individuals on their own simply cannot do this. How will you know when and where to show up to make a difference?
It is organizations, coalitions, campaigns, Teams, and businesses that will channel individual commitments into effective, organic and strategic actions. They will also help ensure that we are creating a continual stream of activities that cannot be suppressed, missed, or ignored, ensuring that we achieve message saturation and values engagement with Climate Action Supporters and the rest of society.
Unless many of us become parts of Climate Action Teams, and/or connected to organizations/coalitions/campaigns and businesses working on climate action, we won’t achieve our vision, purpose, and Major Goal.
We must be together enough, enough to get the job done.2
What complementary roles do organizations, coalitions, campaigns, businesses, and Teams play? How are they different? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What is the strategic significance of each one?
One major difference is that organizations, coalitions, and businesses are run and staffed primarily by professionals, whereas Teams are made up of volunteers. Campaigns are kind of in the middle; many are run by professionals, but get their power from the grassroots. I’ll discuss Campaigns after organizations and coalitions.
The organizations we need to cover are of two basic types:
environmental/conservation/climate organizations, and;
all the others, including civil society organizations, professional associations, and faith communities.
Coalitions/alliances/networks can also come in these two basic types where one is focused on the environment/conservation/climate, while the other type has a broader focus and climate is one of their priorities.
I will be discussing all of these social forms in forthcoming posts as part of a Together Enough sub-series within this larger Olympian Fields of Action Series.
Being together enough gives us hope as we draw strength and encouragement from each other, from the simple, experiential, lived reality of not being alone in overcoming this monumental challenge.
Our opponents want us to feel alone, bereft, lost, and defeated as isolated, guilt-ridden individual failures. They are all about stealing our hope.
But when we are together enough such hope-stealing hasn’t got a chance. Our laughter, our songs, our actions together and our commitment to each other make such hope-stealing disappear as if it never existed. Together, in living in and living out our Movement Values of love, justice, beauty, freedom, creativity, wisdom, pragmatism, non-violence, sustainability, and success, we become who we are meant to be.
In becoming strong together we take the focus off of our opponents and onto us and how we are going to create a just and prosperous sustainability that enhances wellbeing for everyone and everything.
Alone we will fail.
Together we shall overcome — and have fun doing it. Together we are the hope we’ve been waiting for.
As the Psalmist says, “joy cometh in the morning” (Ps 30:5), and Emily Dickinson wrote, “Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.” When we come together it is a new day for our joyous future. Join us!
If you are new here, check out our Intro Series. If you like this post, please “like,” comment, and share. And thanks for all you’re doing.
I will have an upcoming Subseries on Climate Action Teams. Stay tuned!
Something that can help us with all three senses of being together enough are the Arts, which I will discuss in a forthcoming post.