(TK) In the latest Dispatch to members (unlocked for everyone in a few weeks), I mentioned what has probably been my favourite quote for the last few years:
Talk, loudly and frequently and in detail, about the future you want. You can’t manifest what you don’t share.
—Madeline Ashby
I might have a new favourite (found in Madson’s _Strelka Mag_piece below), in part because I actually see it as roughly (and aspirationally I guess) what Sentiers orients towards.
Remember to imagine and craft the worlds you cannot live without, just as you dismantle the ones you cannot live within.
—Ruha Benjamin
To begin to free ourselves, the first thing we need to do is to see ourselves again as historical actors, as people who can make a difference in the course of world events. This is exactly what the militarization of history is trying to take away. The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something we make. And could just as easily make differently.
—David Graeber (1961–2020)
I’d wager it’s very likely that when she says “dismantle the ones you cannot live within,” Benjamin has in mind much more disenfranchised populations and less privileged people than myself. Still, I’m taking it very broadly and think of it for pretty much the whole global 99% as well as future generations.
Imagining better futures, and critiquing the many issues of the present.
This week’s featured articles fit particularly well together, I’m mentioning the connections more directly than usual, I hope you’ll find it useful.