On 11 Nov 99, at 22:15, eric + michiko wrote:
>
> My mother was one of the few people to write a lengthy response to my
> article on sustainable human futures. One of her questions was, "But is it
> possible?" My reply to her was, possible or not, we own it to future
> generations of all species to try our best to make it work. Hopelessness
> is an interesting response to an large problem, since it is rarely helpful
> in overcoming the problem.
I recomend Despair and Personal Empowerment in the Nuclear
Age. I can't find the book right now to get the author, and don't know
when I'll get time to look or write again. It is a work book, but has a
good description and analysis of the whole issue of hopelessness
and despair in activist work.
Whenever, I find myself beginning to feel hopeless, I remember that
when I was ten I beleived that the whole world would be destroyed
by nuclear war before I was 40. I turned 40 this year. The world is
farther away from deliberate nuclear war than it was when I was ten.
I never expected the Berlin wall to come down in my lifetime. It did.
There is much to worry over, but much to give me hope as well. Life
does not hold easy promises, but it holds immense profound, and
joyful promise always.
Doesn't mean that day to day living can't be absolutely awful some
or even most of the time. But joy lurks always ready to find an outlet.
sph
ps. I've changed my software again. If my lines are not wrapping
properly, or I'm sending html or other garbage, please let me know
privately.
Sandra P. Hoffman
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.flora.org/sandra/
