This is a truly astonishing and emotionally gripping piece of writing Josh and at my ripe old age I truly wish this could be a future that I would love to see and yet probably won't. If only there were more believers like yourself and a collective will to make it so. Thank you.
e hoa, started this at 15 minutes til drop-dead deadline hour and i have had to FORCE myself to stop and save it for an after dinner treat. I glimpsed the future and it made me weep, but I'm still currently in the past and i have BILLS insert crying emojis
My brighter future is one where it turns out that once you get out of your cars and onto bicycles, and scooters, and shoes, you start meeting your neighbours and finding out that actually marginalized people and the poor aren't so bad after all, so right wing ideology is on the decline.
One where all the utes are gone – like cigarette-smoking, we've pledged to be Light Truck Free 2035.
Degrowth is on the menu. We created local green economies not just for climate change, but so that we could stop the capitalist oil dependence that exacerbates war and conflict around the world.
I'm still the same activist, but I don't have to constantly explain myself and advocate for my trans* needs to everyone in my life – I'm surrounded by people who get it. I found my person while cycling around the world, and I never take for granted the privilege of being loved for who you are, not despite it.
Thankfully most of that is a distant memory, and in 2035, those stick-figure toilet signs find themselves in Te Papa, commemorating that odd blip in history where a whole bunch of people where outraged about bathrooms for silly made up reasons.
This is so gorgeous and I found it so necessary - thank you! Stories like this are such a good way to get us where we’re going - we react so much more strongly to scenes and people and feeling than we do numbers and facts, and this kind of imagining is so powerful. Thank you!
Brilliant! Snapped me out of perpetual doomscrolling thanks Josh. Green wins should be celebrated. You and Kim Stanley Robinson providing some solutions and a pathway to the brighter future!
That is an amazing piece of writing. It took me a few paragraphs for the penny to drop as to what your story was about.... and then I was hooked, wanting to see how the rest of your “family day out” played out, and all of the context that made it possible.
And you have made me think about what a day out might look for my whānau in Te Whānganui a Tara in my idealistic future... ngā mihi.
Thanks Josh, that was the tonic I needed at this time, things are still hurting a little, but I am heartened by the ideas expressed in your story. I had a hark back to the McGillicuddy Serious Party's "Great Leap Backwards" (for those old enough to remember that, welcome to ol' folks club, for those that aren't: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGillicuddy_Serious_Party). They had joked that it was about a return to feudalism and peasantry, but I recognise now that it was actually about those smaller, more resilient and more diverse communities being built to face the adversities like global warming and economics, both equally as perilous as the other. They were ahead of their time. Also, Zeppelins. I'm always up for Zeppelins, and happy to expound why.
Nice one Josh, enjoyed reading that (and your last one for different reasons)... The only hopeful thing I felt you were missing from your vision was your estimated subscriber numbers 🤣
It made me cry but in a good way. Yes - it could be like this, it really could. It’s only made up rules (Grimm economics) that make us believe that it can’t. As a country we need to say “I think I can, I know I can” more often.
Thanks for this. Just what the doctor ordered after a pretty disappointing result at the weekend...its stuff like this that can pique the collective imagination to drive change.
This is a truly astonishing and emotionally gripping piece of writing Josh and at my ripe old age I truly wish this could be a future that I would love to see and yet probably won't. If only there were more believers like yourself and a collective will to make it so. Thank you.
e hoa, started this at 15 minutes til drop-dead deadline hour and i have had to FORCE myself to stop and save it for an after dinner treat. I glimpsed the future and it made me weep, but I'm still currently in the past and i have BILLS insert crying emojis
My brighter future is one where it turns out that once you get out of your cars and onto bicycles, and scooters, and shoes, you start meeting your neighbours and finding out that actually marginalized people and the poor aren't so bad after all, so right wing ideology is on the decline.
One where all the utes are gone – like cigarette-smoking, we've pledged to be Light Truck Free 2035.
Degrowth is on the menu. We created local green economies not just for climate change, but so that we could stop the capitalist oil dependence that exacerbates war and conflict around the world.
I'm still the same activist, but I don't have to constantly explain myself and advocate for my trans* needs to everyone in my life – I'm surrounded by people who get it. I found my person while cycling around the world, and I never take for granted the privilege of being loved for who you are, not despite it.
Thankfully most of that is a distant memory, and in 2035, those stick-figure toilet signs find themselves in Te Papa, commemorating that odd blip in history where a whole bunch of people where outraged about bathrooms for silly made up reasons.
Great story, beautifully told! Yet another banger. Very much enjoyed the swipes at NZ culture. My dream job is now Climate Corps Comrade 💪
This is so gorgeous and I found it so necessary - thank you! Stories like this are such a good way to get us where we’re going - we react so much more strongly to scenes and people and feeling than we do numbers and facts, and this kind of imagining is so powerful. Thank you!
Brilliant! Snapped me out of perpetual doomscrolling thanks Josh. Green wins should be celebrated. You and Kim Stanley Robinson providing some solutions and a pathway to the brighter future!
That is an amazing piece of writing. It took me a few paragraphs for the penny to drop as to what your story was about.... and then I was hooked, wanting to see how the rest of your “family day out” played out, and all of the context that made it possible.
And you have made me think about what a day out might look for my whānau in Te Whānganui a Tara in my idealistic future... ngā mihi.
God, I’m sobbing.
I’d be a Zeppelin pilot in a fuckin’ heart beat.
Beautiful, this was exactly what I needed to read today
Thanks Josh, that was the tonic I needed at this time, things are still hurting a little, but I am heartened by the ideas expressed in your story. I had a hark back to the McGillicuddy Serious Party's "Great Leap Backwards" (for those old enough to remember that, welcome to ol' folks club, for those that aren't: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGillicuddy_Serious_Party). They had joked that it was about a return to feudalism and peasantry, but I recognise now that it was actually about those smaller, more resilient and more diverse communities being built to face the adversities like global warming and economics, both equally as perilous as the other. They were ahead of their time. Also, Zeppelins. I'm always up for Zeppelins, and happy to expound why.
Nice one Josh, enjoyed reading that (and your last one for different reasons)... The only hopeful thing I felt you were missing from your vision was your estimated subscriber numbers 🤣
This is now my go to for showing people what we could accomplish, thank you so much!
It made me cry but in a good way. Yes - it could be like this, it really could. It’s only made up rules (Grimm economics) that make us believe that it can’t. As a country we need to say “I think I can, I know I can” more often.
Thanks for this. Just what the doctor ordered after a pretty disappointing result at the weekend...its stuff like this that can pique the collective imagination to drive change.
How good!