By Abdul Ali — 2012
The Pulitzer-winning author discusses the role of literature in moments of upheaval, the importance of women’s rights, and more.
Read on www.theatlantic.com
CLEAR ALL
Knowing how environmental issues affect different groups of marginalized people in unique and often overlapping ways can help us build a more sustainable and equitable world.
t’s a truism that fiction teaches us about the world we live in: norms and cultures, values and beliefs, the complex interplay of external events and personal relationships that keeps us reading (or watching) until the end.
Facing oncoming climate disaster, some argue for “Deep Adaptation”—that we must prepare for inevitable collapse. However, this orientation is dangerously flawed. It threatens to become a self-fulfilling prophecy by diluting the efforts toward positive change.
Pope Francis has declared a global “climate emergency,” warning of the dangers of global heating and that a failure to act urgently to reduce greenhouse gases would be “a brutal act of injustice toward the poor and future generations.”
As Buddhist teaching says, suffering has the potential to deepen our compassion and understanding of the human condition. And in so doing, it can lead us to even greater faith, joy and well-being.