Trust in a planetary era

Some brief November thoughts

I know my readers span a range of political views, but few of you will be surprised to learn that I was disappointed with the presidential election.

In the two weeks since, I’ve followed my own advice about searching for beauty; I spent last weekend exploring a part of the Arkansas Delta that was new to me, Crowley’s Ridge. I’ll have more on that in the coming weeks. But I’ve found myself searching for answers, too: Why does so much of the country think so differently than I do?

I’m a date late with this newsletter, as that search continues. So I’ll keep this newsletter brief; I just want to highlight one thing that’s occurred to me, something that feels relevant to my project here (we’re exploring the human place in a more-than-human world, in case you forgot): This was the first post-Covid presidential election. It was a referendum, in essence, on how we’re handling our modern, planetary-scale problems.