Essay: You Say You Want A Revolution

This week:

What does it mean when people say “revolution”?

For these purposes, which are pretty narrow and entirely of my own invention, I don’t mean some single moment in time, unless it was a bellwether for something bigger.

And I don’t mean the revolutions that have necessarily most directly impacted me. When I think “revolution” I imagine a building up of…something…that affected most people directly or indirectly, so that’s the threshold I’ll use here.

This list is in no way comprehensive, I’m a generalist bonehead who definitely missed some significant items. I am 40, though I feel like I’m 99, so anyways I’m going to use 1982 as my starting point. YMMV.

INI is about looking forward, to understanding where we are and where we might be going, so we can build a better today and tomorrow for everyone. But to do so, it’s helpful to look back a little bit to understand how we got here, what’s underway, and what might be brewing, for better or worse.

Because the more we have our eyes on these currents, the more we can strike at the root to influence them.

Here's What You Can Do:

• ⚡️ I love donating to DonorsChoose so much. Teachers need so much more support and should never have to front the cost of essential supplies. Buy some books or crayons or maps or even a 3D printer!
• ⚡️ Understand where your power is coming from, live, like right now, with Electricity Maps.
• ⚡️ From the southern border to Ukraine, East Africa, and Palestine, Doctors Without Borders provides medical humanitarian assistance to folks who need it the most. Setup a new monthly donate now.
• ⚡️ Volunteer to text or call with the Environmental Voter Project, an incredibly effective movement to identify millions of non-voting environmentalists and turns them into consistent voters

News Roundup

Health & Medicine

• Genes from the mother shape a baby's microbiome
• A bunch of states are suing companies over insulin prices
• Clean air in schools could become New Mexico law

Climate

• What the California drought map looks like after massive rains
• A more sustainable way to grow crops under solar panels
• Biden's Green Energy Bank starts to dole out billions

Food & Water

• New York will ban forever chemicals from clothing by end of the year
• 98% of California's don't have flood insurance
• What happens when the Great Salt Lake disappears?

Beep Boop

• T-Mobile gave up 37 million customer accounts. Again.
• US law enforcement agencies have access to 150 million bank transactions
• Russia's increasingly going after Ukraine's mobile phone network

COVID

• Can we stop Long COVID before it starts?

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