This page was created for the participants in one of our Climate Conversations. Responses are edited for clarity and anonymity. They represent the personal feelings and opinion of participants around that topic. They are not intended to be used as a source of factual information, they are not fact-checked and there may be errors and inaccuracies.
What does the phrase’love and solidarity’ bring up for you?
Solidarity
“Solidarity makes me think about the splits and factions you get over opinions”.
“The reality is most people do think there is a climate crisis”.
“Don’t get caught up in one little thing, see the bigger picture. It can cause division with people you thought were on your side”.
“The media want to divide”.
“I’ve decided on a personal level to be more understanding. We can build solidarity around what we agree on”. This doesn’t come from our culture”.
“I just realised what intersectionality means”.
“It comes from movements. I try to support them as best I can. It doesn’t come from our culture”.
“What I support, my grandparents wouldn’t. I’m doing the work of the movement in getting them to think”.
“Being an ally”.
“I have negative associations from the past, when trade unions were more exclusive, and solidarity amongst some people left others out”.
“Solidarity with the more than human world”.
“It means standing with people you disagree with. You have to!”.
Love
“We all want and need love”.
“It makes me think about my identity as a queer person”.
“There are queer spaces and chosen family”.
“Children, whether to have them or not, or adopt them. I think about it because of the state of the world”
“Hate is so unpleasant. It’s better to love”.
“Love is a better starting point than fear”.
“Love makes you vulnerable to grief”.
“Love is the best thing. It’s what everyone wants or needs
“What would it look like if the government and media operated from love? Like Zack Polanski’s video about immigration?”.
“Ask, ‘what are you frightened of?’”
“Bringing into question their longstanding values, beliefs, and identity is unsettling for them. People can be afraid of change”.
“Look for something we agree on, so at least we move forward in parallel”.
“The perspective of love is you can choose”.
“The earlier comment about the more-than-human world made me think of the Ununtu – the African tradition of love. And about Gaia theory and spaceship earth. It makes no sense not to care for the planet”.
“We’re so removed in so many ways from nature”.
What can we do to take a little step towards living in a world of love and solidarity?
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the sheer luck, random chance that we ended up here. This part of the city seems like a bubble of goodness and I want to maintain and extend it”.
“I could look after my street”.
“I could look after and appreciate plants, animals and objects”.
“Be a little bit hippy”.
“Little acts of kindness and reciprocity”.
“The knowledge that others are doing their bit is positive”.
What do you think or feel at the end of today’s conversation?
“I feel better”.
“I might try to approach the world I live in like that”.
“I feel quite inspired. I think it’s something I can do, to be more loving and kind”.
“It’s great to talk”.
“Why can’t we live in a world of love and solidarity? It’s a great question”.
“How do we make it more about love and less about fear?”.