[-empyre-] Welcome to Alan Sondheim

[Alan Sondheim]

Hi to everyone! I'm not sure how to begin, but here are some parts of the 
conversation we've been having; I wrote -

"I do want to suggest that we spend a month specifically on Trump and his
global effect. The latest we've heard is that he's getting rid of the NEA
and NEH; he's also cancelled a climate change meeting at the CDC which
also affects the museum. His latest on the pipeline affects indigenous
peoples' rights. His attack on global warming research etc. effects the
plant as Chomsky and others have pointed out. But more than all of this,
people I know - maybe 50-100 - online are so distraught they're barely
functional. This is the kind of catastrophe I haven't seen domestically
in my lifetime. Tonight we were with a woman from Germany and her
husband; both of them kept bringing up the early stages of Nazism. And
here in Providence - we're a sanctuary city and there's already been talk
of violence to come.

There has to be a place to discuss all of this; in the global context,
China's South Sea movement, Brexit, La Pen, ISIS, etc. come into play, as
well as ways to deal or not to deal with all of this. We heard tonight
that when the woman was recently in Germany, everyone was talking
constantly about Trump; he was always in the news; people were scared.

Of course all of this is hearsay and I'm generally pessimistic, but I do
think that somewhere, somehow, empyre should rise to seeing this as a
cultural, environmental, and political crisis that affects all of us. As
you said, there are 2000 or so members; they're an incredible group to
draw on."

This was written a few weeks back; if anything, the situation is worse
now. So we're opening up Empyre, as Renate has said, to discussion,
hopefully, along several lines:

What is to be done?
How am I feeling and how can I deal, actively, with this crisis?
What should my role, our role, be, in the light of this political
catastrophe?

And anything else you may think of.

We're asking members of empyre to talk about their personal and 
political/cultural experiences within the new regime. Many of the people 
we know have been incredibly distraught about the sudden transformation of 
their lives. How are you, personally and communally, dealing with this? 
Its time for empyre to come together to discuss these things. We have no 
guests for the month in a deep sense, were all guests. Please participate 
in the discussion! With your voice, we may understand our current 
situation better; without your voice, we are all the more alone. Thank 
you!

Please post, here, and share here!

Anyone can post, then, and let the discussion begin. Because empyre is 
moderated, your post might not appear immediately.

Thank you,

Alan