For nearly 20 years I had been in the trenches of assisting poor people with mental health and / or drug addiction problems a leg up and out into a world where sustainability was possible. This was true in the mind-set of the 80s and early 90s. After that with increasing economic recessions, subsequent emotional crashes into immobility and suicidal ideation, substance abuse and homelessness many more people fell out of society as we used to think of it. I had to leave crisis work due to health issues.

Now with the climate crisis and the refusal of conservatives who continue to live with a 1970s mindset continue to blame the poor and the collapsed middle and working classes as “lazy” when they are not. People want to work in jobs that pay enough for them to prosper. After all the bulk of consumers come from the working and middle classes. They have no money to spend on the necessities; result abject poverty, homelessness while conservative politicians live in the past blaming the poor for a failed economic system.

In conversations with my conservative sister I have found that beyond the politics of left versus right is the common good but with different perspectives of: which groups are included in “the common good” and what belongs in “the common good” and what does not.

I believe this is where the dialogue begins. It is a place beyond politics where shared emotional experiences flourish. From there a new kind of community can take shape. Nevertheless it is a difficult task due to many preconceived stances.