Books

Change Our Stories, Change Our World

We need new stories. The ancient traditions and narratives under which we still operate have run their course and are no longer useful. In fact, they are damaging our lives, our planet, and the non-human species that are going extinct under our watch. These stories, which create suffering, harm the earth, and endorse continued inequality, must be destroyed and replaced. In Change Our Stories, Change Our World, Karen Shragg examines and dismantles six of these old, harmful stories, and offers new stories which will lead us to a more sustainable place from which we can launch a better future.

MOVE UPSTREAM: A CALL TO SOLVE OVERPOPULATION

Our world is overpopulated. This fact lies outside of the typical activist's perspective and doesn't fit into society's dominant anthropocentric worldview. When it comes to our use of natural resources, we are taught to consider issues related to consumption such as energy efficiency and recycling. However, the number of people - and how fast that number is growing - is a more important factor. More people consume more resources, need more services, produce more waste, and create more world conflict as resources diminish.

Working on downstream issues, such as saving the environment, feeding the hungry, and ending homelessness, is noble but ineffective and inefficient without also working to solve the primary cause of these and other important issues. In Move Upstream: A Call to Solve Overpopulation, Karen Shragg challenges social and environmental activists to stop working downstream and take the problem of overpopulation seriously. She also provides compassionate ideas to solve the problem.

lucy's hero:
remembering paul wellstone

Lucy first meets Paul Wellstone when he comes to her farming community, campaigning from his green bus. When a flood devastates her family's farm, Senator Wellstone invites Lucy to the Capitol to appear at the congressional hearing where he appeals for flood relief funds for her area. Back at home, Lucy and her family work on Paul's next campaign until the tragic plane crash. The family goes to St. Paul to join other mourners, and Lucy is amazed by the thousands of people whose lives were touched by Paul and his wife Sheila. Eventually Lucy is inspired to carry on the work started by the Wellstones and to become a senator herself. A brief biographies of Paul Wellstone is included.

The Wolf Within:
Poems to awaken and inspire in times like these

A collection of easy-to-comprehend poems which will awaken readers to a series of ideas in support of progressive issues. Nature lovers will enjoy the imagery. There is a poem for every mood. Some will make you laugh others will make you think still others will inspire you to rethink your perspectives and share them with others.

Grieving outside the box:
Stories of hope and resilience

For those who grieve but do not belong to a strongly knit religious group, twelve personal stories and poems give solace to those who need to hear that others have been on their journey too.

ORGANIC DREAMS AND PICKLED NIGHTMARES:
A POCKETFUL OF POLITICAL POEMS FOR THE RESISTANCE

A collection of poems for those who are frustrated and even angered by the turn our country has taken of late. From “Running Out of Adjectives” to “We’ve been Trumped,” these poems are a perfect way to connect to the zeitgeist of those who feel we have just entered the political version of a Twilight Zone episode. If you feel you are living a Saturday Night Live version of reality, which is no longer funny because the world as we know it is unraveling before our eyes, this book will offer support and relief.

This pocketful of political poetry covers topics from healthcare to overpopulation, and conservation to our current political nightmare. Sprinkled throughout are words of encouragement and hope. Shragg encourages us to gather a “Seatbelt of Friends” and “Put on your Protest Shoes.” Read these original thought-provoking poems to find comfort in knowing you are not alone.

nature's yucky series