Spent that last week (finally) listening to Cory Doctorow's book, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to do About it. Because I've been listening—primarily while walking—I haven't had the opportunity to take notes like I normally do. I did however, stop under the shade of tree yesterday to jot this quote down.

“Before the term ecology came along, there were a bunch of people who cared about issues but didn’t think of themselves as being in the same fight. The term ecology turned all of those issues into a movement, pulling many different kinds of people with many different concerns into a broad coalition that could be more done together than they could ever do on their own.

It’s hard to overstate how important coalitions are to political struggle. Broadly speaking, if there’s a group of people who’ve been trying to change something for a long time, it’s possible that they just need to think up some cool new tactic and that’ll finally get things moving. But it’s far more likely that they just aren’t powerful enough to make the change they’re seeking.

Whenever you see a big, sudden political change—for better of for worse—you’re usually witnessing the result of a new coalition.”

Something I think about a lot is how building a better world needs models built around cooperation rather than competition. This description of coalitions really nails it. For a coalition to work, you don't have to agree on every single point around every single issue. Rather, it's about drawing wider circles of allyship, getting as many people who can support the larger goal as possible.

This is why I'm thrilled to be officially joining the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition as a board member this year. They're an organization I've supported in several ways over the last few years and have grown deeply impressed with their commitment to this sort of coalition building. They are exactly the model that we need.

Also, everyone should read Enshittification.