God against man. Man against God. Man against nature. Nature against Man. Nature against God. God against Nature. Very funny religion.*
(D. T. Suzuki)

the vast changes required by a regenerative society will not be achieved just by reacting to crises after they arrive. They will require inspiration, aspiration, imagination, patience, perseverance, and no small amount of humility**
(Peter Senge.)

Once upon a time “against” ensured we wouldn’t be eaten by the proverbial sabre-toothed tiger, but now it gets in the way of a world that could be bigger for everyone.

In the modern world “against” leads us into competition with one another, in small to big ways.

“With,” though, is an infinite game.

We can still bring the things that make us different but we get to use our different smarts against the things we really do need to be against: poverty, illiteracy, disease, conflict, injustice, and, definitely, climate change.

A question from Audre Lord invites us to explore a smarter with and against:

“Where does our power lie and how do we school ourselves to use it in the service of what we believe? […] How can we use our differences in or common battles for a lovable future?”^

(*D. T. Suzuki quoted in Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers’ The Power of Myth.)
(**From Peter Senge’s The Necessary Revolution.)
(^Audre Lord, quoted in Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings: A Burst of Light.)