It’s easy to be against something. Antifa, MADD, and many other organizations are formed around being against some idea, some thing, or somebody. The US election system has been overrun by politicians saying you should vote for me because I’m against them. Don’t vote for a 3rd party because you have to vote against the tyrant running against me.

When did we stop acting for something? Are we just so jaded as a species that we won’t stand up for anything? We’re just against whatever terrible thing is next and unwilling to suggest solutions to the problem. What happened to creation, ingenuity, or gumption?

Solarpunk imagines a future beyond against. To those who say the speculative is a waste of time and say there’s no value in an imagined better future, I say get out of the way. Is solarpunk just pretty pictures and science on the edge? No. It’s a lighthouse for our aspirations and all of those fanciful images and articles are guideposts to what we’re fighting for. I’m done living in a world against fossil fuels, against megacorps, against starvation, and against injustice. I want to live in a world for renewables, for community, for abundance, and for equity.

Solarpunk is about putting people in charge of their own destinies and helping each other get there. We’re in this together, so let’s start being for humans and cast of this negative cloud of against.