What does a Green Philosophy of Life offer in 2026? S26Ep2

2026 has started with heartbreaking fires in central Victoria, floods on the South West Coast and political tremors around the world. Many of us are directly affected by the impact of the local fires and any sort of recovery will take a long time. Local communities have rallied with dedicated emergency support and compassion. The best of human behaviours is there in the midst of uncertain and difficult times.As people who care about the planet and about our neighbours, what are the conversations we need to have about how our society responds to severe weather events, disasters, conflict and threats to community wellbeing?Our guest this week, Dr Samantha Ratnam has a 20 year career covering youth work, social research, political activism and social and climate activism. She also has lived through refugee experience as a young child. She was Mayor of Merri-bek Council, served as a Member of the Victorian Parliament (including as State Leader) for seven years and stood as the Greens candidate for the federal seat of Wills.She joins us to chat - not about party politics - but to reflect on her political outlook and philosophy of life. What has she learned about "how community works"? What are the basics of a "green philosophy"? The pillars of the global Greens Movement include ecological integrity, social and economic justice, grassroots democracy and participatory decision-making and peace and non-violence. Do these have relevance in 2026 beyond political point scoring and increasing tensions, anxiety and global warming/heating? Here are some links relevant to the show: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Ratnamhttps://www.theage.com.au/national/i-ll-never-forget-that-moment-samantha-ratnam-on-politics-palestine-and-the-path-ahead-20250605-p5m59c.html https://samantharatnam.com/my-story/And finally, here is the link to the Yo-Yo Ma podcast she mentioned https://open.spotify.com/show/6KjZWAn5bZwBDWXj9a0Bdh?si=f9b354621a004ba3