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Thank you to everyone, and a special thanks to James Shnaider and Sophie Scott-Braun for organizing David’s birthday!

So much important insight was shared, and there is plenty to reflect on. We will publish the video recording and transcripts of the talks by Schneider and Scott-Brown. But there were also some wonderful comments from the audience.

For now, I’d like to highlight two:

Meanwhile, @KateLudicrum coined a brilliant new term: “Disaster Optimism” instead of “Disaster Capitalism.”
@kateludicrum pointed out that in Los Angeles, where wildfires affected many people simultaneously, mutual aid efforts also increased significantly.
I also heard that in New York, at food distribution centers, it’s not always easy to volunteer—there are often more people willing to help than the existing infrastructure can handle.

So, “Disaster Optimism!” is a great mindset for stepping into the new world.

Someone wonderful mentioned that the French Revolution was partly a result of the significant increase in the number of cafes in France. I googled it and found out that this person was absolutely right! I had no idea about this before. Historians note that coffeehouses played a key role in facilitating discussions that led to major events like the French and American Revolutions.