The Winter of Our Discontent
- Laura A. Weber
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Blood in the Snow. An apt image for the Minneapolis tragedies that have ravaged our nation. The Winter of Our Discontent is alive and well in 2026, whether it conjures images of (Shakespeare's) Richard III's jealousy and hatred of his brother, the King, or (Steinbeck's protagonist) Ethan Hawley's betrayal of an Italian immigrant by stealing his home and livelihood. Moral decay in the forms of greed and lust for "power over" others reflect a global dis-ease as conflicts in the Ukraine, Palestine, Venezuela, Minnesota and so many other places in the world - and in history - replicate the pattern.
Colonialism - the policy of "stealing" or "taking by force" control of another country/land, occupying it with settlers, and controlling or exploiting it economically is perpetrated throughout history and in current geo-political contexts.
Immigrant Injustice is hatred of those we deem "other." It refers to the prejudicial, systemic ill-treatment of individuals based on their actual or perceived immigration status, place of origin, or race. It manifests through human rights violations, the absence of due process, routine vilification and exploitation, and criminalization of whole populations without protection or legal rights.
Finally, Environmental Injustice reflects the systemic inequity of marginalized communities suffering the worst effects of a dying planet. Particularly low-income populations and people of color who bear the brunt of the negative effects of environmental degradation - toxic waste, pollution, and industrial hazards - are excluded from access to the healthiest, most vibrant environmental havens in the biosphere. They are also excluded from power-brokered decisions about their health and well-being. Economic and political policies that favor the wealthiest and most powerful communities create a "climate debt" in which the Global South suffers the brunt of environmental decrepitude caused by developed nations.
This unholy hydra has led to significant environmental exploitation, land dispossession, and systemic racism that disproportionately and negatively impacts marginalized communities, including our wild-kin who have had relatively few human advocates. Historically, colonial forces exploited natural landscapes, native peoples intimately connected with the natural world, and wild-kin habitat, causing devastating and lasting instability. Human and more-than-human populations experienced displacement and rootlessness, leading some to ultimate extermination. Regional and global eco-system failure ensued.
When will the devastation end? Can we be transformed?
Death often initiates a natural pause for composting human attitudes and predispositions. Like Nature, we can break down and grow into something new.
Perhaps there is a Springtime for melting the chill of antipathy, hatred, deceit, greed, exploitation, larceny, and murder. Perhaps what can be composted is love of Earth, love of neighbor, love of friends who were once strangers. Love of what lies now only in our imagination, or what can come alive when death is near. Perhaps our discontent can be transformed into "the thing with feathers."
By Emily Dickinson
"Hope" is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all
And sweetest in the Gale is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm
I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest Sea
Yet - never - in Extremity
It asked a crumb of me
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