Episode Details

The Gravity Well podcast delves into the complexities of global crises, emphasizing the importance of understanding and addressing ecological, social, and economic challenges. In this episode, Jenny holds an in-person interview with Ruben Nelson, alongside Jim Campbell, to discuss the concept of a “poly crisis” and the need for a collective approach to problem-solving. Nelson highlights the historical context of modernity, the limitations of current leadership, and the necessity of deep, relational thinking to navigate the impending collapse of modern industrial society. The conversation underscores the urgency of fostering humility, deep learning, and innovative strategies to mitigate the impacts of these crises and lay the groundwork for a sustainable future.

Welcome and Recap

Jenny:

Welcome to The Gravity Well, where we break down heavy ideas into small buckets that anyone can handle in our work and at play, we seek the wisdom of elders, individuals, and communities that share their knowledge to care for our water, air, land, life and resource needs. Caring for our homeland is our guide. I have Ruben Nelson with me and Jim Campbell, courtesy of Jim Campbell,

A friend of mine from the AWA that I’m really grateful to have. We’re chatting with Ruben today about, this week’s topic is “Choose your own crisis”. We’re trying to make sure we make space for people to, in whatever place they are in their understanding of the crisis that we face in the world, we’re allowing people to bring forward, how do they see the crisis and how do they define it? That’s really the focus of these conversations today. I’m hoping that we have an opportunity to meet with Ruben in an official capacity at another time where it’s not so noisy, but we’re going to try this out and see how it goes. Really appreciate you making time for me. Let’s start with some introductions. Ruben, would you mind just introducing yourself for the audience?

Ruben:

I’m Ruben Nelson. I was born in Calgary in 1939. Calgary was an overgrown agricultural service center. The oil and gas business wasn’t, it was here, but not important enough to make a difference. Grew up in Calgary as a straight arrow. The United Church of Canada, the 18th Scout troop. For those who know scouting, that means something. They’re an exceptional group and they kept lots of virgins like myself off the streets and out of trouble. Ran off to Queens because I wanted to go to university where nobody knew me, and in those days, nobody from Calgary, almost nobody from Calgary went. There were nine of us on the campus in all faculties in all years from Calgary. I succeeded in that sense, got my foot caught in the door, spent 10 of 11 years there, and I got an education that wasn’t advertised in the calendar.

I’ll make this very quick and then I’ll stop because it set up my life that was nothing in the calendar. That said, if you come to Queens and if you hang around long enough, and if you’re just bright enough to attract a little bit of attention from some of the better faculty, which of course all faculty give brighter students more time and attention, perfectly normal human response, then we will give you the kind of education that you’ll be able to understand human history in new ways, including the crises of our modern industrial culture. That wasn’t in the calendar, but it’s what happened to me. I went and did an undergraduate degree in philosophy and political theory, an honours degree, and then I worked on a master’s degree in philosophy and a theology degree at the same time because the college, the theological college and the university were then legally separate institutions, both had charters from Queen Victoria and since everybody on campus knew me, including the principals of both places, they agreed to just ignore the fact I was registered in the other institution.

Jenny:

Amazing. Cool.

Ruben:

It gave me ocul