Make Your Damn Bed 1706 || tortoise at the mayfly party
Feb 23, 2026
A reflection on long versus short timeframes and why patient, steady work wins out over quick fixes. A metaphoric contrast between fleeting mayfly moments and the tortoise’s slow, lasting change. Concrete stories of decades-long organizing wins illustrate how small ripples add up. A call to study past movements and act with long-term strategy.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
See Change Like A Tortoise
- Long change requires a long view to recognize its genealogy and effects.
- Julie Merica cites Rebecca Solnit's tortoise metaphor to show why short-term perspectives breed incomprehension and ineffectuality.
Short Timeframes Hide Progress
- Short-term views make progress invisible and produce defeatism even when gradual gains exist.
- Julie references Solnit explaining that change becomes invisible if your timeframe is shorter than the change itself.
Revolutions Usually Crawl Not Leap
- Cultural and political revolutions are usually incremental, not overnight, and rely on long-term organizing.
- Julie highlights Solnit's point that movements around gender, race, and environment moved from margins to center over time.