Citizen State

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Iran on the Edge: Inside the Uprising the Regime Tried to Crush Five leading Iranian writers reckon with a shattered uprising, a despotic regime and a country edging toward its final season.

Iran, January 2026: streets filled with courage, silenced by bullets. 30,000 killed in 48 hours. The regime claimed victory; the world watched. Ordinary people, history, and courage now define the stakes.

#Iran #HumanRights #Massacre

time.com/7362807/iran...

This Place Matters: reimagining community cohesion in Britain UCL, Citizens UK and More in Common are uniting to help us understand how we can successfully live together as a country despite the fault lines of belief and experience that threaten to divide us.

This Place Matters brings together UCL, Citizens UK, and More in Common to figure out how Britain can live together again by learning from history, listening to the present, and rebuilding trust at the local level.

#CommunityCohesion

Greater Govanhill: How a community magazine is reimagining journalism Greater Govanhill, a community magazine from Glasgow, shows the way: serving its residents while also inspiring others who are on the same path.

When local news fades, communities go unheard. Greater Govanhill is proving there’s another way: a magazine built by and for Glasgow’s residents, training new writers, connecting neighbors, and turning journalism into a platform for community action.

#LocalMediaMatters

Reimagining society for seniors By 2030, seniors will make up a fifth of the entire US population. How can policy makers not just adapt to, but capitalize on the changing demographics?

Long life is rewriting the life script. By 2030, 1 in 5 Americans will be a senior. Retirement is a pivot. We need policies, housing, work, and learning that let older adults thrive, teach, and keep shaping society. Age is opportunity.

#AgingForward #Society2030

No Plumbing? No Problem. Meet the Young People Living Out Your Actual Cottagecore Dreams in Intentional Communities Disillusioned with societal structures, these young people are building their utopia from the ground up.

What if opting out is not escape but rehearsal. Young people building intentional communities are testing how care, housing, conflict, and belonging might actually work when we stop pretending the old systems serve us. Experiments matter. #FutureInPractice #CommunityFirst

Illustrator and designer Joelle Arawjo on learning to do a lot with very little – The Creative Independent Artist and illustrator Joelle Arawjo discusses nurturing your special interests, the exaltation of cheap art, and why we should probably chain our phones to the wall

A future worth reaching is built by people who create with care. When art is shared, affordable, and rooted in community, we train ourselves for a society where dignity is universal and attention is sacred. This is how we evolve.

#FutureWeBuild #HumanPotential #CreativeFreedom

Utopian thinking prompts us to get real about society’s needs | Psyche Ideas Visions of utopia challenge what is considered to be realistic and help us start to see what must change in social life

When “be realistic” is used to shut things down, utopian thinking pries them back open. This essay treats imagination as a diagnostic tool, exposing unmet needs hiding in plain sight. Vision is not fantasy. It is civic work. #CitizenState #Utopia #FutureThinking

psyche.co/ideas/utopia...

Author Allegra Hyde on creative work as a space for new possibilities – The Creative Independent Author Allegra Hyde discusses her process for writing on the near future, stories as self-contained worlds, and why artists are becoming endangered.

Allegra Hyde shows how imagination is a civic act. Stories become small worlds where people test new ways to live together before reality catches up. This is how better systems begin. #CitizenState #ReimagineSociety #CollectiveImagination

thecreativeindependent.com/people/autho...

‘Everyday Utopia’ | Penn Today In her new book, Kristen R. Ghodsee of the School of Arts & Sciences takes readers on a tour through history and around the world to explore places that have dared to reimagine how we might live our…

"Everyday Utopia" reminds us that real change is lived, not launched. When we reimagine how we care, share, and belong, society shifts from the inside out. This is how citizen-centric worlds are built.

#CitizenState #ReimagineSociety #CollectiveFuture

penntoday.upenn.edu/news/everyda...

9 Love Stories About Queer Communities - Electric Literature These books, both fiction and nonfiction, remind readers of what collective power has achieved in the past, and to imagine what it could do in the future

Queer love stories remind us that survival and progress come from collective care, not isolated romance. The fix is to design societies that protect community, mutual aid, and shared power so everyone can thrive together.

#CitizenState #CollectivePower #QueerFutures #MutualAid

#Epstein

#EpsteinFiles

Leaked photos show hundreds killed in Iran's brutal crackdown The images from one mortuary in Tehran were shown to families who went to identify their loved ones.

Don't look away! The Iranian people are still bleeding at the hands of their own government. The number of dead is widely believed to be somewhere between 3-20k, and the suppression continues.

We must ask our leaders: where is the promised support for freedom?

#Iran

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There's a Very Basic Flaw in Mark Zuckerberg's Plan for Superintelligent AI Zuckerberg is dreaming up a utopia in which superintelligent AIs benevolently stop short of taking over everybody's jobs, critics say.

Zuckerberg’s AI utopia ignores power dynamics. If superintelligence exists, it will automate labor unless society sets new rules. The fix is citizen led systems that protect livelihoods and share productivity, not billionaire promises.

#AIethics #FutureOfWork

futurism.com/basic-flaw-m...

Futuristic cities shaped by billionaires and corporations By 2050, cities may float or fly, according to proposals cooked up by billionaires.

Billionaire utopias promise salvation but distract from real work. The fix is not fantasy cities but citizen led retrofits that make today’s cities resilient, fair, and self sustaining. The future is built where people already live.

#UrbanFuture #ClimateAction

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

anti-futurism » PopMatters PopMatters

The future is not something to predict but something to prepare for. Name uncertainties, build resilience, and design systems that adapt as reality unfolds. That is how we fix tomorrow together.

#SystemsThinking #FutureReady #Resilience

www.popmatters.com/tag/anti-fut...

Minnesota sues Trump administration to end surge of ICE agents in state Lawsuit comes in the aftermath of an ICE agent fatally shooting Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good

Choose law over fear. Minnesota is right to demand warrants, restraint, and accountability. Restore due process, protect civilians, and deescalate before more harm is done. Justice is the mission.

#RuleOfLaw #CivilRights #Deescalate #Accountability

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The Left Needs Utopian Thinking Conservative apologists for the status quo often stigmatize their opponents as “utopian.” But socialists and feminists shouldn’t be afraid of the term, since utopian thought can play an important…

Utopian thinking is not escapism. It is how we chart a course through injustice. We study history, debate futures, and design institutions worthy of human dignity, then we organize to build them together.

#CitizenState #UtopianThinking #LeftPolitics

jacobin.com/2025/09/utop...

Decision time for Trump on Iran but what does he ultimately want? As Iran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests continue, the US president is considering how best to respond.

Power without purpose leads only to ruin. Iran’s crisis will not be solved by force alone. The path forward is restraint, diplomacy, and support for people over regimes. A stable future is built by legitimacy, not domination.

#DiplomacyFirst #HumanRights

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Are these 'eco-cities’ the future of sustainable design? Atmos reports on innovative eco-cities addressing climate change through sustainable designs like sponge cities and floating communities.

Cities cannot remain dependent and fragile. Sponge cities, floating cities, and ethical design show a path forward. Build resilience, protect people, and decentralize systems. We choose to evolve.

#CitizenState #EcoCities #ClimateResilience #FutureCities

stacker.com/stories/soci...

Are these 'eco-cities’ the future of sustainable design? - The Mt. Sterling Advocate Atmos reports on innovative eco-cities addressing climate change through sustainable designs like sponge cities and floating communities.

Cities are fragile but we can fix them. Sponge cities absorb water, floating cities rise with the sea, vertical eco-cities cut emissions. Decarbonize, protect communities, plan. Engage for people and planet.

#ClimateAction #UrbanResilience #SustainableCities

www.msadvocate.com/premium/stac...

School pool barricaded as repairs contract ends with work unfinished A BBC investigation finds building issues across city schools after a firm contracted to carry out repairs went into liquidation.

Schools in Stoke-on-Trent are freezing through exams as a 25-year PFI contract ends. Time for the council to act: complete repairs, restore heating, and ensure students can learn in safety. #EducationCrisis #PFI #StudentSafety

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Speculative Fiction: A Reading List - JSTOR Daily Speculative fiction, from Afrofuturism to Star Wars, offers students tools and methods for analyzing social movements, power structures, and utopian thinking.

Speculative fiction helps us see the systems we live inside. From Gramsci and Freire to Le Guin, Butler, and Jemisin, these works explore how power holds, how people wake up to it, and how imagining better worlds helps us build them together.

#SpeculativeFiction

daily.jstor.org/speculative-...

Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory action

When platforms profit from tools that enable harm, governance arrives late but necessary. After public outrage and regulatory pressure, X restricted Grok’s image generator following waves of nonconsensual and violent AI imagery.

#AIethics #DigitalRights #Governance

AI Optimists Are More Pragmatic Than You Think – James Pethokoukis Some of AI’s strongest advocates may promise utopia, but most recognize no technology can create a post-governance, post-work, or post-scarcity world.

AI will not abolish politics. Even in a world of powerful machines, scarcity, power, and meaning remain human questions. This piece argues that most AI optimists know this. They plan for governance, not escape from it. Civilization is built by rules, not wishful code.

#AI

Huge anti-government protests in Tehran and other Iranian cities, videos show Rallies on major roads in the capital and in Iran's second city were peaceful and not dispersed by security forces.

When a state cuts the internet to silence its people, it reveals its fear. Across Iran, protests over rising costs and repression are met with blackouts and force. A civilization worthy of the name does not survive by severing its citizens from truth.

#HumanRights

Floating gardens, clean energy, and community first: Why the internet loves 'solarpunk' so much In the face of climate doom, more and more people are dreaming of a future full of “solarpunk” architecture.

Solarpunk is not green aesthetics. It is people first cities, shared power, clean energy, and communities that can endure. A livable future is practical, affordable, and built together.

#CitizenState #Solarpunk #CommunityFirst #ClimateOptimism #ReimagineSociety

Colombia sees 'real threat' of US military action, president tells BBC Gustavo Petro tells the BBC's Ione Wells that the United States is treating other nations as part of a US "empire", after Trump threatened Colombia with military action.

When empires speak in threats, the world fractures. A citizen-centered civilization is built through dialogue, dignity, and shared humanity, not force. The future belongs to cooperation, not domination.

#ReimagineSociety #GlobalSolidarity #PeaceOverPower #BorderlessFuture

Solarpunk: Refuturing our Imagination for an Ecological Transformation | One Earth Imagine a future where ecological balance meets human innovation. Delve into One Earth's exploration of the transformative movement of solarpunk.

Solarpunk is not escapism. It is rehearsal. By imagining a civilization where human dignity and ecological flourishing coexist, we begin the serious work of building it. The future must be made desirable before it can be made real.

#Solarpunk #EcologicalCivilization

Minnesota officials say FBI blocked access to ICE shooting investigation Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of Minneapolis to protest the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good.

When investigations are closed off and communities are shut out, trust collapses. Justice must be transparent, accountable, and centered on people, not institutions. A society worth building puts human dignity first.

#CitizenState #Justice #Accountability #CommunityPower