sileta kenua wireo moenu lo sherewa
A Solarpunk Manifesto
The Solarpunk Community published this manifesto in 2019 as a shared account of the movement's hopes, politics, aesthetics, and practical direction. This page gives all five opening paragraphs and all 22 propositions a Phi translation. The ground truth is the English witness in texts/sources/solarpunk_manifesto.txt, preserved from the maintained community mirror.
Solarpunk is the movement's own name. No relevant community has accepted a Phi-form onym for it, so the source name stays in the English lines. The Phi passage uses sileta kenua wireo moenu, solar-energy future culture, as a transparent description rather than a substitute name. Political and cultural labels receive the same treatment: the source keeps each exact term, while Phi states as much of its meaning as the present lexicon can carry.
Each four-line block gives the Phi, its exact lexicon gloss, a natural English reading derived from the settled Phi alone, and the source wording. The source was put away before the English reading began. The translation expands compressed English labels when a social relation matters, but those expansions are not complete definitions.
Opening account
A movement and a question
ha sileta kenua wireo moenu lo wireo weni nophi nela shela nela wetha senalu nela shaweri sila rinoka nai. shia pha lo whu miso thenoki punoa phea hina nai pho solae mesatu. shia pha lo mia thela mua ha wireo po kamo pho solae mesatu. shia ha keiro liona mesatu.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX sun energy future culture PL future imagine story COORD art COORD cloth style COORD advocate community project be. 3SG INT.COMP PL REL REFL sustain society AS what be INT.COMP.CLOSE explain try. 3SG INT.COMP PL 1SG how LOC PROX future POT arrive INT.COMP.CLOSE explain try. 3SG PROX way live try.
Literal English: (This solar-energy culture of the future takes shape in stories that imagine the future, art, textile style, and a community advocacy project. It tries to explain what societies that sustain themselves are like. It tries to explain how we can arrive in this future. It tries to live this way.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk is a movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion, and activism that seeks to answer and embody the question “what does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?”
An aesthetic of joined contrasts
ha moenu senalu towe kelitho nela mioru shemoli. shia towe noporu nela liro pheno thuroa shemoli. shia keru welisha mioru nela phea muila patoku muralo mioru shemoli.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture style well function COORD beautiful harmonize. 3SG well design COORD green full grow harmonize. 3SG bright color beautiful COORD AS earth solid material beautiful harmonize.
Literal English: (This cultural style functions well and harmonizes beautifully. It harmonizes good design with the full growth of greenery. It harmonizes the beauty of bright color with beauty like that of solid earthen material.)
solarpunk: The aesthetics of solarpunk merge the practical with the beautiful, the well-designed with the green and lush, the bright and colorful with the earthy and solid.
Hope amid calamity
ha moenu mioru wireo weni po nai. shia li wiroa po nai sola shia wea mo welao muila lo whu miona meloa keiro po theama thona shia mawha peloma wireo weni nai. lao mua lo mia muila ru pukeri nela ru kipona si shua lo mia lo keiro phelona. li lo pukea shanewi henoi ma nai.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture beautiful future imagine POT be. 3SG RESTR hopeful POT be DISJ 3SG TOWARD CMPR good earth PL REL person persevere way POT care ADVRS 3SG NONE harmful future imagine be. BECAUSE LOC PL 1SG earth INTS damage COORD INTS pain IPFV come PL 1SG PL way require. RESTR PL danger notify ENOUGH NEG be.
Literal English: (This culture can be a beautiful imagining of the future. It may be merely hopeful, or it may care for the ways people persevere toward a better earth, but it is not an imagining of a harmful future. Because great damage and pain are coming to our earth, we need ways. Warnings about dangers alone are not enough.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk can be utopian, just optimistic, or concerned with the struggles en route to a better world , but never dystopian. As our world roils with calamity, we need solutions, not only warnings.
What the solutions must do
ha lo keiro ha lo porua phelu. lo mia whuo lo whu lue tholua lioru se phelure kenua welira. lu lo panuri henoi ma nai. lo mia lo shia thua phanuli. lu lo panuri lorua nai. lo mia lo shia phowe. lu lo panuri henoi nai. lo mia tha lo shia henoi ma nai tho sherewa ma panoru. lu lo panuri lorua ma nai. lo mia tha lo shia lorua nai tho sherewa ma panoru. lo mia wei wiso nela wei whu lo mia phowe muila mo phena phoa.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX PL way PROX PL purpose hold. PL 1SG WITHOUT PL REL ABL ancient life PASS store energy thrive. COND PL resource ENOUGH NEG be. PL 1SG PL 3SG fair allocate. COND PL resource abundant be. PL 1SG PL 3SG share. COND PL resource ENOUGH be. PL 1SG DECL.COMP PL 3SG ENOUGH NEG be DECL.COMP.CLOSE claim NEG support. COND PL resource abundant NEG be. PL 1SG DECL.COMP PL 3SG abundant be DECL.COMP.CLOSE claim NEG support. PL 1SG DAT RECP COORD DAT REL PL 1SG share earth CMPR kind do.
Literal English: (These ways have these purposes. We thrive without energy stored from ancient life. If resources are not enough, we allocate them fairly. If resources are abundant, we share them. If resources are enough, we do not support the claim that they are not enough. If resources are not abundant, we do not support the claim that they are abundant. We act more kindly toward one another and toward the earth we share.)
solarpunk: Solutions to thrive without fossil fuels, to equitably manage real scarcity and share in abundance instead of supporting false scarcity and false abundance, to be kinder to each other and to the planet we share.
Four things at once
ha moenu wireo lunai nela phenui whu lo miona ka remo thena nela liona keiro nela lo whu se po phoa repora nai. lila lo mia mua ha wireo kamo lo shia se po phoa.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture future vision COORD thoughtful REL PL person CAUS think thing COORD live way COORD PL REL PASS POT do propose be. PURP PL 1SG LOC PROX future arrive PL 3SG PASS POT do.
Literal English: (This culture is a vision of the future, a thoughtful thing that gets people thinking, a way to live, and proposals that can be put into practice. They can be carried out so that we reach this future.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk is at once a vision of the future, a thoughtful provocation, a way of living and a set of achievable proposals to get there.
The 22 propositions
01Taking hope back
lao lue lo mia wiroa to se pilu lo mia ha moenu wemari nai. lo mia tha lo mia ha wiroa talome tho mesatu.
Word-by-word gloss: BECAUSE ABL PL 1SG hopeful PST PASS take PL 1SG PROX culture member be. PL 1SG DECL.COMP PL 1SG PROX hopeful restore DECL.COMP.CLOSE try.
Literal English: (Because hope was taken from us, we are members of this culture. We try to restore this hope.)
solarpunk: We are solarpunks because optimism has been taken away from us and we are trying to take it back.
02The other paths
lao li wi keiro ra nai lo mia ha moenu wemari nai. ta keiro theloa naweri. nu wi keiro whuo soliru liona.
Word-by-word gloss: BECAUSE RESTR two way DIST be PL 1SG PROX culture member be. one way truth refuse. ORD two way WITHOUT hope live.
Literal English: (Because there are only two ways, we are members of this culture. One way refuses truth. The second way lives without hope.)
solarpunk: We are solarpunks because the only other options are denial or despair.
03The future at its core
ha moenu korua wireo lunai nai. shia mo ko welao whu theula miona po phoa thena weni. mua ha wireo lo panuri henoi nai. mawha karami noa leo phirae karami noa nai. phenori wei miona pilora karami ma loa. theula miona miso phea woeli lioru monaki nila. lo whu pesenu ma phoa kenua se sephori. lo whu lue tholua lioru se phelure kenua te se sephori.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture heart future vision be. 3SG CMPR FOC good REL UNIV person POT do thing imagine. LOC PROX future PL resource ENOUGH be. NONE authority position ABOVE different authority position be. ownership DAT person exploit authority NEG give. UNIV person REFL AS natural life component see. PL REL pollute NEG do energy PASS supply. PL REL ABL ancient life PASS store energy CESS PASS supply.
Literal English: (The heart of this culture is a vision of the future. It imagines the best thing everyone can do. The resources in this future are enough. No position of authority is above another. Ownership does not give a person authority to exploit. Everyone sees themselves as a component of natural life. Forms of energy that do not pollute are supplied. Forms of energy stored from ancient life stop being supplied.)
solarpunk: At its core, Solarpunk is a vision of a future that embodies the best of what humanity can achieve: a post-scarcity, post-hierarchy, post-capitalistic world where humanity sees itself as part of nature and clean energy replaces fossil fuels.
04The punk direction
ha moenu phiora lo punoki karami naweri. shia lue whu phenori wei miona pilora karami loa punoa wepu. shia lue whu lo wuero punoki mua karami phelu punoa wepu. shia rashowe nela kesu nai. shia wea phirae ruela wepu. shelami miona ruela wea whu lo miona mo sukima ka phaelo keiro si helui.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture spirit PL institution authority refuse. 3SG ABL REL ownership DAT person exploit authority give society go. 3SG ABL REL PL far institution LOC authority hold society go. 3SG excited COORD determined be. 3SG TOWARD different path go. MOST person path TOWARD REL PL person CMPR fear CAUS feel way IPFV change.
Literal English: (The spirit of this culture rejects the authority of institutions. It moves away from a society where ownership gives a person authority to exploit. It moves away from a society over which distant institutions hold authority. It is excited and determined. It heads toward a different path. Most people's path is changing toward a way that makes people feel more fear.)
solarpunk: The “punk” in Solarpunk is about rebellion, counterculture, post-capitalism, decolonialism and enthusiasm. It is about going in a different direction than the mainstream, which is increasingly going in a scary direction.
05Stories and movement
ha moenu lo nophi moenu nela sila rinoka kolo nai. shia li lo nophi ma reo. shia reo pha lo mia thela kau ha wireo po kamo pho we pharune.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture PL story culture COORD community project equal be. 3SG RESTR PL story NEG meaning. 3SG meaning INT.COMP PL 1SG how ALL PROX future POT arrive INT.COMP.CLOSE ALSO include.
Literal English: (This culture is equally a culture of stories and a community project. It does not mean stories alone. Its meaning also includes how we can arrive at this future.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk is a movement as much as it is a genre: it is not just about the stories, it is also about how we can get there.
06Many methods, small nests
ha moenu lo phirae norae kelomi. li ta theali keiro ma nai. lo phirae sila mua theula muila ha nomei nela lo remole pilu. lila punoa ru helui lo shia lo miso thenoki thiku womu lorima.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture PL different method accept. RESTR one fitting way NEG be. PL different community LOC UNIV earth PROX name COORD PL concept take. PURP society INTS change PL 3SG PL REFL sustain small home build.
Literal English: (This culture accepts different methods. There is not only one fitting way. Different communities throughout the earth take up this name and concepts. They build small homes that sustain themselves so that society changes greatly.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk embraces a diversity of tactics: there is no single right way to do solarpunk. Instead, diverse communities from around the world adopt the name and the ideas, and build little nests of self-sustaining revolution.
07A possible future
ha moenu newu nila keiro nela reteru nela lo phelui loa. ha newu nila keiro rolia phelu. roe ha lo thena miona ta wireo thelima. ha moenu luera wireo weni ma lomare. shia li wireo nila. ha wireo phirae wireo ma nai. shia po shua.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture new see way COORD model COORD PL word give. PROX new see way worth hold. INS PROX PL thing person one future describe. PROX culture past future imagine NEG embrace. 3SG RESTR future see. PROX future different future NEG be. 3SG POT come.
Literal English: (This culture gives a new way of seeing, a model, and words. This new way of seeing has worth. Using these things, a person describes one future. This culture does not embrace past imaginings of the future. It sees only the future. This is not another future. It may come.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk provides a valuable new perspective, a paradigm and a vocabulary through which to describe one possible future. Instead of embracing retrofuturism, solarpunk looks completely to the future. Not an alternative future, but a possible future.
08What this futurism values
lo mia wireo weni theula rolia nela soliru ma naweri. shia lue whu wea luera karami po shua keiro wepu. shia phisoe thesani nela kealo nela ralemi nela sila sone.
Word-by-word gloss: PL 1SG future imagine UNIV worth COORD hope NEG refuse. 3SG ABL REL TOWARD past authority POT come way go. 3SG creative skill COORD create COORD independent COORD community value.
Literal English: (We do not reject all the worth and hope in imagining the future. It moves away from a way that can come toward the authority of the past. It values creative skill, creation, independence, and community.)
solarpunk: Our futurism is not nihilistic like cyberpunk and it avoids steampunk’s potentially quasi-reactionary tendencies: it is about ingenuity, generativity, independence, and community.
09Sustainability and justice
ha moenu lo litero thenoki ko sone. shia punoa theloma ko sone.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture PL ecosystem sustain FOC value. 3SG society justice FOC value.
Literal English: (This culture does value sustaining ecosystems. It does value social justice.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk emphasizes environmental sustainability and social justice.
10Life now and after us
lila lo mia mua nosa lo mia lioru nela lo mia lumira lioru mo waora ka kelu lo mia lo keiro hekawi.
Word-by-word gloss: PURP PL 1SG LOC now PL 1SG life COORD PL 1SG descendant life CMPR wondrous CAUS become PL 1SG PL way find.
Literal English: (We find ways to make our lives and our descendants' lives more wondrous now.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk is about finding ways to make life more wonderful for us right now, and also for the generations that follow us.
11Old things, new purposes
mua lo mia wireo lo mia lo serao thena wei lo newu porua na loa. lo mia lue lo whu lo mia phelu thena lo newu thena na kealo. no weni. lo whu lo keli ketora terura phelu whalo silawo whemori se ka kelu thona lo whu lo terura shelomu whalo silawo wemari se kanu.
Word-by-word gloss: LOC PL 1SG future PL 1SG PL old thing DAT PL new purpose NEC give. PL 1SG ABL PL REL PL 1SG hold thing PL new thing NEC create. IMP imagine. PL REL PL device control system hold large village waste PASS CAUS become ADVRS PL REL PL system understand large village member PASS choose.
Literal English: (In our future, we must give old things new purposes. We must create new things from the things we hold. Imagine. Large villages that have systems for controlling devices are made into waste, but members of large villages who understand systems are chosen.)
solarpunk: Our future must involve repurposing and creating new things from what we already have. Imagine “smart cities” being junked in favor of smart citizenry.
12Politics and science fiction
ha moenu tha sui luera kowanu nela lo thesori somaki sano weni nophi wiso to ka helui tho miratu.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture DECL.COMP DUR past governance COORD PL evidence test know imagine story RECP PST CAUS change DECL.COMP.CLOSE recognize.
Literal English: (This culture recognizes that in the past, governance and stories imagining knowledge gained by testing evidence caused one another to change.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk recognizes the historical influence politics and science fiction have had on each other.
13Fiction as action
lo thesori somaki sano weni nophi lo miona monelu ka po kelu thona lo shia we shaweri keiro nai. ha moenu ha lo thena miratu.
Word-by-word gloss: PL evidence test know imagine story PL person amused CAUS POT become ADVRS PL 3SG ALSO advocate way be. PROX culture PROX PL thing recognize.
Literal English: (Stories imagining knowledge gained by testing evidence can amuse people, but they are also ways to advocate. This culture recognizes these things.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk recognizes science fiction as not just entertainment but as a form of activism.
14Three futures countered
ha moenu tha lila ta shao wireo weni ma shua shia phoa tho rinu. mua ta weni muila sheru lumeo. nu wi weni thei sheloi panuri phelu miona nela phina panuri phelu miona ta whu se po ma phae kopharu phelu. mua nu ta shao weni lo phenori phelu punoki punoa karami phelu. ha porua woe wireo ma nai. lo mia shia po ruweli.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture DECL.COMP PURP one three-group future imagine NEG come 3SG do DECL.COMP.CLOSE want. LOC one imagine earth slow die. ORD two imagine BETWEEN MANY resource hold person COORD FEW resource hold person one REL PASS POT NEG open barrier hold. LOC ORD one three-group imagine PL ownership hold institution society authority hold. PROX purpose FAR future NEG be. PL 1SG 3SG POT access.
Literal English: (This culture wants to act so that three imaginings of the future do not come. In one imagining, the earth dies slowly. The second imagining holds one barrier that cannot be opened between a person holding many resources and a person holding few. In the third imagining, institutions that hold ownership hold society's authority. This purpose is not far in the future. We can access it.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk wants to counter the scenarios of a dying earth, an insuperable gap between rich and poor, and a society controlled by corporations. Not in hundreds of years, but within reach.
15Young makers and local systems
ha moenu helia pilewa moenu nela lo pai sila keiro nela lo pai sila thewaki sekaru phaliso nela lo miso ketora terura kealo keiro sone. ha lo terura kelitho. ha moenu muila lothea.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture youth make culture COORD PL NEAR community way COORD PL NEAR community electricity transfer network COORD PL REFL control system create way value. PROX PL system function. PROX culture earth love.
Literal English: (This culture values a culture of making among youth, ways near communities, networks that transfer electricity near communities, and ways to create systems that control themselves. These systems function. This culture loves the earth.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk is about youth maker culture, local solutions, local energy grids, ways of creating autonomous functioning systems. It is about loving the world.
16No culture left outside
ha moenu theula moenu nela theula phiora therema nela theula sowelu miona nela theula phirae weloni nela theula whu lo miona miso thelima keiro nela theula whu lo miona lothea keiro nela theula tewema keiro pharune.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture UNIV culture COORD UNIV spirit tradition COORD UNIV disabled person COORD UNIV different body COORD UNIV REL PL person REFL describe way COORD UNIV REL PL person love way COORD UNIV partner way include.
Literal English: (This culture includes every culture, every spiritual tradition, every disabled person, every different body, every way people describe themselves, every way people love, and every way of being partners.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk culture includes all cultures, religions, abilities, sexes, genders and sexual identities.
17Beyond mere tolerance
ha moenu remole tha theula miona punoa ka po molei tho nai. ha molei li tha lo phirae miona se ma pharomu tho ma sone. shia mo losha ruesha nela mo losha kelomi sone.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture concept DECL.COMP UNIV person society CAUS POT evolve DECL.COMP.CLOSE be. PROX evolve RESTR DECL.COMP PL different person PASS NEG exclude DECL.COMP.CLOSE NEG value. 3SG CMPR wide compassionate COORD CMPR wide accept value.
Literal English: (This culture's concept is that everyone can cause society to evolve. This evolution does not value only the fact that different people are not excluded. It values broader compassion and broader acceptance.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk is the idea of humanity achieving a social evolution that embraces not just mere tolerance, but a more expansive compassion and acceptance.
18An open and evolving aesthetic
ha moenu whu se nila senalu lo newu thena po pharune. shia si molei. mua nosa shia ha lo keiro nuawe pharune.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture REL PASS see style PL new thing POT include. 3SG IPFV evolve. LOC now 3SG PROX PL way together include.
Literal English: (The visible style of this culture can include new things. It is evolving. Now it includes these ways together.)
solarpunk: The visual aesthetics of Solarpunk are open and evolving. As it stands, it is a mash-up of the following:
ha senalu phora thimu nela norui lokue liona nai thona shia mo sheloi kolua keli phelu. ha lo keli wi rolu phelu.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX style sail time COORD boundary place live be ADVRS 3SG CMPR MANY carry device hold. PROX PL device two wheel hold.
Literal English: (This style is about time under sail and living in boundary places, but it has many more transport devices. These devices have two wheels.)
solarpunk: 1800s age-of-sail/frontier living (but with more bicycles)
mua nosa lo sila panoru terura lo newu porua phisoe howela. pheo muila to ru pukeri soli keiro shua. soli keiro mua kuewa nosa nai.
Word-by-word gloss: LOC now PL community support system PL new purpose creative receive. POST earth PST INTS damage SOME way come. SOME way LOC strange now be.
Literal English: (Now, systems that support communities receive new purposes in creative ways. Some ways emerge after the earth was badly damaged. Some of these ways exist in a strange present.)
solarpunk: Creative reuse of existing infrastructure (sometimes post-apocalyptic, sometimes present-weird)
theali lo keli nela lo norae.
Word-by-word gloss: fitting PL device COORD PL method.
Literal English: (Fitting devices and methods.)
solarpunk: Appropriate technology
shaemu selu sena shela.
Word-by-word gloss: organic flow pattern art.
Literal English: (Art of organic flow patterns.)
solarpunk: Art Nouveau
ha miona nophi shela.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX person story art.
Literal English: (The art of this person's story.)
solarpunk: Hayao Miyazaki
lo whu nua phina panuri phisoe phoa norae lue lo phirae muila sila shua.
Word-by-word gloss: PL REL COM FEW resource creative do method ABL PL different earth community come.
Literal English: (Methods for acting creatively with few resources come from different communities across the earth.)
solarpunk: Jugaad-style innovation from the non-Western world
lo whu lo whu se kupe ruka keli monaki phelu terura lo siloma phiro thirulo phelu.
Word-by-word gloss: PL REL PL REL PASS hide complex device component hold system PL simple elegant output hold.
Literal English: (Systems that contain hidden components of complex devices have simple, elegant outputs.)
solarpunk: High-tech backends with simple, elegant outputs
19Settlements made for walking
lila lo miona mua lo silawo thalo mua ha wireo lo silawo se noporu nela lorima. lo shia litero thenoki.
Word-by-word gloss: PURP PL person LOC PL village walk LOC PROX future PL village PASS design COORD build. PL 3SG ecosystem sustain.
Literal English: (In this future, villages are designed and built for people to walk in. They sustain the ecosystem.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk is set in a future built according to principles of New Urbanism or New Pedestrianism and environmental sustainability.
20Built places and the sun
ha moenu lo whu lo miona lorima lokue weni. lila lo lokue sileta kenua ruweli lo miona roe lo phirae keli nela norae lo shia phisoe hinolu. lo miona wei lo phirae porua lo shia we hinolu. porua tha lo sila miso thenoki nela lo shia mua woeli henora liona tho nai.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture PL REL PL person build place imagine. PURP PL place sun energy access PL person INS PL different device COORD method PL 3SG creative adapt. PL person DAT PL different purpose PL 3SG ALSO adapt. purpose DECL.COMP PL community REFL sustain COORD PL 3SG LOC natural capacity live DECL.COMP.CLOSE be.
Literal English: (This culture imagines places that people build. For the places to access solar energy, people creatively adapt them with different devices and methods. People also adapt them for different purposes. The purpose is for communities to sustain themselves and for them to live within natural capacity.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk envisions a built environment creatively adapted for solar gain, amongst other things, using different technologies. The objective is to promote self sufficiency and living within natural limits.
21From overlords to gardeners
lila lo mia muila te ka sheru pukeri lo mia lue peloma ruela theali thimu to wepu. lo mia lo whu roe lo thesori somaki sano phue phoa keiro ki shonela. lo mia roe ha sano lo mia liona mo welao ka kelu. lo mia phea muila monaki nai. lo mia muila karami te phelu. lo mia lo theluo nai. lo mia lo whu thepalu temoe miona nai.
Word-by-word gloss: PURP PL 1SG earth CESS CAUS slow damage PL 1SG ABL harmful path fitting time PST go. PL 1SG PL REL INS PL evidence test know wise do way PFV learn. PL 1SG INS PROX know PL 1SG live CMPR good CAUS become. PL 1SG AS earth component be. PL 1SG earth authority CESS hold. PL 1SG PL steward be. PL 1SG PL REL garden tend person be.
Literal English: (We left a harmful path at a suitable time to stop causing slow damage to the earth. We have learned ways to act wisely using knowledge from testing evidence. With this knowledge, we make the way we live better. We are part of the earth. We stop holding authority over the earth. We are stewards. We are people who tend gardens.)
solarpunk: In Solarpunk we’ve pulled back just in time to stop the slow destruction of our planet. We’ve learned to use science wisely, for the betterment of our life conditions as part of our planet. We’re no longer overlords. We’re caretakers. We’re gardeners.
22Four final claims
ha moenu ha lo sherewa phelu.
Word-by-word gloss: PROX culture PROX PL claim hold.
Literal English: (This culture holds these claims.)
solarpunk: Solarpunk:
shia lo phirae miona nela remole nela thole pharune.
Word-by-word gloss: 3SG PL different person COORD concept COORD practice include.
Literal English: (It includes different people, concepts, and practices.)
solarpunk: is diverse
mua shia phiora therema nela thesori somaki sano nuawe po nai.
Word-by-word gloss: LOC 3SG spirit tradition COORD evidence test know together POT be.
Literal English: (Within it, spiritual tradition and knowledge from testing evidence can exist together.)
solarpunk: has room for spirituality and science to coexist
shia mioru nai.
Word-by-word gloss: 3SG beautiful be.
Literal English: (It is beautiful.)
solarpunk: is beautiful
shia mua nosa po shua.
Word-by-word gloss: 3SG LOC now POT come.
Literal English: (It can come now.)
solarpunk: can happen. Now.
Complete translation
sileta kenua wireo moenu lo sherewa.
ha sileta kenua wireo moenu lo wireo weni nophi nela shela nela wetha senalu nela shaweri sila rinoka nai. shia pha lo whu miso thenoki punoa phea hina nai pho solae mesatu. shia pha lo mia thela mua ha wireo po kamo pho solae mesatu. shia ha keiro liona mesatu.
ha moenu senalu towe kelitho nela mioru shemoli. shia towe noporu nela liro pheno thuroa shemoli. shia keru welisha mioru nela phea muila patoku muralo mioru shemoli.
ha moenu mioru wireo weni po nai. shia li wiroa po nai sola shia wea mo welao muila lo whu miona meloa keiro po theama thona shia mawha peloma wireo weni nai. lao mua lo mia muila ru pukeri nela ru kipona si shua lo mia lo keiro phelona. li lo pukea shanewi henoi ma nai.
ha lo keiro ha lo porua phelu. lo mia whuo lo whu lue tholua lioru se phelure kenua welira. lu lo panuri henoi ma nai. lo mia lo shia thua phanuli. lu lo panuri lorua nai. lo mia lo shia phowe. lu lo panuri henoi nai. lo mia tha lo shia henoi ma nai tho sherewa ma panoru. lu lo panuri lorua ma nai. lo mia tha lo shia lorua nai tho sherewa ma panoru. lo mia wei wiso nela wei whu lo mia phowe muila mo phena phoa.
ha moenu wireo lunai nela phenui whu lo miona ka remo thena nela liona keiro nela lo whu se po phoa repora nai. lila lo mia mua ha wireo kamo lo shia se po phoa.
lao lue lo mia wiroa to se pilu lo mia ha moenu wemari nai. lo mia tha lo mia ha wiroa talome tho mesatu.
lao li wi keiro ra nai lo mia ha moenu wemari nai. ta keiro theloa naweri. nu wi keiro whuo soliru liona.
ha moenu korua wireo lunai nai. shia mo ko welao whu theula miona po phoa thena weni. mua ha wireo lo panuri henoi nai. mawha karami noa leo phirae karami noa nai. phenori wei miona pilora karami ma loa. theula miona miso phea woeli lioru monaki nila. lo whu pesenu ma phoa kenua se sephori. lo whu lue tholua lioru se phelure kenua te se sephori.
ha moenu phiora lo punoki karami naweri. shia lue whu phenori wei miona pilora karami loa punoa wepu. shia lue whu lo wuero punoki mua karami phelu punoa wepu. shia rashowe nela kesu nai. shia wea phirae ruela wepu. shelami miona ruela wea whu lo miona mo sukima ka phaelo keiro si helui.
ha moenu lo nophi moenu nela sila rinoka kolo nai. shia li lo nophi ma reo. shia reo pha lo mia thela kau ha wireo po kamo pho we pharune.
ha moenu lo phirae norae kelomi. li ta theali keiro ma nai. lo phirae sila mua theula muila ha nomei nela lo remole pilu. lila punoa ru helui lo shia lo miso thenoki thiku womu lorima.
ha moenu newu nila keiro nela reteru nela lo phelui loa. ha newu nila keiro rolia phelu. roe ha lo thena miona ta wireo thelima. ha moenu luera wireo weni ma lomare. shia li wireo nila. ha wireo phirae wireo ma nai. shia po shua.
lo mia wireo weni theula rolia nela soliru ma naweri. shia lue whu wea luera karami po shua keiro wepu. shia phisoe thesani nela kealo nela ralemi nela sila sone.
ha moenu lo litero thenoki ko sone. shia punoa theloma ko sone.
lila lo mia mua nosa lo mia lioru nela lo mia lumira lioru mo waora ka kelu lo mia lo keiro hekawi.
mua lo mia wireo lo mia lo serao thena wei lo newu porua na loa. lo mia lue lo whu lo mia phelu thena lo newu thena na kealo. no weni. lo whu lo keli ketora terura phelu whalo silawo whemori se ka kelu thona lo whu lo terura shelomu whalo silawo wemari se kanu.
ha moenu tha sui luera kowanu nela lo thesori somaki sano weni nophi wiso to ka helui tho miratu.
lo thesori somaki sano weni nophi lo miona monelu ka po kelu thona lo shia we shaweri keiro nai. ha moenu ha lo thena miratu.
ha moenu tha lila ta shao wireo weni ma shua shia phoa tho rinu. mua ta weni muila sheru lumeo. nu wi weni thei sheloi panuri phelu miona nela phina panuri phelu miona ta whu se po ma phae kopharu phelu. mua nu ta shao weni lo phenori phelu punoki punoa karami phelu. ha porua woe wireo ma nai. lo mia shia po ruweli.
ha moenu helia pilewa moenu nela lo pai sila keiro nela lo pai sila thewaki sekaru phaliso nela lo miso ketora terura kealo keiro sone. ha lo terura kelitho. ha moenu muila lothea.
ha moenu theula moenu nela theula phiora therema nela theula sowelu miona nela theula phirae weloni nela theula whu lo miona miso thelima keiro nela theula whu lo miona lothea keiro nela theula tewema keiro pharune.
ha moenu remole tha theula miona punoa ka po molei tho nai. ha molei li tha lo phirae miona se ma pharomu tho ma sone. shia mo losha ruesha nela mo losha kelomi sone.
ha moenu whu se nila senalu lo newu thena po pharune. shia si molei. mua nosa shia ha lo keiro nuawe pharune.
ha senalu phora thimu nela norui lokue liona nai thona shia mo sheloi kolua keli phelu. ha lo keli wi rolu phelu.
mua nosa lo sila panoru terura lo newu porua phisoe howela. pheo muila to ru pukeri soli keiro shua. soli keiro mua kuewa nosa nai.
theali lo keli nela lo norae.
shaemu selu sena shela.
ha miona nophi shela.
lo whu nua phina panuri phisoe phoa norae lue lo phirae muila sila shua.
lo whu lo whu se kupe ruka keli monaki phelu terura lo siloma phiro thirulo phelu.
lila lo miona mua lo silawo thalo mua ha wireo lo silawo se noporu nela lorima. lo shia litero thenoki.
ha moenu lo whu lo miona lorima lokue weni. lila lo lokue sileta kenua ruweli lo miona roe lo phirae keli nela norae lo shia phisoe hinolu. lo miona wei lo phirae porua lo shia we hinolu. porua tha lo sila miso thenoki nela lo shia mua woeli henora liona tho nai.
lila lo mia muila te ka sheru pukeri lo mia lue peloma ruela theali thimu to wepu. lo mia lo whu roe lo thesori somaki sano phue phoa keiro ki shonela. lo mia roe ha sano lo mia liona mo welao ka kelu. lo mia phea muila monaki nai. lo mia muila karami te phelu. lo mia lo theluo nai. lo mia lo whu thepalu temoe miona nai.
ha moenu ha lo sherewa phelu.
shia lo phirae miona nela remole nela thole pharune.
mua shia phiora therema nela thesori somaki sano nuawe po nai.
shia mioru nai.
shia mua nosa po shua.
Translation limits
| Source detail | Phi treatment | Remaining distance |
|---|---|---|
| Solarpunk | sileta kenua wireo moenu, solar-energy future culture | This is a transparent description, not a community-approved Phi name. The source form remains the only exact designation. |
| movement, genre, speculative fiction, fashion, activism | community project, story culture, future-imagining stories, cloth style, advocacy | The practices remain recognizable, but the English categories and their histories are wider than these compositions. |
| aesthetics | moenu senalu, a culture's style, with practical design, beauty, growth, colour, earth, and solid material stated separately | Style gathers characteristic choices across works. The composition preserves the manifesto's contrasts, but it does not name aesthetics as a field of thought or criticism. |
| utopian and dystopian | beautiful and harmful future-imagining | The contrast survives, while the political and literary traditions attached to both source terms stay in English. |
| solutions | lo keiro, ways, followed by the outcomes they must secure | Phi has no general solution noun. Medical heloa is a remedy for an ailment or discomfort, so the ecological and social answers stay with the practical ways that the following clauses describe. |
| fossil fuels | energy stored from ancient life | The origin and energy function survive. Coal, petroleum, and gas are not distinguished, and extraction and combustion must be stated separately when they matter. |
| real and false scarcity or abundance | actual resource sufficiency assessed before fair allocation or sharing | The translation makes truth conditions explicit but does not reproduce the source's economic critique in a single phrase. |
| thoughtful provocation | a thoughtful thing that makes people think | The intended effect survives without assuming that the provocation is an objection. The source carries its sharper social and rhetorical force. |
| post-scarcity, post-hierarchy, post-capitalism | enough resources, no authority position above another, no authority to exploit granted by ownership | These are testable social relations, not complete definitions of scarcity, hierarchy, or capitalism. |
| rebellion, counterculture, decolonialism, revolution | refusal of institutional authority, a different path, departure from distant institutional authority, deep social change | The direction remains political. Histories of resistance, colonial rule, land, race, rupture, and organized struggle cannot be recovered from the Phi phrases alone. |
| retrofuturism, cyberpunk, steampunk | past future-imagining, with the exact genre names in the source | The translation preserves the manifesto's contrasts but not the genres' full bodies of work or visual conventions. |
| nihilistic and reactionary | refusal of worth and hope; a path toward past authority | Each phrase gives the local argumentative force, not a general definition of either philosophical or political term. |
| smart cities and smart citizenry | large settlements with device-control systems set against their members who understand systems | The choice of informed people over technical control is explicit. The source's repeated "smart" and its commercial and policy associations remain outside the Phi composition. |
| politics and science fiction | governance and stories imagining evidence-and-testing knowledge | The reciprocal historical influence remains. Both fields are much broader than the selected descriptions. |
| entertainment and activism | the amusement a story can give people and its use as advocacy | The contrast between enjoyment and political action survives. Neither composition defines the wider cultural or institutional field named by the source. |
| rich, poor, corporations | people with many or few resources; institutions that hold ownership and authority over society | The material gap remains visible, but income, debt, class, legal personality, and corporate structure require further statements. |
| religions, abilities, sexes, genders, sexual identities | spiritual traditions, disabled people, bodies, self-description, love, and partnership | The Phi line names disability without turning ability into system capacity and remains inclusive without assigning universal sex or gender classes. It does not preserve every distinction among the source categories, whose exact wording remains beside it. |
| mere tolerance | valuing that different people are not excluded | Phi states the source's thin threshold as non-exclusion, then moves beyond it to wider compassion and acceptance. |
| Art Nouveau, Hayao Miyazaki, Jugaad | organic flowing-pattern art, this person's story art, creative methods with few resources | These phrases point toward why the references matter here. Only the source line identifies the movement, artist, and practice exactly. The Phi description does not reproduce the source's division between Western and non-Western worlds. |
| bicycle | more carrying devices with two wheels | The comparison and functional outline survive, but the phrase can describe more than a bicycle. |
| existing infrastructure and post-apocalyptic reuse | present community-support systems given new purposes; ways arising after great damage to Earth | The practical relations survive, while the source retains the technical category and the named genre condition. The Phi does not assume that every existing system supports a community. |
| high-tech backends | systems whose complex device components are hidden | Hidden technical complexity remains in contrast with a simple, elegant output. The computing metaphor and its design traditions remain in the source. |
| 1800s; hundreds of years | age of sail and frontier life; distant future | Phi's internal exact range ends at 242. The source record preserves both decimal expressions, while the Phi lines state the historical setting and rhetorical distance that matter to each proposition. |
| New Urbanism and New Pedestrianism | settlements designed for walking | The shared built-environment claim survives; the named schools' separate principles and histories do not. |
| technology | devices and methods | Phi separates material apparatus from systematic practice. The source's broad technical category spans both and more. |
| self-sufficiency and natural limits | communities sustaining themselves within natural capacity | Independence does not become isolation, and capacity remains conditioned. The source leaves the relevant scale and limits unstated. |
| overlords, caretakers, gardeners | ending authority held above Earth; becoming stewards and people who tend gardens | The renounced domination remains explicit without admitting overlord as an ordinary Phi role. Caretaker narrows to stewardship, while gardener becomes an open relative description. |
| can happen now | can come now | Possibility and the present are explicit. Phi presents the event as something that can arrive rather than using a general verb for happening. |
This translation needs no new root. Phi can state the manifesto's claims with its current lexicon, though some source terms open into several clauses. The extra room makes their relations slower to say and easier to question than a one-word substitute would.
Source and license
The original A Solarpunk Manifesto is credited to The Solarpunk Community and was published at http://www.re-des.org/a-solarpunk-manifesto/. The maintained mirror used for this translation is https://iandennismiller.github.io/solarpunk/manifesto/english.html.
The original is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. This Phi translation adds segmentation, glosses, derived English readings, and commentary. It is a derivative work by Daniel Ellison and uses the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license. The repository's LICENSE records this exception to its default content license.