(Pour la version française, veuillez cliquer ici.)

January 2022. The start of a new year of activism to save the health of our beautiful planet.

It is hard to feel enthusiastic and hopeful about this when we are presented on a daily basis with bad news about the climate and all the terrible things we are doing to our world.

It is clear that globally (with very few exceptions) our governments are just not acting with the urgency required to deal with this difficult situation. Furthermore the world’s press (again with exceptions) seem to be doing their best to ignore or trivialize the situation.

As individuals we often despair about what on earth we can do to make a difference, to bring about the change we so badly need.

We should not.

Many years ago now, an anthropologist called Margaret Mead said the following:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;

indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

She was so right and we should not forget it.  There are very many examples of major change in the world where people thought that transformation would never happen and yet it did.

Slavery ended, women got the vote, the civil rights movement took place, we now have gay marriage, countries got independence from their oppressors, and Apartheid in South Africa was brought down.  The list is long and we should be encouraged by it. 

With all these things powerful people laughed and said it was impossible and politicians fought against it. And yet they happened.  Eventually many individuals gathered their courage and came together to push for the change that they believed in.

We can and must do the same.

The Silent Millions

The problem is that there are still millions of people out there not convinced of the need for change. Perhaps because they are not yet convinced that the planet’s problems are serious, or that they can just leave it to somebody else to sort out. Possibly because their own life is too difficult and they have no energy to deal with the planet. However there are also many people who believe that they have no power to bring about change, or as activists they are tired and see no further point in their activism.

I believe, and very many experienced activists now agree, that the only way we will bring about the change required is to get our governments to act. The only real way to get governments to act is if we force them to! That needs many more of us to get out there and be visible and noisy. We need to get together in groups and in our communities and demand change.

That needs a special type of hope to inspire us.

I have recently read a wonderful book called Active Hope, about becoming active when the problem seems too big for us to make a difference.

According to the authors, this type of hope does not need our optimism and can be applied in areas where we feel hopeless

They say that Active Hope is a practice, something we do rather than have. It involves three steps:

1. We need to have a clear view of reality. (So it is important to really recognize how bad the situation has become, and how urgent.)
2. We need to identify what we hope for in terms of the direction we would like to move in, or what values we would like to see expressed.
3. We need to take steps to move ourselves or our situation in that direction.

Hope for the Future

What does that actually mean for me?

• My view of reality is that our planet is in a very bad situation indeed and that the future of my children and grandchildren is looking pretty bleak if we don’t drastically change the situation.

• I want our governments to dramatically reduce and finally eliminate our use of fossil fuels.  At the same time I want them to support the use of renewable energy sources, change our transport systems, and help us to insulate our homes. I want them to protect our environment and improve our agricultural systems in order to protect the soil.

I would like them to initiate some type of Citizens’ Assembly so that we can sit down and discuss the type of future we really want and need.

• How can I personally take steps to bring about this change of direction?

I would like to start running workshops for small groups of individuals so they can learn about the environmental problems we have. More importantly though, would be to work with people to help them find ways of making a difference.

We are talking about a massive change in our lifestyles from a society whose lodestone is economic growth to a society where we can live healthily in communities and are committed to healing our world. So this is challenging, but it is happening. We have the technology to do this and it is getting better and cheaper all the time. Nobody is saying it will be easy and that there are not problems along the way. But this would be a better future if that was the way we designed it.

What do you need to do?

We need to stop worrying and start acting. Join a group, encourage your family and friends to be active and visible, work on involving your neighbours, change your habits – but, above all, tell your government what you want.  Governments are slippery creatures. They say one thing and do another. They think about their short term future and their power. It seems they have no vision for the future of our world.

Tell them what you want.

References

Active Hope: How to Face the Mess we’re in without Going Crazy, by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone

Also interesting:

Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power, by Rebecca Solnit