What I experienced was 40 years of protest and pressure, apparently with little effect, and then a rapid transformation within 5 years once a tipping point was reached. I lived through the transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa. Which brings us to the second reason to be hopeful: change is not a linear process. The critics will still say that it’s not enough – not ambitious enough, and not moving fast enough. There has never been so much policy reform, investment in innovation, transformational strategic goals, or solidarity of social movements. I have been working in sustainability for more than 30 years and there has never been so much unity of purpose around the need for bold action. First, there is compelling evidence that change is happening, and that it is accelerating. What, then, is the case for hope? There are three main reasons to be hopeful. Tragically, many do not even want to bring children into a world with such a bleak future. The ensuing miasma of anxiety is debilitating. By contrast, the response by politicians, business leaders and ordinary citizens seems pathetic at best, obstructive at worst. They see the evidence of social inequity and the examples of racial injustice. They understand the science of climate change and the facts of species loss. Which is why millions of young people today are in a state of despair. The most powerful act we can take is to stop placing barriers in the way of thriving to step back and let life do what comes naturally, which is to thrive.Įasier said than done. This is not wishful thinking it is borne from the knowledge that all life is designed to thrive. And at the same time, we must never lose faith in our ability to survive and even thrive in the end. We must confront the brutal facts of biodiversity collapse, growing inequality, climate damage, racial injustice, plastic pollution, forced migration, and any number of other crises. This sage advice could not be more relevant for our times. “I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life.” But then he added this crucial caveat: “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end-which you can never afford to lose-with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” “I never lost faith in the end of the story,” he said. Later, in an interview with author Jim Collins, he explained the importance of pragmatic hope. This is the essence of the Stockdale Paradox, named after navy Admiral Jim Stockdale, who survived eight years in a Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp. We need to ground our stubborn optimism in pragmatic hope – hope that is rooted in action and an understanding of change. We need to recognise that positive changes and breakthrough innovations are happening too. At the same time, we cannot let the challenges overwhelm us. We should avoid blind optimism or false hope. Today, there are signs of social, environmental and economic breakdown all around us, and we need to face these problems head on, without denial. And the more challenging the circumstances, the more crucial hope becomes. Hope is, in a very real sense, a survival imperative. Reflecting on this near-death experience, I realised that it was not the riptide that would have killed me, but the moment that I panicked and gave up hope. I tell the story of how I nearly drowned at Sodwana Bay off the coast of South Africa. In my book, Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society and the Economy, I begin with hope.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |