Let’s Think Differently

If we can start to think differently, we can choose a more positive and hopeful future:

Let’s think about a new generation of leaders

Ruling elites all over the world have failed. The cost of their failures could very well be human civilization. Functioning democratic systems would have long ago removed failing leaders and failed policies from power, in favor of other paradigms and choices.

By clinging to their positions and refusing to leave, these elites are now committing a second sin of encouraging extremist movements. Extremism becomes attractive to disenchanted and disempowered populations that see no other hope for change other than a will to power.

Putting aside who these leaders should be—and that is a rich and important discussion—I suspect there would be wide agreement for the basic point that current leaders need to go and that every social system could benefit from a new generation of leaders who can think, act, and govern in a different way and with the general welfare in mind.

Let’s think about a variety of economic, political, and social systems

We’re trapped in a system that has produced an environmental, social, and political breakdown—a Planetary Crisis. Thus, one of the most important things we can do is to normalize a rational dialogue of different kinds of economic, political, and social alternatives, and to consider how our lives need to adapt in response to the challenges of the present.

Personally, I favor a political system that will acknowledge our relationship and connection to nature and will seek to maintain a balance with nature. I believe health, both public and private, must be prioritized as a fundamental component of a just social order. There are many things that must be discussed, considered, and weighed if we are to manage the challenges ahead. 

Let’s think about human rights

Human rights provides a framework based in international law that could unite our species under a common set of rules that enable greater cooperation and even unity. Too many elements of the Planetary Crisis—the climate breakdown, the Sixth Great Extinction, the withering away of natural resources, the destruction of the environment, the threat of disease, and breakdown of democracy—stand at the gates of civilization. For too long, governments have underestimated the gathering storm that continues to strengthen every day in the face of human inaction, indifference, greed, and ignorance.

Our economies, our societies, our social systems, and our very lives must be focused on the protection of the basic elements of human dignity: adequate shelter, decent work, education, as well as civil and political freedoms that permit the full expanse of human choice and expression. We have taken many of our basic freedoms and dignities for granted, and they will not last much longer without reinforcement. Instead of trying to support a dying status quo, perhaps we should consider how we can change our ways of life to support human well being and defending and maintaining our human rights.

Let’s think in an intergenerational way

Just as those people and ideas that created the Planetary Crisis are of no use in solving it, we have to be willing to think in an intergenerational way and implement solutions that may require short term sacrifice in our generation so that future generations can live with more freedom and more choices.

In many ways, it is an honor to belong to a generation that might be willing to break the cycle of intergenerational oppression and choose a different future for the species: a stable climate, a habitable planet, and a dignified way of life for all people.