Article1. The Power to Change Things

The human capacity to act destructively can take us into the diabolical zone. We are all part of the collective impact and fear there’s nothing we can do personally, as individuals, to change things. It’s as if we are part of something so big and so fast moving, that it continually overtakes any effort to stop it. So, we have to stand by and watch ourselves trashing the environment, as we progress towards the ultimate calamity of climate change.
Our personal ethical standards couldn’t be lower - just look at the way we have let our animal farms become modern day death camps! And our bodies are going haywire. We are losing control of our health because of the rich foods we eat and the over indulgent lifestyles we lead. We continue to over-consume goods and squander resources - and we still won’t check it! We see millions of kids dying for want of food, while we have too much to eat. We in the West are literally dying from the shame of letting all this happen.
It’s not as if we don’t realise the connections between our own actions and the consequences. But we stand transfixed like a rabbit in the car’s headlights. We know we must change (should change) but we’re discouraged by the expectations of family, friends, society and our own belief that whatever we do we can’t alter the course of events. We live in a world where millions of children die needlessly and millions of animals are killed shamelessly. Yet we continue on about our business as if nothing bad is happening. It’s almost as if we dare not think about the psychological impact it could be having on us. Our leaders show no leadership either. They’re probably as nonplussed as we are.
So, it comes down to two things: One - The need to believe in the power to change and Two - That we can each be effective in setting off a chain reaction of change. It just depends on belief.
Assuming we do have a touch of faith about us (in the power of change) we should seize every opportunity. We can’t expect our leaders to lead us. It’s up to us, ordinary people, repairing things wherever we can. We should not doubt our own power to make a difference. The changes we might make are not always about ‘me’ anyway. The difficulty we have, isn’t in not knowing what to do, but in not daring to do it! It’s about the interests of others as well as our own - altruism and effectiveness. We want both, but they seem to be opposed. So how can we marry them? How do we make altruism effective and effectiveness altruistic? Perhaps the answer lies in the examples we set as individuals. As we let our example define who we are, we help to bring about the ‘collective good example’ that encourages others to follow, setting up a self-perpetuating impulse throughout our society. By sowing seeds and encouraging growth, people-powered change can’t possibly not occur.