Somebody Has To Start Things

Great changes can happen in the world. But not by watching. And we must learn from the successes of previous movements.

Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash

I’m putting an end to defeatism in the climate movement. Hell, in any just movement. We can have a stabilized climate, freer and fairer societies, and human culture that values life and nature.

We can have all of these things. But the first step to getting there is deciding to try. Now, I know you are busy. I’m not expecting most people to drop what they are doing and run out into a jungle to plot the revolution with a secret tribe of warriors.

What we need from people — at least first — is a new mindset. And this mindset is important because it removes pernicious lies and replaces them with known and important truths.

Here’s a list of the key truths that will set you, and all of us, free:

1. Ordinary people have nearly all of the power.
   That’s right. Counterintuitive but true. Ask yourself: did a pharaoh build any pyramids? No! Pyramids were designed by Egyptian engineers and built by ordinary people! Did Hitler conquer most of Europe in the 1940s? No! Ordinary Germans fighting as soldiers for that evil man did it. Do the oil companies have the power to continue drilling, refining, shipping and selling their products? No! All that work is done by ordinary people. IF people…