The Devil On My Shoulder
During my first couple of days in Senegal, the word was all I saw.
It was scribbled, sprayed, painted, and written all over the place: SOPI. The word means ‘change’ in Wolof. I was studying abroad, and the word was a remnant of a recent political shift in power. We all know change can be a powerful, political tool. But where does change come from?
I recently finished a class called “Tackling Sources Not Symptoms.” The class was taught by Norman Myers, a man of many talents, including the ability to laterally analyze a wide range of issues. During class we discussed various facets of change including “institutional roadblocks” and “the threshold effect.”
What struck me most in class were the examples of change: we saw it when just 600 people stormed the Bastille in 1789 and sparked a revolution, we saw it with the civil rights movement, and we recently saw it with the past election.
So, what needs to change? A lot. Carbon dioxide emissions certainly come to mind. But lets go further and ask another question: where does that change need to come from? Generalizing, it appears that change needs to come from either the public or private sector.
Lets start with people. Ah, those pesky “people.” Arguably, most of the scientific and technological puzzle pieces are already in place, so why are people not more actively championing the survival of their planet and future? Some say it boils down to one of three things: an incompetent/corrupt/indolent government, a listless/uninformed/disconnected people, or, the private sector.
Personally, I am having a hard time trying to decide whether I should work from within or without. Many wanna-be revolutionaries have tried the legendary “change-from-within” strategy. But is it possible to effect the greatest change from within, say, the private sector? The example of Adam Werbach and Wal-Mart certainly testify to the potential of this path.
The little angel and devil on my shoulder are whispering conflicting messages. My interests lie with the "people" part of this puzzle. However, some think true change has to come from reforming the private sector. And yet other pragmatics think legislation can guide the way. What about you?
