What change are we creating today?
Gandhi said "be the change you want to see." The corollary: What we are, what we do, is the change we create.
If you are wondering what the big stories of this week have in common, here’s my take.
The Russian war against Ukraine and its horrific violence; the ongoing attempt to demolish democracy in the U.S.; the economic impact on ordinary people of inflation during a time of unprecedented profits for massive corporations; state governors punishing private businesses for not toeing an ideological line: All of these stories illustrate a core world-view.
It’s a view that embeds privilege, power, and wealth in the few, while dehumanizing the many.
And it’s a view that is dying, despite (and because of) these last-ditch attempts to keep it alive.
The definition of some members of our human family as “less than” others will die. It will either die because multicultural, diverse, inclusive communities overwhelm it, or it will die because our species will not survive its consequences.
Whichever path we are on, whichever path we choose, the days of elitism supported by extremism, by violence and aggression, are numbered.
Our choice is where to stand on this path, and how we will work to shape it. Every day and every moment, we can choose to push our fellow humans toward inclusion, or to push toward more elitist extremism, or to hide our heads and expect someone else to “fix it.”
Be the change you want to see (Mahatma Gandhi).
Another way to say the same thing: What we are, what we do, is the change we create.
What change are we creating today?
Be safe, be well, and always be working for peace, inclusion, and care.