Have we pivoted from ‘change’ to ‘save’?
I was struck the other day by a perceived pivot in my mental model vis-a-vis my positioning to the world. Growing up during teenage and college years, I was heavily influenced by Laurel Canyon music. No better song captures the optimism within the class / social / cultural struggle of their times than Graham Nash’s Chicago
(We can change the world) yes, we can change the world
Chicago / Graham Nash
(Rearrange the world) rearrange the world
(It’s dying) if you believe in justice
(It’s dying) and if you believe in freedom
(It’s dying) let a man live his own life, yeah
(It’s dying) rules and regulations, who needs them? (Ooh)
Open up the door
Regardless of the crap from Chicago, changing the world, opening the door and bringing people together are still possible … if we all just come together.
That optimism, at least within my own musings, has evaporated. Even Jane Goodall, a hero without doubt, is expressing her messages with greater and greater urgency, to ‘save’ the world from its climate and human encroachment demise. In her Earth Day 2024 address, she remarked as summarized by Jane Goodall Institute:
In her address, Dr. Goodall emphasised the importance of collective action in addressing pressing environmental challenges. From reducing our carbon footprint to protecting endangered species and their habitats, Dr. Goodall underscored the urgency of coming together as a global community to safeguard the natural world for future generations
Jane Goodall Institute
Safeguard = save.
Have we moved from optimistically looking to positively change the world, to safeguarding and saving the world? From leaning in on the front foot, to holding on from the back foot … how did we allow that all to happen?