Surrender Or Courage

I am much more optimistic than you.

In the 1950s, with apartheid strong in South Africa, western governments supporting White rule, and racial segregation deeply entrenched in US states, the “easy out” would have been to say that change cannot happen. But we did it.

I wrote a paper in the 1960s about the importance of accepting homosexuals as full members of society. Others said I was just being stupid. But we did it.

In the 1960s, with the US deeply entrenched in Vietnam, the “easy out” would have been to say the US could not leave. But it did.

In the 1970s, pesticides were making species extinct and bringing other species to the edge. The “easy out” would have been to say that we could not eliminate those pesticides. But we did it.

In the 1980s, the hole in the ozone was expanding. The “easy out” would have been to say we could not eliminate CFCs. But we did it.

I could go on through other decades.

You might be willing to take the “easy way” out of defeatism and surrender. I am glad that millions of others have more commitment and courage.

Some believe as Margaret Mead said,

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has.

Others share the view of Tom Hayden,

Any oppressed people will always look like they are asleep to everybody from the oppressor to the organizers to the experts who are observing and writing about them . . . The people who seem asleep always awake at the most unusual times. No one ever predicts when or where people will rise up. . . . If you predict a revolt here, it will start there.

Either way is a path to progress for humanity. I am glad there are those who have the courage to take on challenges.