We are facing a social, ecological, and climate crisis, at systemic levels. The list of problems facing humanity the 21st century only seems to be expanding: as we experience global warming and increasingly extreme temperatures, loss of biodiversity, natural disasters, new diseases, resurgent waves of extremism and violence, discrimination, poverty, unemployment
But is total collapse the only outcome? Or is there still some chance to change our course from what seems like impending collapse? How can we sustain hope and committed action when what we see and hear is so discouraging?
The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, published last October, is a co-creation between Douglas Abrams and Jane Goodall, where they discuss their feelings on hope and primarily Jane Goodall’s four reasons to stay hopeful.
In the book the rather skeptical American writer repeatedly exposes scientific studies that predict – and in many cases already describe – a catastrophic global outlook. However, even Jane Goodall, perhaps one of the most acclaimed and respected public figures in environmental activism today, humbly admits to having lost hope on more than one occasion and even to having gone through depressive states. For many changemakers feelings of desolation and frustration are frequent as despite their daily work, injustices are repeated and change takes place with exasperating slowness.
However for Jane, this is not a contradiction as it is possible to experience sadness and hope almost simultaneously as hope is not about waiting for everything to be perfect, fair, and easy. Rather it is about being able to envision a better future without denying the challenges, dangers, and problems we face. This implies a recognition of the situation, which can be extremely bleak, and at the same time an imaginative and intellectual work of a different future. But it is not only that, hope is also a way of engaging in the solution of these challenges from a practical aspect: by taking concrete actions in the imagined direction.
Optimism says “everything will be fine” and pessimism says “nothing will work out”. Hope, on the other hand, has no certainties. “It is the dogged determination to do what is in our power to make the better future we wish for actually happen,” says Jane Goodall.
1. The incredible human intellect
Throughout history our intellect – which can be defined as “the part of our brain that reasons and solves problems” – has developed far more than that of other animals. We have used it for incredible innovations, for both the preservation and destruction of human life. The use we make of our inexhaustible and fascinating intellect will determine to a large extent the direction we will take as humanity. Language and our ability of conscious decision-making, to understand each other, and to build agreements, are part of the gifts of our intellect and a great source of hope.
Still, we must remember that “intellectual does not mean intelligent. An intelligent animal would not destroy its only home [the habitat, the planet], which is what we have been doing for a long time,” Jane clarifies.
2. Nature’s resilience
Writer Julio Cortázar states that “hope belongs to life, it is life itself defending itself,” in his exquisite work Rayuela. It is present in the pear tree that survived the devastating attacks on the Twin Towers in the United States, in the camphor tree that withstood the nuclear explosion in Nagasaki in World War II. These few examples are indicative of the natural world’s infinite capacity for resilience and regeneration, even in the most extreme conditions. This quality of course extends to humans as well as other species.
This in no way means that we should use and abuse nature and then rely on its resilience. It means that we have a precious – and perhaps unique – opportunity to stop destroying it, to understand ourselves as part of an interconnected whole, and to encourage ecosystemic restoration. 3. The power of youth
“The Earth is not an inheritance from our parents, but a loan from our children’, as Jane recounts an Indian proverb in her book. In her view, the proverb is an understatement (she says it is actually more of a theft than a loan) because the magnitude of the current situation not only compromises this generation but also future generations.
Goodall explains that hope is the sister of action. In the early 1990s, she created the educational, environmental, and humanitarian programme Roots and Shoots, now a global movement with a presence in almost 70 countries. Goodall invites young people to take a leading role; to train to become Environmental Leaders and implement projects that mitigate the environmental and social problems that most concern them.
For Goodall, hope comes from direct observation as she herself has witnessed on many occasions young people of all ages (from kindergarteners to university students) become activists by planting trees and protecting forests, picking up litter on the beach, expanding access to minority rights, speaking out against initiatives that undermine the common good. Our hope is renewed through larger actions such as people challenging the status quo and starting conversations with governments, businesses, and even their caretakers inviting them to a different, more just, inclusive, and sustainable way of doing things.
“In terms of the environment and social justice, this generation is different. They hear about the climate crisis and increasingly about the social crisis. Young people are better equipped than we were to understand and deal with the problems we have created,” says Jane Goodall.
4. The indomitable human spirit
Spirit, according to Jane Goodall, is “the vital energy and inner strength that arises when we are in contact with the greater spiritual force” and is indomitable because it is “that which enables us to face the seemingly impossible and not give up”. It is this spirit, mysterious by nature, that pushes us on when we feel that the situation could not be worse. History is filled with stories fo those who were exposed to the most horrific tortures and yet, broken on the outside, were able to go on with their lives, and in many cases, not to take revenge on their oppressors but to make it a living and inspiring testimony to others. Similarly, the playwright and former president of the Czechoslovakia Vaclav Havel says that ‘the deepest and most important form of hope, the only one that can keep us afloat and move us to do good (…) is something that we receive, so to speak, ‘from somewhere else’. It is also that hope, above all, which gives us the strength to live and continually try new things, even in conditions that are as difficult for us as our own, here and now.”
“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out,” Vaclav Havel argues.
Harbouring hope does not absolve us of the responsibility to act. On the contrary, it invites us to take action. There are thousands of ways: responsible consumption, non-violent activism, social and triple impact entrepreneurship, conscious leadership, creating or joining initiatives that put people and the planet at the centre of everything, or in whatever way you can find. Is there time left to turn the ship’s rudder towards a more just and sustainable future? Some authors argue that we have less than a decade left. Jane believes we still have a window of time.
We at Efecto Colibrí want to take advantage of it and we invite you to do it now, together with us, with commitment and confidence. Will you join us?
