One of the people who is vocal in his calls for change in how we do things in our westernised societies is Umair Haque. His work is worth reading whether or not you agree with his perspective.
Some of his recent provocative tweets include:
Yes, really. You have the power to change the world. Consumerism, mass-made junk, greed? The fantasies you’re sold–so you never use it.
Source: @umairhHistory may have been ruled by crooks and sociopaths. But, thanks to those who came before us, today doesn’t have to be.
Source: @umairhWe can debate endlessly whether every leader in history has been a crook or a sociopath, or not. The bigger point might be…
Source: @umairhOur forebears fought for generations to give us a gift: to create a future better, wealthier, stronger than theirs.
Source: @umairhThey fought to create things like democracy, markets, justice, opportunity, reason, equality, liberty.
Source: @umairhI’d say these are among the greatest achievements in human history. The fundamental institutions–the building blocks–of prosperity.
Source: @umairhToday, we use them to “consume” mocha-venti-lattes, Jersey Shore, and fast fashion. Instead of bettering them–we’re squandering them.
Source: @umairh
I think that Umair is right. If we want to change the world it will be necessary to stop doing some things that we do now, to stop thinking the way we think now, and shift our attention and activity towards different things.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve been focusing on Social Innovation Sydney and our combination of BarCamps and StartupCamps. The plan is turning new ideas into action and creating real life social networks to enable it.
What are you doing to change the world?
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