... says Wilfred Laurier professor Garry Potter.
I'm not too sure how many of you get the chance to read The Record, but on Thursday, February 26, the front page of the local section featured an article 'Everything is going to get worse' and I thought it was worth trying to get a discussion started about it... or at least hear your opinions!
You can read the article at http://news.therecord.com/article/494500
"His goal was not to cheer up his audience but to scare them into action." In brief, a sociology professor from WLU delivered a "public lecture laying out his grim predictions for the world. He didn't leave much to hope for." As you read the article, you may feel as I did - a little annoyed at his pessimism, his seemingly lack of motivational skills and maybe even his lack of point. But once I re-read the article, there were a couple things which stuck out to me. "Believing that anything else but the worst is coming is sticking your head in the sand."
Potter, himself, recognizes his negativity, but firmly states "We have a lot to be pessimistic about, but I don't think we should give up."
Once upon a time, I most likely would have strongly rejected Potter's approach. Cynicism, gloom and hopelessness just don't seem like a fitting attitude to take when trying to motivate people to rise up to their social responsibilities and take action for both their and their children and their children's children's lives. However, if this scare tactic is the only thing that will get people to stand up, shake their heads and do something productive, then I think people should refrain from criticizing Potter's plan of attack.
For example, we know that our destructive habits are killing the earth and us... yet we continue to pack our landfills, drowned garbage in our waters and stuff our air with chemicals. How many more commercials or movies or statistics do we need to see before we (and by we I mean cities, companies, nations and continents) actual do something SERIOUS about it.
Moreover, we know safe ways to prevent pregnancy, yet unwanted teenage pregnancies continue to occur at an alarming rate. We hear the deadly effects of drugs and alcohol, yet children are becoming involved in such activities earlier and earlier each year. These examples are the things that we have all been educated about since we were young. If we cannot manage to come up with effective ways of getting a hold of these catastrophes, how will we tackle the other areas which Potter mentions: oil at $400/barrel, more wars, increased child prostitution, a deeper recession, general brutality, misery and starvation.
I know there a MANY people who dedicate their lives to these issues and who don't need to be scared into action. I don't think any of us have been scared into joining the Beyond Borders program, and I think that is something special. However, we also know that we are not going to our placements to change the world so much as we are to observe and experience. What the world needs, though, is real-life global sized changes which requires the efforts and response of everybody.
Personally, I am not so sympathetic to the person who felt attacked or whose feelings were hurt after Potter's lecture -if that's what it took to get people passionate about building a better tomorrow then so be it. Words are SO easy to say, but often, action is left to the wind. If people need a reason to act on behalf of their words, and fear will be that reason, then I guess that is the best we can hope for right now.
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I agree with you Matt. I think that different tactics work on different people. If you can't get some people to act by telling them the facts while still presenting an optimistic view on things, then maybe they'll respond to a scare tactic better.
ReplyDeleteMatt thanks for starting the discussion. Although I see where Potter is coming from, I respectfully disagree with the approach. It's true that many people are unaware of crisis happening around the world, but I think the bigger problem is that people don't WANT to know. It's too upsetting and it makes people feel helpless. People don't know what to do. I see ourselves in the BB program as agents, by making people aware of issues, motivating them into caring AND give them practical LISTS of things they can ACT on. I understand why Potter thinks a little scare may wake some people up. Some people are very self-motivated by nature and WILL continue to look for STEPS to ACT. But most people don't. When overwhelm them with all this information, it makes them numb and maybe even an inability to act. It's like giving an elementary school kid a calculus problem to solve - what do you want the kid to do? I don't know, would love to hear what others think.
ReplyDeleteThanks Maryam and Ruby for your comments! Here is a "Letter to the Editor" from The Record on this article:
ReplyDeleteWhile I won't deny the severity of the predictions Gary Potter makes in order to "scare" people into action, I remain frustrated by yet another attempt to paint a picture of gloom without proposing an action plan to combat it.
In short, what we need is hope. Not the Pollyanna type of hope that ignores the crisis at hand, but a momentum of faith that sees what is and can envision something better. Such hope comes from a commitment to do personally everything we can, which is why I take great umbrage to Potter's dismissal of individual effort. For what more is collective effort than one person's stepping forward in ways that inspire others?
Sadly, such hope is often what doomsday predictors fear most, because it moves us beyond the (somewhat deluded) certainty of disaster to the uncertainty of change.
There is no doubt that for humanity to survive the next chapter in history, we are all going to have to make big changes and many personal sacrifices. But we must start by first recognizing and addressing the very greed and selfishness in our own hearts before we can collectively agree how to curb it in society.
Finally, to loosely quote President Barack Obama, "if we really want to win we can't be afraid to lose." This means facing the fact that it's going to be tough. But it's better to fail marginally, by giving it our all, than to fail absolutely by giving up, which is what I fear many will do if left with nothing more than predictions of gloom and doom.
Katie Wreford
Kitchener
I agree with Ruby. I think that there is an increasing interest in educating people on issues related to climate change, third world countries, etc but some people just don’t want to accept the facts. I think the sad truth is that many will only believe in these issues when they have personally experienced them. With that said, I do think that people are more willing to listen if someone they know and trust has experienced an awful reality. Thus, I agree with Ruby that we are agents. Vocalizing our experiences will help motivate others. I agree with Obama. A failed attempt is just another learning experience! In "The Last Lecture", one of the author’s employers said that he would rather hire someone who has failed than someone who hasn't because the former will know what to do in order to succeed the second time around. If at first we don’t succeed we must try again! Instead of believing that we are all “doomed”, we should try to persevere and try to make our own lives as sustainable as possible. We can't control others. All we can do is improve ourselves and HOPE that others follow our example.
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