"The deepest difference between optimists and pessimists is their position in the debate about whether human beings are able to operate collectively on the basis of love. In a society that systematically develops in people their individualism, their competitiveness, and their cynicism, the pessimists are in the vast majority. That pessimism is the single greatest problem of the current social system, we think, and the deepest cause of unsustainablilty."
The authors are not talking about seeing the world through rose tinted glasses. Far from it. They detail many ways our world could come crashing down if we do not change the way we live and do business. However, as the above quotation confirms, their research has led them to the conclusion that widespread pessimism about the possibility of compassionate human organization is the major obstacle to solving the problems of the environment.
In our editorial we say, "Only the human component of the watershed has the power to preserve or destroy." As a tiny part of our human community, the MEC is a group of people working together week after week, year after year, in a long-standing effort to promote "environmental and social justice." (See the mission statement to the left on this page).
Without considering anything else, the MEC's own survival is already a big accomplishment, especially since there is, within the MEC, a real willingness and desire to work with diverse personal and political points of view. This openness is essential if the MEC is to be a wellspring of healthy change in our community.
The urgency of the problems we face calls upon the MEC to continue to be open to input from the wider community and to keep its optimism alive in the search for more effective and imaginative ways to promote human sociability and sustainable community.
Change is inevitable. Look for exciting things to come from the MEC in the near future.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1999
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited