We are 25 years too late. If the object is to avoid dangerous change, we've already had it. The object now is to avoid really dangerous change.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that we have already experienced significant changes and now must focus on preventing further harmful changes.
Stephen Schneider's quote reflects a sense of urgency regarding the irreversible changes already precipitated by inaction. It suggests that instead of resisting change altogether, which may be futile, the focus should now shift to mitigating the potentially dire consequences of the changes we have allowed to occur. Schneider warns that the time for small adjustments has passed, and we must address the more significant threats that can arise from inaction.
In practice
In a speech about climate change, one might reference this quote to highlight the need for immediate action.
The dramatic importance of climate changes to the worldβs future has been dangerously underestimated by many, often because we have been lulled by modern technology into thinking we have conquered nature. This well-written book points out in clear language that the climatic threat could be as awesome as any we might face, and that massive world-wide actions to hedge against that threat deserve immediate consideration.
This 'double ethical bind' we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both.
Once you have identified with some form of negativity, you do not want to let it go, and on a deeply unconscious level, you do not want positive change. It would threaten your identity as a depressed, angry or hard-done by person. You will then ignore, deny or sabotage the positive in your life. This is a common phenomenon. It is also insane.
In some ways, [the student anti-sweatshop movement] is like the anti-apartheid movement, except that in this case its striking at the core of the relations of exploitation. Much of this was initiated by Charlie Kernaghan of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights.
As a newcomer to America who learned to 'speak American' by watching movies, I firmly believe that to change the politics of immigration and citizenship, we must change culture - the way we portray undocumented people like me and our role in society.
The only fight worth fighting is to give all children equal opportunities regardless of race or gender, to judge individuals on their qualities and not their backgrounds. The victory won't come when nobody feels able to voice racist abuse, but when nobody thinks of doing so in the first place.
I don't reinvent myself in any major way. It seems to be a slow evolution. I go back and visit certain themes that I feel strongly about and resonate with me emotionally.
Let's say there are prospects for a new Nigeria, but I don't think we have a new Nigeria yet.
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