New Ways of Thinking

Remember when those bumperstickers started coming out, "Think Globally, Act Locally"? I still like it's simplicity and, of course, the message. There is a continuing dance between the momentum of society and the acts of individuals. Can the individual make a difference? If the answer is no, it's a gloomy world indeed. Certain individuals can make their mark by inventing things or leading a cause; the rest of us tend to jump on the next bandwagon. Can we make a difference if were not Einsteins or Kings?

What made me think more about this was the minor, yet telling, issue during the recent Presidential campaign when Barrack Obama suggested that Americans can make a difference combating high gas prices by ensuring their tires are properly inflated. The McCain camp made some fun of the remark. I'm wondering if it was for political expediency or if they really think that this was a silly suggestion? The power of many individuals doing their own 'thing' ends up making a significant difference and, in this case, can save millions of gallons of gas each year, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, lower carbon footprints, and hopefully increase the momentum towards alternate fueled vehicles. If the old guard was really dismissing this idea (and probably others like it), then does this point out a shift between old thinking and newer thinking? In the last few years, we are understanding how small events can have larger, global impacts such as global warming. Not everything has to be a Manhattan or Apollo project. By many individuals doing their part, we can institute change just as well or better than the 'revolution' method in many situations. It'll be interesting to see what methods of change will work on huge problems like global warming that are extremely complex. Perhaps a combination of small, evolving changes and a few large, revolutionary ones will be required.

The old way of thinking, as demonstrated by the Republican camp, needs to come around to reflect the rapidly changing, complex world in which we live. Perhaps it's driven by existing money and power or by a lack of intellectual flexibility, but we need to quickly shift away from the old way of looking at things to solving today's problems with fresh perspectives and ideas.