Society 101: Progress

In Part 2 we said that how our systems function reflects our collective priorities.

In Part 3 we said that our social contract enforces our collective priorities.

No social contract is perfect or comprehensive. Even a good one that reflects the priorities important at one point in time have to be adjusted as generations, ethics, economies and needs change.

Any good society is constantly evolving to ensure that the rules and enforcement of those rules align the best they possible can with our ethics and priorities. This is what we call progress.

How do we effect progress?

That is the hard work. Too often we get caught up in arguing what the right way to make progress. But there is no one right way. Every successful movement for progress has been comprised of tons of folks working at different levels, within and without the system, all fighting for a common solution. It wasn’t either Dr King or Malcom X who pushed society forward on civil rights, but both along with so many others. It wasn’t either the Stonewall Riots or the efforts of The Mattachine Society or people like Harvey Milk who moved the gay rights movement forward, it was everyone playing their part.

Progress happens when we join forces to show society the need for change, educate them on what’s possible, build majority support for specific solutions, and then demand measurable action without delay.

That’s the work of educators, activists, organizers, neighbors, and family members to teach others, listen to others, build bridges to gain majority support

It’s the work of protestors who demand society pay attention to harm

It’s the work of those who use civil disobedience to demonstrate that the harm is greater than the consequences

It’s the work of philanthropists to create and fund pilot programs to prove solutions.

It’s the work of policy wonks to design and support good policy.

It’s the work of politicians to turn policy into scaled and effective programs.

It’s the work of data wonks to monitor political actions for accountability.

It’s the work of civil servants to implement programs with empathy and excellence.

It’s the work of good non-profits to fill in the gaps short-term.

It takes all of us doing what we can, where we can, to contribute to a better world.

The danger is that we choose to sit and judge from a distance. We shift our discussions to treat systemic issues as only system-level issues. That allows us to make the solution someone else’s problem. “Things are bad because of this politician, or this civil servant!” Sometimes that’s true! But as others have said more eloquently, every social endeavor is a group project.

We don’t make progress only by complaining and demanding others fix things. It takes knowing enough about problems and the current system to know what the specific obstacles are, and what is needed to overcome them. It takes understanding not just the impact, but also the root causes and intersection of issues to know what is required to fix something. If a politician is an obstacle, then it takes building an awareness and a coalition of voters to replace them.

We love the drama and intrigue of blaming corruption and lobbying and corporate money. And sometimes those are problems. But most of the issues we face are rooted in the mundanity that is the ignorance of the general population.

Sometimes that is an ignorance of the problems others face. Sometimes it’s an ignorance of the available solutions. Sometimes it’s ignorance of what their representatives are doing that is actively harming them. And that means the struggle is finding every way possible to educate others.

Education can look like a lot of different things. It’s art, it’s personal discussions, it’s media, it’s marches, it’s whatever it takes to get better information in front of people in a way that resonates with them.

The march towards progress will always be an uphill battle, and it will never end. It’s always easier to divide and burn things down than to build and unite.

But it is possible, and it is worth it.

“None the less, he knew that the tale he had to tell could not be one of a final victory. It could be only the record of what had had to be done, and what assuredly would have to be done again in the never-ending fight against terror and its relentless onslaughts, despite their personal afflictions, by all who, while unable to be saints but refusing to bow down to pestilences, strive their utmost to be healers.” - Albert Camus

“The evil that is in the world always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding. On the whole, men are more good than bad; that, however, isn't the real point, but they are more or less ignorant, and it is this that we call vice or virtue; the most incorrigible vice being that of an ignorance that fancies it knows everything and therefore claims for itself the right to kill. The soul of the murderer is blind; and there can be no true goodness nor true love without the utmost clear-sightedness.” - Albert Camus