Solutions needed

We must adapt, create better world

The drastic change in cultural values that occurred in the past couple of decades came too fast, too soon for many Americans, creating a strong conservative backlash and prompting a nostalgic desire to return to the “simple” times of the 1950s (at least by those who could ignore the overt racism and misogyny).

We will always have people who will never accept change, who see any change as destroying a way of life. To them, the world of their childhood is the way it ought to be, which is one reason people who grew up in the

’40s and ’50s can’t abide today’s changes.

Their childhood world is, for them, the norm, even though it was new in the historical time frame.

For example, when I lived in North Carolina, my neighbor was incensed that people wanted to build new houses on her mountainside, spoiling its woodsy views. Never mind that her house was only 10 years old and had also spoiled the view that was there before she came. The “norm” to her was what she experienced, not what existed before her.

Fortunately, the never-changers are a minority. The rest of us will adapt as we need to, but today we need to do more than adapt — we need to create the change we want. And we don’t have time to dawdle.

The world we have created is collapsing, and we are being faced with challenges we have no idea how to deal with.

Racial minorities are rising up and claiming their rights; women are no longer silently accepting abusive treatment; differently gendered people are insisting on acceptance. The coronavirus has created a whole new group of the unemployed; businesses are failing left and right; school campuses are closing; hospitals are swamped; suicides are increasing; and deaths from drug overdoses are rising alarmingly.

Unemployed renters are being evicted, with nowhere to go, potentially creating a whole new flood of homelessness. How are our cities going to cope with that?

Some people find they like working remotely at home, and their bosses discover they don’t need all that expensive real estate for offices. What happens to all those empty office buildings? Studying at home online is a benefit for some students, who didn’t succeed in the typical classroom. What happens to our traditional school systems when many students learn better online?

Many oil and gas companies are declaring bankruptcy. What happens to that industry that fuels so much of our lives? How can we live without it?

People are discovering they like cooking at home and saving money. What happens to the restaurant industry when people don’t go out to eat?

Our health-care system is stretched beyond capacity, revealing a long-time disparity for minority populations. How can we have a health-care system that works for everyone, all the time?

The number of covid-19 deaths of incarcerated inmates highlights the injustice of our criminal justice system. How can we redesign the system to be both fair and effective?

Meanwhile, climate change looms over it all, affecting everything.

We are in a time of transition, when the old systems aren’t working but we don’t have new ones to put in place. We need to develop new systems, quickly — and compassionately.

Gradual change is easier to deal with than sudden disruption, but we don’t have that option. The disruption is upon us, and we need to find immediate solutions.

We can’t expect the solutions to come from professionals, the experts, because they are products of the old system and are immersed in it. Their careers are based on obsolete theories. Real change will need to come from the grass roots, from ordinary people like you and me. Remember, this country was settled by people starting over.

We Americans are resourceful, resilient, and smart. I envision small groups of us meeting all over the country, brainstorming novel ways to recreate our failing systems.

Together we can develop new systems that work, both now and in the long term. Not tweaks to the old systems, but new business models, new learning systems, new health-care models, new energy systems, new ways of growing and distributing food.

We can create a better world. We need it. Our children deserve it.