Chocolate flavoured People Power

Today’s U-turn by choc industry giant coupled with the latest youtube viral video has given me the last smidgeon of evidence that I need to back my personal belief that Human Beings Can Do Anything They Put Their Minds To.

In less than a fortnight, tens of thousands of people outraged over the injustice of the milk solids being replaced by palm oil have exerted enough influence to see a tail between legs apology from Cadbury.

Isn’t it weird that it takes us being incensed about something as seemingly trivial as recipe changes to a luxury food item to discover the profound environmental impacts of our food choices, but also to begin to understand the potential power and influence of our collective consumer voice and preference?

I have spent many years wondering if my optimism and hopefulness about humanity was really self delusion and an inability to grasp the truth about humanity’s immanent decline. It certainly is a much more pleasant space to occupy in my mind; contemplating the opportunities for mankind as opposed focusing on all the ways we seem hell-bent on destroying ourselves.

Actually I have discovered that my hope stems not from a belief that we will avert a crisis (um, the majority of the population of this planet is currently experiencing a life lived in a state of poverty) nor that we will avoid suffering (c’mon people - look at our domestic violence rates, our world rankings in terms of suicide, depression, child deaths, personal debt, obesity…) . We are just going to experience more and more degrees of suffering as part of our process of learning some pretty major lessons about human potential.

This week, our Government has put us on the international stage, earning us the dishonorable “Fossil Award” for our cowardly emissions reduction target. I feel shamed.

Fellow New Zealanders under the age of 45… don’t wait for this Government to legislate for the country that we want to inherit. They just won’t be as brave and optimistic as we can be. They don’t know how to even begin to engage with the new world that we know is emerging.

Lets just take our matters into our own hands. We know how to engage with our communities, we know how to adapt. We can sense the opportunities that are present. We are more powerful than a government - we are profoundly connected in this age and we have no one else to pander to. Or is that strictly true? I personally feel the extreme lobby pressure of the future generations.

There is nothing that holds us back except our disbelief of our own ability to effect great change. Change is inevitable. Will we Be Cause?

Who’s really holding us back? Them? Or us?