The future is better than you think

… a brief talk with Michael Lind, Founding partner/Head of Sustainability at Uniforms for the Dedicated and key speaker at Creative Mornings Sthlm on February 20th.

Are we too dystopic?

I would say so, yes. Of course there are bad things happening in the world and there are people suffering, too many are, but a lot of good stuff is happening also. More people than ever before rise from poverty, more than ever before educate themselves and so on. The world is moving in the right direction!  

So why are we so negative?

Unfortunately good news makes for bad headlines. We are constantly bombarded with the most horrifying news about the state of the world: wars, diseases, terrorism, environmental disasters and other terrible incidents. All the positive things that are happening just get much less attention. It’s sad. But if you shift focus they are there. We just have to look trough different windows.

Do you think it’s up to each and every one to find the positives?

Yup. We live in an environment where our actions affect the world around us: businesswise as well as in private. So, either we can sit around and complain about the state of the world, or we can actually do something about it. It isn’t hard. Start small. Start with an area you are interested in. Dig a little deeper and you’ll see there are a lot of good things happening. Hopefully it will inspire you to get involved.

Have you got an example?

Sure. I’m a surfer. I can see the oceans getting more and more polluted. But I can also see that people are getting more conscious about the oceans. On all levels. Doing everything from picking up rubbish at the beach to declaring marine parks and habitats to protect our seas. That makes me happy, the feeling that yes – we can turn this around. Also, it’s much nicer to surf when you’re not swimming in trash.