If we want to change the world, working with governments is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. There is a crucial role for radicals in the best sense of the word—those who push for systemic change to achieve a moral ideal. In fact, the central argument in The Art of the Possible: A Handbook for Political Activism is that we need both radicals and reformers to see historic progress on all the issues we care about.
John Sewell emphasizes the importance of moral leadership to achieving social change. To be sure, many people hope to be inspired by visionary leaders who can lead them to political action. For many more, personal outrage is the only reason they decide to get involved in politics at all. But while inspiration and outrage are powerful motivators, they rarely get the job done.
We all look up to and admire those who can articulate the solutions to our dilemmas with a clarity that only great orators can achieve. Ultimately, however, the issues that are defining this generation—global warming and detention without a fair trial—all break down into a series of unglamourous policy choices that must be confronted directly and accurately, one by one.
Sewell also rightly points out that today, individual or corporate social entrepreneurs are bypassing a lot of red tape and addressing both the big picture and local social problems with good business ethics and a lot of common sense. What he doesn’t mention is that even when social change is initiated completely outside of government (as with the Grameen Bank, for example) government inevitably plays a make-or-break role as either facilitator or obstructionist to a good idea’s continued success.
Today there are too many radicals and far too few reformers. I do not claim that being a reformer is easy. But the goal of The Art of the Possible is to provide a handbook for those serious about turning outrage into action.
