Searching for a Positive Path Forward

Sometimes it can be a struggle to find reasons for optimism, but they can be found

Illustration by Klaus Vedfelt via Getty Images

Mike Pence is out in his quixotic run for president. Democratic congressman Dean Phillips (who?) is in, running against President Biden and advised by Steve Schmidt, who has for years portrayed himself as virulently pro-democracy and anti-Trump. Meanwhile, Donald Trump childishly stormed out of the New York courtroom Wednesday after a second fine for violating a limited gag order, while his unhinged anger is certain to intensify this week when the parade of his offspring, Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka, are scheduled to testify before Judge Arthur Engoron.

Only time will tell whether Rudy Giuliani—who is selling his New York City apartment, dealing with a lien from the I.R.S. on his Palm Beach condo, being sued for millions in unpaid legal expenses and facing increasing jeopardy from his legal ally Jenna Ellis who took a plea deal last week—may eventually grasp that his best avenue to avoid prison depends on testifying against his coup-leading buddy Donald.

Demonstrations of thousands supporting the Palestinians and in some cases Hamas took place this week in New York, London, Baghdad, Rome, Istanbul and elsewhere demanding a ceasefire for Gaza amid escalating civilian casualties, while Turkey’s autocratic president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, expressed his support for Hamas as a “liberation group” and “not a terrorist organization.” Some pro-Palestinian student groups responded to the Oct. 7 Hamas butchery—not with human decency for murdered innocents but—with rhetoric celebrating the “historic win for the Palestinian resistance.” The condemnations of Israel’s military campaign to defend itself against the threat of extermination has forced the Israelis to show select journalists 40 minutes of graphic footage of the October 7 atrocities, including such horrors as Hamas terrorists shooting Kibbutz residents in their beds or sitting on their porches and decapitating a Thai man with a garden hoe while shouting “Allahu akbar” (“God is the greatest”).

Economic news on Thursday illustrating the remarkable GDP growth in the third quarter of 4.9 percent—outperforming expectations and representing a global standout—barely registered. This continued the inability of President Biden and his administration to earn credit for their economic successes from a negative media and instead face a majority who believe the economy is getting worse.

In Maine, news that mass killer Robert Card had failed to purchase a silencer in August because of his mental health struggles offered a slim shred of positive news that his 18 murders by assault rifle did not result in more death; so did finding him dead Friday evening. Yet there remains zero indication that a Republican majority will ever free the country from its sickening commitment to the gun lobby and Second Amendment fanatics.

Sometimes the effort to envision a positive path forward across the body politic leads to inescapable roundabouts or U-turns. Ego, ignorance, hatred and violence can combine to showcase a tragic cocktail and raise doubt about the shape of the future. The new House speaker, unanimously elected by the majority GOP, is a Christian nationalist (for crying out loud) who praises “18th century values”—you know, when slavery was sanctioned and women were expected to be voiceless and subservient. This gives plenty of reason to expect that Mike Johnson’s version of “leadership” means trying his damnedest to mire the country in a regressive slog.

But let me offer a different lens, one resulting from a “water narratives” event I led last week at Arizona State University involving students, artists, scientists and other creative thinkers and makers who are confronting the reality of climate change and societal dysfunction with honesty, creativity and collaboration. This spring and summer, dozens of students learned about communities that are facing serious challenges because of too little water or too much water—in the Southwest, across the U.S. and around the world.

Rather than getting lost in the troubles of rising heat and drought, dwindling supplies of water from the Colorado River, battles over water rights among states and native tribes, as well as rising sea levels and coastal floods putting thousands of towns and cities in danger, these students developed projects intended to encourage audiences to pay attention with empathy, reflect on their personal choices and consider what they can do to make change.

The variety of work included a digital media student’s sound piece about her Nigerian mother sharing her experience fetching water each day when she was a child; a sustainability student writing about his grandparents selling their west Texas cattle ranch because of drought; a marketing and art student photographing everyday objects and detailing how much water their manufacture requires (over 3,100 gallons for a smartphone, for example!); a group video from mostly science and sustainability students featuring interviews with young kids and older adults describing how much water they use each day and what problems the future holds amid rising temperatures; and a journalism student imagining a future decades from now when food shortages may increasingly endanger cities and families.

The projects showcased included narrative writing, video, sound, photography, music, theatre and dance. The result was that several hundred people emerged from a darkened auditorium, I think, with less fear about what lies ahead; instead, many felt encouraged to pay attention to our increasingly extreme climate and its impacts, recognize the growing urgency to do something, pursue these issues and the people involved with empathy, and employ storytelling to help activate social and creative imagination. All this suggests pathways forward, giving us a real chance to both understand and heal what ails us.

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