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Each new year brings new possibilities and opportunities. Even times of crisis can inspire us to make things new and better. Here, I build on insights from multiple sources to argue that 2026 can be a year that empowers us to create a better society.
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In her book with Douglas Abrams, *The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times* [ [link removed] ], Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist, discusses the four pillars of her optimism: human intellect, nature’s resilience, the power of youth, and the unbreakable human spirit.
The human mind builds on prior knowledge, creating new metaphors and understanding. We can stand on each other’s shoulders if we are humble enough to realize how little progress we can make alone and if we are willing to offer our own shoulders for others to stand on. Today, many marketing and social media experts have learned how to manipulate our emotions to gain the attention, profit, and power they seek. In the end, however, they can neither burn enough books nor produce enough gobbledy-gook to stop our pursuit of deeper understanding.
Goodal also discusses the resilience of nature, its ability to adapt and recover. She reminds me of one of my favorite stories from Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants [ [link removed] ]. Kimmerer asks her students whether they love nature and the land. Most quickly respond, “Yes.” Then she asks, “Do you think that the earth loves you back?” At first, they are surprised by the question, but it prompts them to reflect on how generously nature, the earth, and the land sustain and nourish them throughout their lives.
The power of young people, in many respects, stems from their relative lack of experience. Their minds are less filled with metaphors or fixed understandings that have become more rigid among us older individuals. They are freer to explore and experiment, to discover new insights and lead in innovative ways. It’s risky but exciting.
Regarding the indomitable human spirit, Goodal reminds us that every act of kindness moves us forward. No matter how powerless we might feel when trying to move mountains and governments, we must constantly seek out and harness the real power within each of us to serve others daily, even as we strive to unite with them in greater efforts.
A very different style of writing, the tracking of demographic shifts by researchers like Neil Howe and Richard Jackson, also makes me hopeful. One might initially think that the data they examine would make one pessimistic. For instance, Jackson, the president and founder of the Global Aging Institute [ [link removed] ], details the many challenges worldwide arising from low fertility.
However, these researchers mainly analyze data that provide both a historical perspective and the ability to project some consequences if current trends persist.
Although we may add social and political interpretations, along with policy proposals to adapt or respond to those perspectives and projections, the underlying historical facts remain essentially undeniable. In that sense, they empower us far more than opinions based solely on group prejudice or personal whim.
Neil Howe has gained recognition for his efforts to offer a generational perspective on these trends, though you can find much more in Demography Unplugged [ [link removed] ], his Substack column. You might not know his name, but you’ve definitely heard some of his ideas. Along with William Strauss, he coined the term “Millennial” to refer to those born around the turn of the millennium, roughly from 1980 to 2000.
You don’t need to agree with their exact generational boundaries or “turnings” to recognize their insight into how history often progresses in phases or eras. They suggest that history repeatedly follows a cycle: a High era of confidence and strong institutions; an Awakening that sparks spiritual questioning and cultural rebellion; an Unravelling, where individualism conflicts with weakening institutions; and a Crisis (Fourth Turning) that results in the creation of a new social order. In their 1997 book, they indicated that we were already entering a new crisis stage or Fourth Turning [ [link removed] ].
Many people today agree that we are in the midst of a global upheaval, partly related to the end of Pax Americana after World War II and partly, in my view [ [link removed] ], to the completion of a modern era in which, for many, better government meant ever-bigger government. But history shows us hope that a crisis can lead to stronger institutions; it then urges us to work hard to create them well.
While writing this column, I came across many valuable sources of wisdom on hope, including warnings that the goals are long-term. Feel free to add your own thoughts to my small collection. Here’s hoping that 2026 brings you many blessings and fulfillment of some of your own hopes.
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