I Have Hope
And You Should Too.
Please note that this post is also on my Substack account. You can read it there by click the link below.
Lately, it’s been pretty hopeless.
I often feel it seeping in when I’m on social media: this bone-crushing depression, this idea that the future is bleak. That everything I currently see means it’s already too late. That the world will burn from climate change. That we will no longer have water, that we’ll run out of these beautiful resources. That data centers will pop up everywhere and those dystopian novels we love so much will become what we’re actually living.
I often feel so defeated navigating this current reality that it paralyzes me. The fear eats me alive, and I find myself unable to do anything.
But then hope trickles in — slow and warm.
I see small acts of kindness in my world, in reality. I see strangers offer to help me carry my suitcase up the stairs. I find people offering me directions and sometimes walking with me to make sure I find the right path. I find people kind enough to give me a tissue on public transportation as I cry my heart out.
I see people in power making an effort to combat some of the issues that feel insurmountable. I connect with a friend or colleague, and for a split second, hearing her say, “I’m feeling that too,” feels like enough.
These moments are only a trickle against the onslaught of fear. And yet, they allow me to hope. They allow me to believe.
So let me share with you the world I choose to believe in.
I believe that we, as a collective, will combat the horrors our forefathers have inflicted on humankind and the world. I believe we will return to learning how to live in harmony with nature and animals.
There will be flowers and trees everywhere. And no, we will not have to worry about those pesky allergies because we won’t just be planting pollinating trees — we will understand the importance of balance. Fruits and vegetables will be grown using natural methods of pest control, and harmful pesticides that make our food unsafe will no longer be accepted as the cost of feeding people.
There will be no world hunger because abundance is nothing to be ashamed of.
I want to believe all of this will come to pass because we will hold corporations accountable. Because we, in the United States and around the world, do not deserve to suffer the consequences of climate change while those most responsible for it continue unchecked.
And yes, it will be slow.
But we will work to reverse the damage through policy, innovation, and accountability. Water, which is so precious, will flow where it is needed, and we will stop denying people access to something so fundamental to human life.
Billionaires will no longer be billionaires, hoarding money like dragons sitting on piles of gold.
(Side note: Are billionaires the new dragons we need to slay?)
AI will be regulated. Scientists, researchers, and people across industries will still use it to do extraordinary things, but they will do so responsibly. And when I need help with something, I will not be forced to talk to an AI chatbot instead of a human being.
There will be plenty of jobs. We will no longer need three to five side hustles just to make ends meet. We will no longer need to make over $100,000 just to pay rent, buy groceries, take an occasional trip, and perhaps even afford to live alone.
And in this future, we will remember the value of community.
Loneliness — the kind that can kill — may not disappear completely. But we will recognize the importance of manners in public, of looking out for one another, of holding space for a stranger on public transportation.
The United States will invest in train travel, and we will be connected by a beautiful railway system that allows for affordable and accessible travel between states. Our loved ones will no longer feel so far away.
Respect for women, for children, and for one another will become fundamental to this new future.
When horrific crimes are committed against women and children, we will hold the people and institutions accountable. We will pressure them. We will not stop. We will not relent. We will not forget all the Jane Does who came before us.
Together, we will educate the public. We will teach the men in our society how to navigate their rage and understand masculinity differently. We will recognize that this is not an individual problem for individual women to solve, but something we must work on collectively.
And we will work toward equality and equity — a world where people are treated in ways that actually accommodate their needs.
The future will be built for disabled people, not just able-bodied people. We will see people in a new light and create systems that reflect that. We will create jobs that recognize that someone may be living with a chronic illness you cannot see simply by looking at them.
I won’t lie to you: this future will take time to build.
It will take time to create, and it will be incredibly hard because we are ordinary people striving for survival while also fighting against what can feel like insurmountable odds.
And yet, we fight.
Because maybe we finally realize that the characters in our books are us.
We have the power of Laia in An Ember in the Ashes, of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, and of all the characters we have watched stand in front of something much larger than themselves and decide to fight anyway.
I desperately need to believe that, as a collective, one day we can create this future.
Because if I believe our dystopian fiction is prophecy — if I believe that future is inevitable — I will cease to exist within the present.
So I choose to believe.
And every day, I ask myself: What can I do to create the future I want?
Notice I said we.
We can create this future. Together. Not by ourselves.
There is hope because there are people all over the world combating harm every single day.
They are organizing, advocating, researching, teaching, helping, and fighting in ways you and I may never even know about.
They are the silent warriors whose names we may never learn.
And maybe that is where hope lives — not in the belief that someone will eventually come along and save us, but in the knowledge that there are already people trying.
We all deserve this future.
So I am asking you to vote.
Vote locally, not just for the president of the United States. Vote for the judges in your borough or your county. Vote for your mayor. Vote for the people whose names appear farther down the ballot, whose decisions may affect your everyday life more than you realize.
And when they don’t do the things they promised?
Hold them accountable.
Pay attention. Speak up. Keep asking questions. Keep demanding better.
And above all, believe that something better is still possible.
Because if dystopia is something human beings can create, then maybe a better world is something we can create, too.
Together.
Cue “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
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