Last night I dreamed people actually wanted to act, themselves, personally, not just talk.

Memories of dreams fade fast, so I don’t remember the details, but I remember people asking, “What should I do?” with interest and curiosity instead of, with cynicism and incredulity, “What should I do?”, as if there was no answer.

I dreamed that people realized they had to change their lives and wanted to.

I woke up realizing that most people’s talk about sustainability is why they shouldn’t change from behavior that they know hurts others without their consent, to excuse not changing, to blame others, to say what others should do, or some combination.

I live in a world where people spend their words and activity opposing sustainability—that is, opposing the stopping of depriving people of life, liberty, and property without their consent.

It may have been a dream, but I can’t tell you how refreshing it felt for people to embrace extending liberty, freedom, equality, and democracy to everyone, as well as health, safety, and security. For people to think of how their actions affect others, not just to think of themselves when they knew their behavior affected others and their government was designed to protect others’ equal rights.

I didn’t consciously try to create the dream. I was as surprised as anyone to experience it. I may have missed conscious awareness of it had I not had to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Maybe I’ve been dreaming dreams like it many times.

Maybe it will happen in waking life.

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• The New York Times on population →