First, I support people who choose to work through government to stop our degrading Earth’s ability to sustain life. I believe they can achieve a lot. I want to get them votes. But I see other ways to lead that others aren’t doing where I can affect more.

When I concluded the most important missing action on sustainability was leadership about a decade ago, I considered running for office. We often call our elected officials leaders, though few lead by my definition. My role models who changed cultures, like Mandela, King, Gandhi, Buddha, Jesus, Laozi, and their peers, started outside government.

This chart reinforces my conclusion not to try to act through government. I’m open to working with government after I start making a huge effect and have hosted many elected officials on my podcast, but I’ll stick with leading without authority.

Here’s The problem with “Governments and corporations have to change”, but briefly, changing government is a mid-marathon goal, not the starting point. If we act like we have to reach the midway point before we start, we’ll never start.

If we start, we’ll enjoy the process and finish sooner. Yes, you acting here and now doesn’t solve all the world’s problems, but it’s the best place to start.

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• 476: Tom Murphy, part 3: The Science Book of the Decade →