When you start thinking about the world’s big problems, or even just try to understand how one system is working or not working for the benefit of humanity, it can get pretty overwhelming.
I think it’s scary enough for most people to stop trying right then. They see a faceless government agency or corporation and decide they don’t have what it takes to understand them, much less change them.
What I often have to remind myself is that our world is all about people. It was built by people. It was meant to benefit people, and without people, it would cease to exist.
That means it’s run by people too, and not super-brained people either: people just like you and me.
I recently remembered the first time I realized this. When I was 14 or so, my sister, who was a new driver, hit someone’s mailbox with our family car. I shadowed my sister as she went back to the house the next day to tell the owners what had happened. She went to the hardware store with them to buy a new post and a bag of concrete. Together, they removed the old post and set a new one.
She was really nervous every step of the way, but she had the skills to deal with the situation. What she first saw as a scary “homeowner” turned out to be a person. She knew how to talk to people. She was respectful and took responsibility for her mistake, and the people she had to work with responded as most people do, with kindness and respect.
Whenever you get caught up in the idea of a big scary government or corporation or any other human-made entity, remember that there are people behind the scary mask. As a person yourself, you’re eminently qualified to deal with them.