People by-and-large rely on politicians to bring about the change that they want to see. In doing so they imagine only a very small set of possibilities (as to what kind of world or society is possible) — those which are deemed ‘sensible’ and expedient by the political classes. This means that people (non-politicians) more-or-less ignore their own imagination. And over time their imagination becomes dormant.

Compulsory state schooling plays a large role in subduing people’s imagination. The ‘dreamer’ or the student who allows their mind ‘to wander’ is typically penalized; the student who suppresses their imagination and creative urges and focuses on rote learning often ‘excels’ from the perspective of the school system.

But imagination is a sacred gift, and should be nurtured at every opportunity, especially when it is employed to solve or explore moral and social problems and dilemmas.

To make this less abstract, we can consider a social issue that affects society at large — housing and shelter (or the lack thereof for many people). We have been conditioned to rely on ‘authorities’ and bureaucrats to ‘fix’ this problem for us. I personally contend that this is a bad idea. ^[1]

We need to explore ways of solving this problem ourselves — without waiting for the go-ahead of so-called experts or authorities. (Indeed, it is quite possible that doing this will place us at loggerheads with such parties.) We will have to employ our imagination for this purpose. This article is an invitation — a nudge — to start doing so now. And, while you’re at it, feel free to re-kindle your imagination permanently — and ‘keep it lit’.

I’m not suggesting that people embark on completely outlandish projects or devote time, energy, resources and money to ideas which defy basic logic or even the laws of physics. We do need to be realistic about what is possible. Just because we want something doesn’t mean it is automatically possible.

Embracing one’s imagination doesn’t mean taking leave of reality — at least when we are employing our imagination to improve practical matters ‘on the ground’ (as opposed to, say, to create art or music).

So there’s something to be said for polite and healthy skepticism. There is another attitude which might be confused with skepticism, however, but which is not healthy and which is the product of a very different mindset. I will refer to this here as ‘toxic cynicism’, and the people who embrace this attitude simply as ‘cynics’.

Cynics have adopted what Mark Passio refers to as a ‘poisoned worldview’. According to such a worldview, meaningful positive change — on any sort of wide scale — is not possible, so why bother trying to effect it? This attitude implies that we should just sit back and ignore moral transgressions and violations of people’s natural rights, because ‘that’s just the way it (society) is’.

By telling you that change is not possible, cynics are trying to drag you down to their level. Once they have done that they can feel better (at least temporarily) about their laziness and cowardice, and their pathetic lack of effort to bring about any sort of positive change in the world. About their complete inaction.

The cynic’s objections (to ‘radical ideas’) are not based on morality, or even logic. Their disapproval of radical ideas — if they could find the words to even articulate and explain themselves clearly — is generally that such ideas are ‘odd’, or ‘weird’, or that they run counter to public opinion or public sentiment. But declaring an idea or plan as ‘odd’ or ‘weird’ implies nothing about its moral content; and ‘public sentiment’ has little or nothing to do with morality either.

If such a cynic laughs and mocks you for entertaining ‘wild ideas’ — for imagining that a beautiful world is possible — calmly explain to them the following. Explain to them that the only limits you will allow to be imposed on the human imagination are 1. the laws of physics (the physical limitations), and 2. the Golden Rule (the moral boundaries). Then tell them to fuck off.