I am in no place to offer civilization-saving advice, or the one-size-fits-all advice to fix everyone’s problems. I can, however, notice trends, recurring problems, and repeat the advice of so many before me in treating one specific problem.
Defining “two types of people” is overused and simplistic, but in this case I think it’s useful to identify a target audience. There are those that are apathetic to the world, and there are those that want to save it. Most people are a mixture of the two, but that doesn’t mean they're not leaning one way or the other. I’m speaking to those that aren’t apathetic, that see overwhelming problems that they desire to stop, and it can sometimes be despairing to see a world consisting of billions of people shift in a way that you, as one person, are incapable of fixing.
This has been particularly bad with global media and constant news updates. What may have taken a few days to hear about is now available from through a phone notification. Some minor tragedies were unheard of outside of their locality. An now, with the vast amount of data on the Internet, there is a near infinite number of tragedies to learn about if you look for them.
Some people (especially younger people) that look at the big picture and see disturbing trends might develop a God complex. They want to move mountains and change the course of history. And they might be able to do that. They could become the President of the United States and stop a war. They could write that book or deliver that viral speech that really does change the course of history in a major shift.
But they probably won’t.
Even great thinkers of past ages, despite being influential enough that they’re still influencing people today, despaired at the realization that they could not fix history. If they despaired, even with the influence that they had, what hope do we have of not giving into a learned helplessness?
"Occasionally I entertained the hope that my writings would bear practical fruit and show the way for policy. Constantly I have been looking for evidence of a change in ideology. But...I have come to realize that my theories explain the degeneration of a great civilization; they do not prevent it. I set out to be a reformer, but only became the historian of decline.”
-Ludwig von Mises
The lesson that many of these great figures learned and spoke about was the need to start small, and work from there. One may not be able to reverse the breaking apart of the nuclear family, but they have the ability to be a good spouse, parent, or sibling. They may lament the increasing secularization and decline of Christianity, but they can faithfully attend church every week, and help sustain it. They may not be able to fix the healthcare system, but they can participate in it, render the best care they can in their scope, and volunteer, as so many EMTs and Paramedics do.
But, you might object, these are all so tiny. What does it matter to support your local church if your bishop is corrupt? What does it matter if you volunteer in healthcare if a senator’s signature can ruin the lives of millions of people?
The simple answer is that we must start small. That does not mean we must remain small. Of Jordan Peterson’s many messages, the one louder than the rest was “clean your room, bucko.” If you can’t keep your room clean, what hope do you have of doing anything more complicated than that? It’s such a small, easy task. If you can’t find meaning and purpose in that, you might as well give up on curing cancer.
“[I]t is very definitely not the point of view of a misanthrope. Far from it. Any self-improvement which the individual does effect is a gain not only for himself but also for those with whom he comes into contact. Say he makes of himself a better keeper of bees, a more reliable banker, a more finished actor, does he not add to the fund of satisfaction by which men live? Every man becomes his brother’s keeper by way of self-improvement, and it is the only way.”
-Frank Chodorov
There is a stereotype of young political activists that is largely true. These self-described activists will be commenting on world affairs, volunteering to campaign for their preferred political candidate, posting fifty tweets a day, and then ask for help paying rent. They are doing so much to fix the world, and yet failing in their own personal life.
I don’t mean to attack people that hit a rough patch and genuinely need help. If you’ve had a run of bad luck, there’s nothing wrong with asking for help, and it is virtuous to support those in need, when they need it. However, if this is not simply “a run of bad luck,” but one’s own life is in shambles, perhaps devoting time to political activism is not the smartest decision (I speak from experience).
There is meaning in doing anything right. If you work for fast food, do the best you can. Being excellent in big things requires being excellent in small things first. Ignoring the small things to fix the world means failing at everything. Once you’ve mastered one thing, you can move from there. If you have any chance of solving the world’s problems, you must work your way up by mastering what you have control over. Chance are you won’t solve the world’s problems yourself, but you can make things ever so slightly better through what you have control over.
You might lament (and if you don’t, you should) the rising obesity trends. Well, there’s a very clear role you can play in reversing that trend. If you are obese, you can fix the world through losing weight. Once you’ve done that, you can inspire and help others to do so as well. You may not reverse an economic recession, but you’ve succeeded where you can rather than failing much more broadly.
This is one of the reasons why I write. I may not write a treatise that saves civilization, but I can try to influence others to improve. Even if nobody reasons this, I am working on improving my writing through practice. I am laying out my thoughts in an imperfect way so that I may improve. And while I fail to write as often as I like, it is usually because I’m devoting that time to other good things. I could decide to write four articles a day, and neglect the other things, but that would not be right. We must fulfill our most basic obligations, and build up what we have control over. Then, and only then, do we have the potential to move onto greater things.