Member-only story

“Think globally, act locally” was the wrong advice

No wonder we‘re so confused about how to make progress

Kristine Hadeed
3 min readJun 5, 2024
Image generated by DALL-E3

The sentiment behind the idea to “Think globally, act locally” is a nice one: it suggests being considerate of the interrelated nature of life on Earth when we make decisions, especially those that impact the environment or foreign trade dynamics.

But I don’t think it’s computing in a productive way for most people.

Personally, when I try to apply the advice to my own actions, I find myself stricken into a state of information overload: What is the “butterfly effect” of my actions on a global scale? How can I be sure that the local actions I think are best — based on the circumstances I am aware of — won’t cause some sort of adverse, unintended global consequence?

I can barely keep track of what is happening in my own backyard, let alone on a global scale. Trying to figure out how everything is related often leads to a state of paralysis, which is the antithesis of progress.

And I sense that I am not alone in this feeling.

As a professional community organizer, part of my job is to help people identify the change they want to make in their communities, and then unpack why they are not taking steps toward creating that change. Often, confusion…

--

--

Kristine Hadeed
Kristine Hadeed

Written by Kristine Hadeed

Critical thinker and non-partisan community organizer advocating for the liberation and dignity of all people.

No responses yet