When political life and independent thought revived in the 1960s, the problem arose again, and the reaction was the same. The Trilateral Commission, bringing together liberal elites from Europe, Japan, and the United States, warned of an impending “crisis of democracy” as segments of the public sought to enter the political arena. This “excess of democracy” was posing a threat to the unhampered rule of privileged elites — what is called “democracy” in political theology. The problem was the usual one: the rabble were trying to manage their own affairs, gaining control over their communities and pressing their political demands. There were organizing efforts among young people, ethnic minorities, women, social activists, and others, encouraged by the struggles of benighted masses elsewhere for freedom and independence. More “moderation in democracy” would be required, the Commission concluded, perhaps a return to the days when “Truman had been able to govern the country with the cooperation of a relatively small number of Wall Street lawyers and bankers,” as the American rapporteur commented.

Noam Chomsky

Because if things can always be worse, then things are never too far gone to be saved. Whatever small thing you could do to improve something, or even just to keep it from slipping, is valuable. Your life, your communities, your environment, your planet, are all worth the effort you put in to improve it, no matter how small the impact can feel. Because things can always, always be worse.

I keenly feel the cynicism, doom and gloom that plagues activists, or even everyday people realising the scale of human suffering. We’ve never been more aware of the injustices and hurt felt around the world today. Simultaneously, we’ve never been more aware of what could be, how so many solutions seem like a mere hair’s breadth away, if only those in power had the guts to reach for it. Sometimes it feels like things have gotten so bad, so desperate, that it’s more cathartic to burn it all down, pronounce it DOA, and be done with it all. At least then we wouldn’t have to suffer in perpetual disappointment. This anger is valid, and reasonable, and important, and needs an outlet every now and then.

But things can always be worse.

Serena Chen