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how a small group can change the world

How a Small Group Can Change the World

Posted on March 14, 2022January 22, 2023

When it comes to people in my surroundings, I behave differently than them. I take the climate crisis very serious and to be honest, I don’t think I have direct friends or family who live like me. They either still fly, eat meat or dairy or have other habits that don’t allow them to live within the earth’s capacity. But you know what? That’s is okay for now. Why? Because everybody will change eventually. Today I want to tell you about how a small group can change the world.

Frustration

It can be lonely and frustrating too, you know. If people ignore all that is going on in the world and ignore it in sake of their own pleasure, that hurts. And it hurts more knowing that they can actually do better. I believe almost everybody can live like me, it’s a piece of cake for someone with the same privileges as me. What’s even more frustrating is people who say they will never change. They will never stop eating dead carcasses and inflicting pain on others for example. But here’s the thing: I know they will change one day.

Societal Change

Over the years I have read more and more about societal change. It does not happen over night, not at all. Societal change takes decades, but I believe it’s inevitable when people keep fighting for that good cause. I like to think that many causes have grown, like the anti-racism movement or the intersectional feminism movement for example. There are a million flaws still there and there is a lot to be done still, but we’re moving forwards every single day. We’re slowly adapting to new norms, even people who never believed that they could change. New generations grow with better norms.

So, change happens, just not as fast as we want it to. Another thing that I would like to mention is that it doesn’t take all of society to do something for it to become the new normal. I’ve read different numbers on this issue, but I’ll stick with 3-10 per cent. 3-10 per cent of people need to change in order for the rest to follow. Yes, it only takes that small part of a group to make a real change. And you see this with veganism nowadays. We’re a little group still, way less than 10 per cent of society. But we’re growing every day. And once we make it past that 3-10 per cent then society is going to quickly transition to veganism until it’s the new norm.

‘Scientists have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of people who simply change their beliefs if their last two social interactions agreed with a new one’

Wikipedia

Fantastic News

And that’s amazing news! Sometimes it may feel like we have to change the world and everybody on it. But the case is: we don’t have to! We just have to get 3-10 per cent of all people om board and then the rest will come automatically. That is how a small group can change the world. That’s because people are like sheep; we want to be part of a group and not be the odd one out. Very important: I only believe that this can happen with norms that are inherently good, like anti-racism or veganism. That’s because as the group grows, so will the conversation about it. People will really start thinking about their core values. Some things are just done by people because they were used to it, like eating dead bodies because people were raised a certain way.

Change The World

And so, what individuals do matters. I hear the argument: ‘but nothing is going to change when I change because there’s billions of people on this planet’ way too often. And even before this post I thought it was a louzy argument. But now I also know that it’s simply not true. One individual does matter. It makes the whole group built up towards that 3-10 per cent. And then eventually everybody will change. Why not be part of the first changemakers to do something for this planet and the livings beings on it? You can wait too, but eventually you will change.

What about you? How do you believe a small group can change the world?

Yours sincerely,
Romee

Follow my personal journey on Instagram.

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ABOUT ME

 

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

Here’s what I posted most recently

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Ik gebruik al jaren een bamboe tandenborstel, die van Humble Brush 🎋. Naast dat hun product duurzaam is, doen ze ook wat moois met de winst. Dat maakt een product nou echt eco-positief! Je leest meer over poetsen met bamboe op mijn blog, via de link in mijn bio. Vandaag op de blog: iets waarbij de relatie met eco-positief leven wat indirect is: diëten. Januari is dé maand waarin veel mensen weer aan het diëten slaan en daarom leek het me goed om deze post nog net op de valreep in januari te delen. De blog van vandaag gaat slechts over één van de vele nadelen van diëten: het leidt ons af van wat echt belangrijk is 🧐. Weten waarom ik dat denk? Lees dan nu het artikel via de link in mijn bio. Ik ga dit jaar weer de challenge aan om de winter door te komen zonder de warming aan te zetten. Hiervoor ging mijn essential, een warmwaterkruik 💦, kapot. In deze reel laat ik je zien hoe ik een ‘nieuwe’ tweedehands kruik kocht. Vandaag te lezen op whenateengoesgreen.com: een inspirerende documentary over Greta Thunberg: I am Greta. Een documentaire over hoop, maar vooral over doorzettingsvermogen 🔥. Lees het nu via de link in mijn bio. Meer vegan producten in de schappen, yay! Gisteren probeerde ik voor het eerst de vegan lentil tikki masala saus van Patak’s 🧑🏼‍🍳. Zie in deze reel wat ik ervan vond. Vandaag verscheen er een nieuw artikel op mijn blog over: 5 dingen die ik niet koop. Want we denken vaak dat we dingen écht nodig hebben, maar vaak is dat niet zo 🧠. Check het artikel via de link in miijn bio. Vorige week verscheen er een artikel op mijn blog over alles wat ik nieuw kocht in 2022. Dat is een groot deel van mijn negatieve impact. Deze week was het tijd om te kijken naar de andere kant van de medaille. Vandaag lees je op mijn blog een artikel over al mijn positive impact in 2022 🌞. Je vind de link naar het artikel in de link in mijn bio. Afgelopen week verscheen er op mijn blog een artikel over alles wat ik nieuw heb gekocht in 2022. Eén ding op de lijst waren deze onderbroeken (een stuk of 20). En nu denk je misschien: waarom zou je in één keer zoveel onderbroeken kopen? Op 31 december, nog net op de valreep in 2022, kwam er een video online op mijn Youtube-kanaal over voedselcoöperaties. Ik denk namelijk dat voedselcoöperaties ons voedselsysteem democratischer en eerlijker kunnen maken 🥦.

Read my latest posts

  • The last secondhand clothing inspiration of 2022
  • Dieting distracts us
  • Documentary: I am Greta
  • 5 things I don’t buy
  • My positive impact in 2022

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