Almost everyone wants change. We want better education, healthier living conditions, economic growth, and greater civic-mindedness. There is often consensus on the direction we should take.
The difficulty usually begins with the question: who needs to change? I mentioned this just last Sunday on the radio programme *Touché* with Friedl Lesage: the list of people who want change is long, but the list of people who are willing to change is considerably shorter.
Take the debate on reading. Alarming reports about declining reading skills among young people appear regularly. Teachers are worried, as are parents, and opinion leaders write concerned articles. It is a debate that is widely felt, and rightly so.
But at the same time, an uncomfortable question arises. How often do adults themselves pick up a book? How often do children actually see their parents reading? Reading is one of those things we like to think is important. But it has become less of a matter of course to actually do it.
You see the same thing in the debate about smartphones. Many adults are concerned about young people’s screen use. About concentration and the constant stream of stimuli.
But take a look around on a train or in a restaurant. Who is actually without a smartphone? How often do we consciously put it away ourselves? How often do we have a conversation without glancing to see if a message has come in?
It is a curious paradox of our times. We have a keen eye for the behaviour of others, but a much more lenient view of our own behaviour.
We live in a society where we increasingly expect problems to be solved by someone else. By the government, by companies, by schools, by technology. At the same time, we have all become consumers of systems that we ourselves try to influence only to a limited extent. We do not lack a voice, but we often lack the drive to act.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with having expectations of society. Democracy is, in fact, all about formulating demands and engaging in debate.
When he became president, John F. Kennedy once asked Americans not only to ask what their country could do for them, but also what they could do for their country.
I am asking them again today. Not of the Americans, but of you. Are you concerned about the times in which you live? Well, then be the change you are calling for.
Julien De Wit is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker and founder of Think Ahead, and has just published his third book: “The Comeback Code”.
This article previously appeared in “De Zondag”
