After spending the day with other Net Impact chapter leaders, I met some of my fellow students for the Welcome Keynote Address on Thursday night. Generally I find keynote speakers to be most effective when they do not try to appeal to the masses, but instead stick to their beliefs – however controversial they may be. Often times keynote addresses are watered down, express middle of the road opinions, or are unrealistically optimistic. Thankfully, this was not the case.
First, some background. Lord Michael Hastings is KPMG’s Global Head of Citizenship and Diversity. He was previously head of Corporate Social Responsibility at BBC and is currently a Vice President of UNICEF. Michael was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in recognition of his services to crime reduction, and is listed as one of the most influential black people in Britain.
After poking fun of at America and it’s politics, Lord Hastings began by referencing Michael Finkel’s article about Daniel Kish, a blind man who uses echolocation to “see” what he hears. (http://www.bookofjoe.com/2011/05/the-blind-man-who-taught-himself-to-see.html) Similar to bats and whales, Daniel uses sound to visualize his surroundings. He even drives and rides his bike. Listening, Lord Hastings contends, is precisely what our society is lacking. The Occupy Wall Street protests, the riots earlier this year in London, the Arab spring, devastating floods in Pakistan – we all see these events in the news. But are we actually listening to what these events are telling us? Did we listen after the events of 9/11? After the financial crisis? Are we listening as the polar ice caps melt? I agree with Lord Hastings that this generation needs to turn off Jersey Shore and become more aware of its surroundings.
The theme of Lord Hasting’s talk was: “The greatest way to change the world is…” He left this sentence incomplete until the end, when he simply stated – the greatest way to change the world is to overcome cynicism. Not buying CFC lightbulbs; not driving a hybrid; not volunteering; not donating to UNICEF – just simply overcoming cynicism. Lord Hastings contends that “cynicism is what corrodes our capacity to enact change”. Which made me think – what if all of us believed that our small changes made a difference? What if instead of complaining about financial inequities we ran for office and changed the system? What if individualism didn’t exist? Maybe he is on to something. The fact of the matter is simple – society is broken. And nothing will change if cynicism prevails.
I realized shortly after the talk that I am more cynical than I thought. Sure I vote, but I never really believe anything major will change because I distrust the political system. Yeah I try to minimize my footprint, but sometimes I wonder if it really makes a difference. The more I thought about Lord Hasting’s challenge, the more I understood it. No matter what your passion is, or what you think society needs to do to save the world, overcoming cynicism is the first step.
Speaking about religion, 9/11, and morals to an audience of 2000 people (mostly Americans) is no easy task and as expected there were some uncomfortable groans from the audience. In the end, I did not agree with everything that Lord Hastings said on Thursday night, but I was happy he didn’t sugar coat his message for anyone.
