There is a new, heartening trend out there.
Optimism.
Each day, we read (or hear second-hand) news that brings us tales of human injustices like murder, poverty, gender violence, and child abuse. This sad knowledge forms a foundation for the tide of details about accidents like plane crashes, natural disasters and floods. We are saddled with grief if we are feeling people, and we are labelled as ignorant if we ignore the obvious.
The problem is the optimists. They are actually disproving the commonly held assertion that life is getting worse. The book Factfulness, by the late Hans Rosling and published by his family just this year, was my first introduction to rabidly optimistic views. And today I read “Are things getting better or worse,” an upsetting article written by Joshua Rothman in the New Yorker; it is upsetting in that it upsets the common beliefs of our collective pessimism. Rothman quotes content from scholars and experts around the world that further inform us that by virtually any standard, life is getting better for everyone on the planet. Life expectancy, murder, disease, abuse, addiction…you name it: the statistics in both the wealthy and the less wealthy parts of the world are staggeringly good.
We are easily swayed by bad news. And increasingly we don’t hear the good news. But good news is all around us.
Social enterprise is good news. It is not flawless, nor is it easy, but it is a positive tool about which we can all be optimistic. Imagine: businesses that exist only for the purpose of improving the lives, livelihoods and experiences of our people in our communities.
It is my experience that social enterprise flourishes when social problems feel overwhelming. There are spectacular examples of social enterprise addressing the needs of communities in the North End of Winnipeg, the Downtown East Side in Vancouver, the impoverished areas of Nova Scotia, and many of the aspiring First Nation communities scattered across the country.
I encourage you to visit the links page at the Social Enterprise Council of Canada, or visit Buy Social Canada, Social Enterprise Ontario, or the nascent Akcelos to see listings of social enterprises active in the market. Or read the many well researched reports that celebrate the impact of social enterprises at the Social Enterprise Sector Survey.
Celebrate the optimism.
Support social enterprises across the country as a customer. Learn about how social enterprises are changing the status quo for the better. Believe that even when there are challenges, there are innovative human solutions hard at work.