Before anything else, the fact that you’ve found this page should reassure you that you’re thinking clearly – probably more clearly than many – and that you’re right to be concerned about the number of people claiming to have “the answers,” especially when all those answers seem to be different.
It would be easy to judge or be negative, but most of the people using their platforms, positions, or public access to tell the world “how things really are” aren’t doing anything wrong. The chances are they genuinely believe what they’re saying. They genuinely believe their way is the only way.
These voices come from every angle you can imagine. Some are on social media. Some are influencers. Some are podcasters. Some are celebrities. Some are politicians. Some are ideologues, experts, academics. Some are spiritual or religious voices.
Every one of them has an angle based on their own experience. And just because someone has qualifications, a big following, a title, or a platform doesn’t mean they understand what’s happening any better than you – or the people you see and speak to every day.
People in these roles often find themselves heard by default. That can lead some to believe that their ideas are automatically the right ones, or that their perspective should be shared because it must be correct. But in reality, these same people are having the same experiences as you and I. The difference is that they’re talking about them publicly, and when we hear those messages, we recognise parts of our own experience and can fall into the trap of thinking that this is the same thing as listening to leaders.
If you listen carefully, you’ll soon notice that very few of the “solutions” being offered could actually work. A lot of what’s being said is the kind of thing any of us might talk about over coffee or at the pub – ideas about what we’d do if we were in charge, or what we think should happen next.
The problems we face are complicated. Not just because solutions that work for everyone must consider everyone, but because real solutions depend on understanding all the facts that created the problems in the first place. That makes it far too complex to explain everything here – and it also shines a light on the reality that many of the people claiming to have all the answers are well out of their depth too.
This is what makes many of these voices – these “false prophets” – dangerous. Not because they’re bad people, but because they don’t really know what’s going on, and they certainly don’t know what steps it will take to solve the problems that are making life so difficult for so many right now.
The changes we need begin with thinking differently. That means moving away from the “this is what I’d do with what we understand” mentality, and instead embracing the idea that we need to start again with a clean sheet – one that doesn’t begin from the same place that created all the problems we’re facing.
To do that, we need to value what everyone can bring to the table. And that means you.
No political party, agenda, ideology, religion, philosophy, or system that requires us to follow leaders, speakers, or prophets is going to give us the answers society now needs. The answers, outcomes, and solutions can only come from all of us – together.
To find them, we need to put down the digital devices and start looking to the people around us in our everyday lives. People, community, and the environment where we live and work are where the real answers lie. They don’t come tied to qualifications, rules, or requirements that we behave or serve in any particular way.
It’s the people around us – the ones we see face‑to‑face – who we need to listen to, talk with, and work alongside to navigate the difficulties ahead and help us reach the new world we must now move toward.
Adam Tugwell 