Are you feeling deeply troubled over the state of the world? What if taking action could actually help you worry less? From protests to petitions to select-committee submissions, how are we, the people, standing up? And what role might ‘good news’ play? Sarah Lang is turning her despair into positive actions.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not in overly high spirits right now. My Irritable Bowel Syndrome is flaring up (TMI?) – and I’ve half-jokingly diagnosed myself with something I call Irritable Syndrome. Because reading the news at the moment makes me queasy. It’s hard to avoid seeing Trump’s and Musk’s faces even on New Zealand news sites (I promise to mention them only once more, briefly).
Between that mess, Gaza, Ukraine, other conflicts, humanitarian crises, climate change, gender inequity, and far-right parties wresting power around the world, things aren’t going swimmingly. Sure, in New Zealand, we’ve got it better than most, but this economy, the high cost of living, and rising unemployment (it’s at a four-year high) sure is affecting many of us. As for our current government – well, there are good reasons for its poor approval ratings.
I’m a ruminator who would like to reform. Psychologically, we actually ruminate less and worry less when we take action. So I need to do, more than I need to think. How do I go about that? How might I lift my spirits somewhat and also help bring about change? I’ve decided to try to notice. To notice the good things going on in my neighbourhood, my country, my world. And to notice when we, the people, are standing up.
Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people attended more than 1200 Hands Off! rallies – protesting against Trump and Musk – across all 50 United States, organised by a coalition that includes civil-rights organisations, labour unions, LBGTQIA+ advocates, and veterans. (Smaller Hands Off! protests happened in Europe, including in Berlin, London, Lisbon and Paris.) Some protestors held ‘power to the people’ signs. Some chanted ‘power to the people’.
I won’t mention the States again, except to note an apparent trickle-down effect. A recent survey of New Zealanders by the Helen Clark Foundation found that a third of respondents are open to “having a strong leader who does not have to bother with Parliament and elections”. Yes, my jaw was on the floor. And yes, we’re gonna make darn sure this doesn’t happen.
That very day, I joined a political party. I also signed up to The Democracy Project’s NZ Politics Daily weekday email newsletters with their comprehensive, compendium of links to news and analysis on politics. The Democracy Project is a non-partisan ‘virtual public square’ based at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington but independently run by Dr Bryce Edwards, a research fellow at the university’s Wellington School of Business and Government. “During times of crisis and decision-making,” he says, “a robust and informed public debate is very necessary”. I agree.
In New Zealand, we, the people, have been standing up against the Treaty Principles Bill. I joined the hīkoi in Wellington and, that day, I felt the embrace of the group and the palpable power of collective action made visible and audible. We citizens also united in a more formal way: there were more than 307,000 select-committee submissions (90% opposed), with 529 oral submitters speaking over 79 hours. Last week, the justice select committee recommended that the bill should not proceed. On Thursday, the bill was voted down in its second reading (112 votes to 11; only ACT MPs voted for it). David Seymour vows to continue pushing for change (short for ‘I need to win Epsom again’). But David, the people have spoken.
People power
Protest movements are on the rise worldwide. For starters, visit the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Global Protest Tracker, which tracks protests around the world.
Generally speaking, are protests effective? It varies case by case, but research shows that protests can influence media coverage, public opinion, policy and politics – at least short term. A study conducted by Harvard University and Stockholm University identified how protests are an effective way to cause political change – not always by direct signals to policy-makers, but by getting people more politically activated, with effects on voting and other political participation. That tracks. Joining the hīkoi, climate marches and pro-choice march have made me more politically activated.
Petitions are another way to bring about change. ActionStation is a crowd-funded grassroots campaigning organisation that provides practical, accessible ways for New Zealanders to take action on issues they care about. To influence public opinion and political decisions, it has hosted 1300 community campaigns (you can start your own), gained 1.5 million petition signatures, and made 20,000 Parliamentary submissions. For example, an ActionStation campaign successfully lobbied Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith to commit to introducing an anti-stalking bill. ActionStation also presented its Stop the Treaty Principles Bill petition (with nearly 300,000 signatures) to Parliament after the hīkoi. See its current petitions here (our.actionstation.org.nz/categories).
A good-news day?
It’s quite the tricky balance to be informed enough without experiencing utter overwhelm. As per an expert’s suggestion, I’m now limiting my consumption of ‘hard news’ to 15 minutes twice a day from two trusted sources (not counting work research). By ‘hard news’, I basically mean ‘bad news’. However, the other day, I had a thought: what if I also start reading good news?
The first publication I ever wrote for was the River City Press in Whanganui while on a school work-experience placement. It’s a small, free community newspaper that covers only good news. I thought that was an odd quirk at the time, but I now see why it has a place (it’s still going). Some other community newspapers prioritise good news too.
Also, there’s a book called The Power of Good News: Feeding Your Mind with What’s Good for Your Heart. Hal Urban, a public speaker with a doctorate in education, describes how the media’s focus on negative stories can take a psychological toll. He says there’s far more good news in the world than there is bad, but the good doesn’t get enough exposure. He’s not suggesting we ignore bad-news stories, just that we vary our diets.
If you want to do that, check out the Good News Network website which has an archive of 21,000 positive news stories from around the world. For instance, who knew that an electric-tricycle start-up is helping entrepreneurial women drive change in Africa? Who knew that ambulances gifted by India have helped Sri Lanka save 1.5 million lives? Or that trading cards starring middle-aged men have gone viral in a Japanese town, boosting respect for elders and relationships between the generations?
The Good News Network has a five-star app delivering daily positive news, a weekly Good News Gurus podcast, and a Morning Jolt email newsletter. There’s also BBC Global News podcast The Happy Pod.
And so, reading about and listening to good news (without ignoring the bad) is part of my updated strategy to be informed without being too overwhelmed – and to feel more positive about what we, the people, can achieve.