Start Hacking at the Branches of Evil Making an impact

Henry David Thoreau has had an enormous influence on me ever since I lived in Carlisle, Massachusetts, a few miles up the road from Concord and Walden Pond, where he wrote his book Walden.

This quotation below from Walden has always strongly resonated with me.

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.

Credit: Henry David Thoreau

When I observe and reflect on the world, I see many good people and organizations doing great work caring for others.

But I also see an unsustainable world — a world we are slowly making less habitable.  We are not destroying the world — we are destroying the world’s ability to support us. The world itself will go on a long while yet.

There is much virtue, for example, in saving the lives of millions of people today, but it would be a tragedy to have them starve to death in the coming years due to droughts brought on by global warming.

I look around to find the people and organizations thinking strategically, thinking longer-term, caring about our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and future generations to come.

But I see so little, and I reflect on Thoreau’s words and transform them a little in my mind.

There are a thousand doing good in the world to one who is making a lasting impact.

We should not stop hacking at the branches of evil, but we need to invest more effort in striking at the roots.

We might also want to reflect on the full quote.

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve.

Credit: Henry David Thoreau

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Gurteen Knowledge Café Workshop September 2021