You change society by changing the wind. Change the wind, transform the debate, recast the discussion, alter the context in which political discussions are being made, and you will change the outcomes... You will be surprised at how fast the politicians adjust to the change in the wind.
Interpretation
Changing the dynamics of society requires altering the foundational conversations and contexts within it.
This quote emphasizes the importance of influencing the underlying discussions that shape societal norms and political outcomes. Jim Wallis suggests that by changing the metaphorical 'wind'—the context and environment of discourse—one can guide politicians and society towards meaningful transformation. The assertion is that those in power are responsive to shifts in public sentiment and dialogue.
In practice
In a speech advocating for climate change action, one might say, 'As Jim Wallis reminds us, you change society by changing the wind.'
Trade is now clearly designed to favor the wealthiest and most powerful corporations at the expense of the rest of us. The three wealthiest people on earth now control more assets than the combined incomes of 600 million people in the world's 48 poorest countries.
Last year, Americans spent $450 billion on Christmas. Clean water for the whole world, including every poor person on the planet would cost about $20 billion. Let's just call that what it is: A material blasphemy of the Christmas season.
Healthcare should be a human right and not a commodity for sale.
Sometimes it takes a natural disaster to reveal a social disaster.
At times I think the truest image of God today is a black inner-city grandmother in the United States or a mother of the disappeared in Argentina or the women who wake up early to make tortillas in refugee camps. They all weep for their children, and in their compassionate tears arises the political action that changes the world. The mothers show us that it is the experience of touching the pain of others that is the key to change.
When faced by any loss, there’s no point in trying to recover what has been, it’s best to take advantage of the large space that opens up before us and fill it with something new.
I believe that every single one of us, celebrity or not, has a responsibility to get involved in trying to make a difference in the world. Our generation faces many challenges, some of which were passed on to us by the past generations, but it's up to us to find solutions today so that we don't keep passing our problems on.
There is no power in the world like that of women ... this most potent constituency we seek to represent, and for their suffrages we sue.
Through protest - especially in the 1950s and '60s - we, as a people, touched greatness. Protest, not immigration, was our way into the American Dream. Freedom in this country had always been relative to race, and it was black protest that made freedom an absolute.
The world has entered an era of the most profound and challenging change in human history.
Illness strikes men when they are exposed to change.
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