Are you enjoying the start of 2026? Just to name a few notable events so far, the USA is threatening to take Greenland from fellow NATO allies, by force if necessary. The Venezuelan President, Nicholas Maduro was extracted from his home in a hugely successful military operation, unless you were one of his Cuban bodyguards of course. And the Board of Peace has been inaugurated. This consists of mainly authoritarian regimes who must pay $1 billion for the privilege of joining. To be fair 2026 is simply a continuation of trends that were established in the last few years, and ones I think are unlikely to change any time soon. To me the world, and the USA in particular, seems to be ‘going through something’ right now. This trend is unlikely to change until that process is complete, which it doesn’t look like it is yet. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic about the future.
In the past this state of optimism about the world hasn’t always been a popular one. German polymath, mathematician, and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716) was famous for saying that he believed we lived in the best possible and most balanced world, because it was created by an all-powerful, all-knowing God. Some years later the French writer and philosopher Voltaire wrote his novella Candide (1759), specifically to satirise Leibniz’s optimistic philosophy. Candide, from the French for naïve or innocent, is the main character. Leibniz is represented in the book as Professor Pangloss, an exponent of optimistic philosophy, through which a positive spin is put on all possible adverse behaviours and outcomes. Throughout the story Voltaire depicts the evils of the world and the hapless Candide’s attempts to fit them into an optimistic philosophy. An endeavour which he eventually abandons.
Voltaire’s work points directly at, what is known in philosophy as, The Problem of Evil. One of the earliest formulations of this ‘problem’ was made by Greek philosopher Epicurus (341–270 BCE). “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent? Is he able, but not willing? Then is he malevolent? If he is both able and willing? Then why is there evil?” This is often used as a logical proof for the non-existence of an all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving god. This debate eventually wanders into definitions of the nature of God, and good and evil. Perhaps God is all things and not necessarily good or evil. Perhaps there is a reason for certain evils to exist, because they prevent even greater evils. Or what appears to us to be evil is merely some sort of illusion. Or that overall, in totality, everything is good, even if there is some evil here or there. If people aren’t interested in the debate about whether God exists or not, there still remains something to be understood about human behaviour. Why is it that some people seek to kill, dominate, or otherwise do harm to others. There are unlikely to be easy or simple answers to any of these questions.
In Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) we say that no experience comes with a built-in meaning. We choose, often unconsciously what our experiences mean. And in any experience that does not work out well, we ask, what can I learn from this? The way I look at all of this is through the lens of the Yin Yang symbol. Both good and evil seem to exist, and they represent choices we can make in our lives. I can make choices in my life about what I think, how I feel, and what I do. I can choose to subdivide, disconnect, and separate, or I can choose to integrate, connect, and expand. I can also choose to feel optimistic or pessimistic about the future, both for myself and for the planet generally. I’m not saying this represent some universal truth; it is just how it seems to me. If in a small way I can be a force for the positive over the negative, then great. Maybe if we all aimed for that then the world would become a better place.
“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.” Voltaire
