Dear Friends,
With Davos fast approaching and the preparation for our annual debate with The New York Times in full sway, I find myself, as always, mulling over the many points of tension emerging on both sides.
Debates are about embracing these tensions and acknowledging the fact that two or more opposite realities can be true at once. As this year’s motion poses, for example, to reflect on the potential failures of a superpower-dominated system: Should the United States ‘step aside’ to let other countries lead on urgent global issues, when they still occupy the largest seat on the world stage?
The very existence of debates depends on the idea of contradiction, and a successful debater will not shy away from that fact. They will delve into it and endeavour to expose the beautiful complexity of human experience.
But why, I often ask myself, are we so drawn to these moments of tension, and compelled towards a state of contradiction more broadly?
The answer, I’ve realised, lies in the debate format itself: in the moment of reconciliation when the audience votes, and walks away with a sense of having weighed a question fairly, examined the most extreme perspectives on both sides, and reached a balanced conclusion.
The reason why this moment is so cathartic is because we all live with contradictions playing out inside us. To see a contradiction externalised and reconciled is to feel that the human condition, in its most fundamental form, has been recognised.
I am keenly aware of the fact, however, that a debate stage is but a microcosm of the contradictions playing out on the global one, stalling the actions required to address major issues.
But that's precisely why I believe (alongside the The Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, who focused on the theme of Reconciliation last November) that leaders would benefit from a deeper engagement with the tensions shaping their regions, industries and organisations, and with the states of contradiction that have led, or will inevitably lead, to a crisis of some kind. Not because it will help us find answers faster (indeed, the problem-solving mindset, or the very idea of resolution, appears to have gone out the window) but because the new reality that emerges from an understanding of contradiction is far more balanced, fair, and dare I say it – more sustainable.
The climate emergency is perhaps the starkest example of a macro state of contradiction. The fact that our industries still operate under the assumption that we can produce and grow infinitely exploiting finite resources, at the cost of the planet we depend on to survive, will only result in further crises. It’s the most painful case of two irreconcilable realities being forced to co-exist over and over again.
Inter-generational tension is another one. Why? Because the young and the old have radically different conceptions of time in a way never seen before by a generational divide. Young people know that the planet they’ve inherited is running out of time. Their future, in their eyes, has been compromised. Meanwhile, Boomers and Gen X push to protect what they have built, secure a legacy, and enjoy the fruits of their labour. How can these two opposite realities be reconciled? How can businesses keep growing and thriving when their young talent feels so at odds with the system they work in, and with the ambitions of their leaders?
The ‘loss and damage’ question, and climate justice more broadly, is yet another example. The fact that most Global South countries are still being denied the necessary loans, capital flows and investment opportunities to leap to a clean energy transition; that Africa is being used more than ever as the ‘gas station’ of fossil-fuel-addicted countries in the Global North; all while suffering, to a disproportionate and devastating degree, the impacts of climate change they did not cause, is a burden likely to cause not only a global breakdown of supply chains, but mass, international climate migration, and a geopolitical crisis on a scale we cannot yet comprehend.
But this isn’t just doomsday talk!
The truly wonderful thing about all these tensions, contradictions and debates is that they trigger phases of immense creativity. And that’s what is so desperately needed, I think, if we hope to transform fast enough at a global scale. Because in seeking reconciliation – not in the moral sense of atonement, but the revolutionary desire to surpass contradictory realities for the sake of something new – we produce a blank slate: an opportunity for everyone to come together - across all genders, ethnicities, religions and economic backgrounds - and co-create the future.
These are some of the questions on my mind that we intend to pursue in our research, learning content and programming curation at Kite in 2025. If you are interested in exploring this perspective further with us, please don’t hesitate to reach out or come find us in the Davos crowd this week!
In the meantime, I wish you all a very creative new year full of the momentum and reconciliation that inspires thoughtful action.
In the spirit of contradictions: Farewell and see you soon,
Sophie
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