What do you imagine for the world in the near future?  Do you fall in the camp of Cambridge University scientist Martin Reese who believes that civilization has only a 50% chance of surviving another century?  Or do you believe that some amazing people out there help us move from cynicism to hope?  Jeff Skoll stated that terms like “social entrepreneur” cannot begin to describe what hope looks like.  Realized hope is the Promise of social entrepreneurship and that is what we celebrated at the Forum- so tangible you could feel it….or even hear it as the crowd stood up and clapped to the rhythm of Salman Ahmad’s music.   

We were then reminded of the possibilities as these newspaper headlines flashed on a screen in front of us:

• New AIDS cases fall to zero in Africa.
• Child soldiers exchange all guns for books in Africa.
• US imports last barrel of oil:  Carbon output reaches all-time low.
• Last of Nuclear weapons destroyed.
• Israel & Palestine celebrate 10 years of peace.
• Last of nuclear weapons destroyed.
• Snow returns to Kilimanjaro.

The final clip showed John Gardner’s words: “We have before us some breathtaking opportunities disguised as insolvable problems.”

This indeed was the message echoed on the closing day from Larry Brilliant who leads Google.org (the charitable arm or Google.com).  Larry laid out for us a case for pessimism and a case for optimism.

First, the case for pessimism:  85,000 riots in China last year, increasing number of disasters (natural, human, etc), Darfur at its origin a resource war, more growing sick and hungry, religious tension leading to major conflict.  And all this combined with the fact the people around the world can witness it on the Internet, their cell phones, the newspapers.  Some will get angry, some will withdraw, some will latch onto materialism….all ultimately spiraling downwards.

So Larry asks us (just as John Gardner has in the past), as social entrepreneurs, will we be despondent or energized by these challenges?

The case for optimism: He then flashed a picture of Nobel Laureates on the screen and said “human beings have always risen to the occasion.”  Eradication of guinea worm, the fact that new wealth is investing in social development instead of passing it to their family in the next generation, and just a few weeks ago, activists from the business community (yes, the “business” community) stopped a coal fired electrical plant that would have contributed to destroying the earth.  The most powerful of his cases for optimism was the story of the eradication of small pox, which he witnessed himself when he worked for the World Health Organization (WHO).  Small pox is one of the worst diseases in history having killed nearly half a billion people (more than any other infectious disease or all wars put together).  To eradicate it, the largest UN army in history was required.  In Larry’s first job out of medical school, he had 150,000 WHO people working for him and they made over one billion house calls in India searching for small pox.   Just when they thought they had gotten all the cases, a small outbreak in a city with migrant workers spread it all over again- millions suffering.  An important lesson for us all:  the last inch matters- stay strong until the end.  But his point was the end did come.  A disease that no one thought could be controlled is no longer a threat to us.  A bond between doctors and health workers from 30 different countries was created and together against a common enemy, not each other, they won.

As Larry flashed on the screen in front of us a picture Rehema Banu, a young child who was the last case of small pox in the world, it was clear that we have done it in the past, and we can do it again if we do not give up.  I must say, the case for optimism certainly won me over.

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