By Indra Toelsie, published August 17
Last week, I wrote about humanity acting as the architect of its own disasters. For many readers, that framing likely sounded like an overblown doomsday prediction — but in reality, it is a hard truth that far too many people choose to ignore. It is human nature to turn away from uncomfortable problems, telling ourselves these crises are too distant to affect our daily lives. But the string of extreme natural disasters that struck over the past week should put that excuse to rest.
Devastating earthquakes hit Colombia and Indonesia, destructive Typhoon Dolphin wreaked havoc across South Asia, and wildfires continue to burn out of control across multiple regions. These are not abstract headlines from faraway lands. They are increasingly urgent warnings, creeping closer to every corner of the globe with growing intensity.
Even here at home, problems are piling up one after another. For decades, we have grappled with the devastating environmental and social damage caused by unregulated gold mining. Every incoming government promises to address this crisis, yet it continues to fester, fueled by conflicting political interests and institutional inertia. Our education system, widely considered the foundational pillar of long-term social progress, is currently grappling with delayed exam results caused by systemic technical failure — so severe that the country’s president has been forced to intervene to put the system back on track.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office increasingly looks like a battleground for competing political interests, rather than an impartial institution dedicated to upholding justice. Road traffic crime claims more lives every year, while divisive debates over Mennonite community rights and ambiguous constitutional provisions continue to sow widespread social unrest. We cannot overlook the growing list of smaller, daily crises: students cannot graduate on time simply because there are not enough qualified subject teachers to support their education. The healthcare system is stretched to breaking point, leaving patients and providers alike stressed and demoralized. The list of unaddressed challenges grows longer by the day, and a widespread sense of stagnation is taking hold across society.
But this is not a piece meant to spread despair or leave readers feeling hopeless. On the contrary, it is a urgent call to stop turning away from the truth. Denial and avoidance do not solve any problems. Only by facing reality head-on — even when that reality is painful — can we take collective responsibility and work toward meaningful, lasting change.
Genuine positivity does not mean ignoring the problems that surround us. It means having the courage to name those problems clearly, paired with a persistent will to improve. It takes bravery to speak honestly about systems that are failing, and strength to choose a different path — both as individual people and as a collective society.
We can no longer pretend problems will fix themselves on their own, or wait around for someone else to step in and solve them for us. Fixing these crises requires our full attention, our active commitment, and a willingness to push forward even when the work gets hard. Only through this collective effort can we build a future that is not just achievable, but genuinely hopeful.
What we need to do right now is open our eyes, stay critically engaged with the problems around us, and actively work toward solutions. Only by looking directly at the facts, without fleeing from uncomfortable truths, can we find real hope and deliver genuine progress for our communities.
Do not look away. Look, truly.