Rebel with a cause

I’ve grown up angry. Angry with the system, angry with the world, angry with the way things work, angry with me. Not great, huh? I need some anger management. I meet people who are laid back, who are relaxed, who are chilled. That’s not me. I'm a troublemaker. A fire starter.

Thing is that I never knew what I was angry about. I just wanted to change the world. Haven’t achieved that, but I’m making my small contribution. What is it I want to change? Well, too many things. I want:

• Everyone on Earth to have a chance
• Animals to thrive and survive, and not be hunted and disappeared
• The world to improve and prosper, with natural resources and no man-made pollutants
• Children to grow up in a happy, nurtured, mentoring environment with no threats or issues
• The unwanted, unwashed, uncared for to be helped, loved and supported
• The arguments between peoples and countries to be verbal and not physical
• The hate to be love and the wars to be peace

I could go on. I’m a dreamer … but I’m not the only one.

When I was growing up, I had issues. I hated so much of the way the world worked. Now, I know a lot about how the world works. In fact, it’s interesting. Many of my readers are probably too young to be aware of or remember a film from the 1950’s called Rebel without a Cause starring James Dean.

Great film, great star, died too young.

When I was his age, I was rebelling, whilst conforming. Don’t we all? Inside, you want to be a completely other person to the one people see outside. Or maybe that’s just me.

I still feel that way, to be honest, but the difference is that as we get older, we can manage the struggle between the inner you and the outer persona. We can manage the internal anger and the external smile. We can deal with the rebel.

Does the rebel have a cause?

Yes.

I didn’t really have one back in my early days, except to try and work out the system. Now, in my later days, I understand the system. I’ve changed from a rebel without a cause to a rebel with a cause.

What cause?

ESG.

Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance.

Actually, let’s not wrap it up in corporate-speak and acronyms. My cause is basic: I want a future for my kids. Is that so much to ask?

Some say the environmentalists and such like are extreme and that the world’s changes are just natural evolutions over time. Some say that governments are fair, and the treatment citizens have are the treatments they deserve. Some say that we are all equal, but some are more equal than others. Some say we should just do what we are told.

I don’t care what some say, I say: the world needs to be fairer, more equal, more inclusive, more caring and treat animals and the environment as just as important as we treat our children and our parents. That’s my cause. That’s my purpose.

I didn’t have one when I was young. I was a rebel without a cause. Now I have one.