Whereas the 20th century generated its, not always undisputed, heroes like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela among many others, the 21th century needs and has already it's own.

Before we dig in further, note that heroes are humans like you and me, with their peculiarities and flaws. It is always easy to critize. What these heroes share is an enduring motivation to change the world for the better, dispite of their limitations.

To name a few Greta Thunberg, whose role in raising global consciousness on climate change is indisputable, Nobel Prize Winners Wangari Maathai, mother of trees or the father of microcredit and social business advocate, Muhammad Yunus and not to forget the dozens of environmental activists paying their engagement with their lives in the Philippines, Brazil and elsewhere.

Last week we lost Gina Lopez, environmental and anti-poverty activist in the Philippines.

Finally #ClimateEmergency will kill us all. No joke, it's already happening in Brazil, Mozambique, India and many other countries in the global South. And don't forget the heatwaves throughout Europe.

In preserving the earth tackling poverty and growing inequality are equally urgent. There is no climate justice, without social justice!

Since the neoliberal tsunami in the late seventies, and especially after the fall of the communist USSR, they make us believe in TINA - There Is No Alternative.

Well, as the political scientist - who’s ideas are currently changing economic theory - Christian Felber points out in his #EconomyForTheCommonGood... There Are Plenty of Alternatives - #TAPAs!

To name a few: the cooperative movement, "triple bottom line" social business pursuing financial sustainability, social and ecological impact, fair trade, eco-fair fashion, ethical banking, open source software, regenerative agriculture, regenerative economy,...

Together with the UN #SustainableDevelopmentGoals, the #EconomyForTheCommonGood and ideas around the #GreenNewDeal can form a basis for this #NewGreatStory even though their respective advocates could show more teeth!

This is where global social, political and environtmental movements come in and insert the activism so much needed.

A global alliance of these movements with social business entrepreneurs in turns can help them to achieve financial sustainability and lessen their dependance on the goodwill of donations.

As individuals and collectively we have many options to make a difference.

Here are some ideas, feel free to add:

1. Change our lifestyles and consumption patterns into more ethical ones and teach others to do so.

2. Support or join a movement to pressure governments and international organizations to take affirmative action on poverty, environtmental protection, climate change and to create an enabling environment for triple bottom line economic alternatives while pushing out destructive ones.

3. Support or join a movement to pressure banks, pension funds and other financial institutions to invest in ethical and social business, including reforestation, poverty alleviation and divest in companies with harmful economic practices.

4. Get your hands dirty and start planting trees. Grow your own food, create a #FoodForestGarden revolution in your neighbourhood. Help organizations restore forests worldwide.

5. Involve yourself in cocreating this New Great Story, network, share, connect...

Know that it all starts with imagination.

Imagine a world with...
#ZeroHunger
#ZeroPoverty
#ZeroCarbonEmissions
#HealthyEnvironment
#ChancesForAllToDevelop
#Love

#AnotherWorldIsPossible
#ThereArePlentyOfAlternatives, but
#ThereIsNoTime, so
#ActNow, and
#BeAHero

PS: If you’re still hesitating, be assured that our petty dreams - the house, the car, the family, the dream career - shall and will vanish quickly if we continue 'business as usual’. No doubt about it!