Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by jonahx 17 days ago
> Until people believe, nothing will change.

I'm with you here.

> When they believe, everything will change.

Taken literally, this is absurd. Belief might be necessary for change, but it's not sufficient!

> That's why there is so much impetus toward despair.

Sometimes people really are in hopeless situations. It seems cruel to blame their despair on not believing enough.

2 comments

> Taken literally, this is absurd. Belief might be necessary for change, but it's not sufficient!

I don't read this as "if you just believe, you can do anything!", but rather "when the populace as a whole starts believing that they can fight back against an oppressive minority, they can definitely do that."

> Sometimes people really are in hopeless situations.

The fight for despair is surreal; at least people believe they can really be hopeless and won't let anyone stop them.