The Case for Optimism

The Case for Optimism

If last year saw some old wounds heal, this year marked the painful openings of new ones. A surge in crude nativist politics at home and abroad stirred vitriol and violence. Leaders failed to make peace. Mighty institutions took as many steps back as they did forward. Yet all was not lost. The Global Thinkers honored below are proof that, as the pillars of societies faltered, individuals bore the weight of progress on their own shoulders. They demonstrated how private citizens, armed only with motive, eased the suffering of others. They revealed how traditional power structures can be subverted in order to craft solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. But most important, the 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2016 are emblematic of the human need and desire to confront pessimism and ugliness — rather than surrender to despair or resign to failure.