They say people get grumpier the older they get. But my mother disproved that theory. As her health declined, she used to bat away negativity, saying “This is a no-moan zone”.

Today’s column is also a no-moan zone. God knows, readers of The Irish Times need a bit of positivity. The news cycle is grim. Pessimism is rife.

The world is going to hell in a handcart; AI will devour human civilisation; Ireland is a failing state – so we are told relentlessly on social media, but also pretty much daily on RTÉ’s Liveline.

The author, feminist campaigner and environmentalist Rebecca Solnit says she’s hopeful for the future, “partly as defiance”, but also because there is much good work taking place in the shadows. She highlights both the growth of renewable energy and advances for women’s rights, pointing out that, “without feminism”, creeps like Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor would never have been caught.

Couple to attend court on Monday after demolition of illegally built Meath house

Student who sued wall climbing facility and college over 2.6m fall loses injuries claim

I have a full state pension and €1.25m in my private pension funds. How much will I get?

Michael Lyster, long-time presenter of The Sunday Game, dies aged 71

As for Ireland’s record on progressive change, it’s not all bad news. Taking a longer-term view brings a different perspective. Moreover, says US political philosopher Alex Madva, there is a tendency for people to be “unaware of all the things their government is doing to support them”.

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Madva is co-author of a book on how to bring about social change, which opens with examples from Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The two cities were clogged with cars 50 years ago and are now pedestrian- and cycle-friendly, with significant health and community benefits. Policy changes in both cities in the 1970s coincided with a decision in Dublin to pedestrianise Grafton Street – initially on a trial basis. That trial lasted 10 years before the street’s car-free status was made permanent.

So things have been done in Ireland – and they can be done in future. “An important opportunity for many of us in support of progressive change is just to talk about the good work the state is doing, to celebrate the successes and not just decry its shortcomings,” says Madva, who is visiting Ireland this week with Daniel Kelly, a fellow philosopher and co-author – with Michael Brownstein – of Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change.

The book offers advice on how to stay politically upbeat in challenging times. It includes the following three tips, as Madva explains:

(1) Be a Yimby and find ways to support progressive change

“One of the most powerful and enduring obstacles to positive social change is the Nimby, the person who says: Yes I support change, such as more affordable housing or windmills, but ‘Not In My Backyard’. In response, a countermovement of people who say ‘Yes In My Backyard’, or Yimbys, is growing.”

(2) Don’t let corporations lay blame on you

“For decades, the corporations responsible for problems like pollution, poverty and unhealthy lifestyles have built effective advertising campaigns that brainwashed us into thinking that the primary way to address these challenges was for each of us as individuals to take control of our own private corners of the world: recycle, turn off the lights, put a bit more money every month into our retirement savings, and exercise self-control over our diets.

“One tip is not to internalise these messages and accept all the blame for our situation. But the second upshot is not to abandon the idea of individual responsibility altogether. Instead of thinking about our responsibility in terms of how to fix ourselves and take care of our own small corners of the world, our responsibilities are to be there for each other and work together to change these unjust systems.”

(3) Don’t be a hobbyist – be a happy warrior

“Political scientist Eitan Hersh finds that many people – perhaps a third of Americans – spend at least two hours a day following the news, worrying about politics, and sharing their worries with their social networks online. But almost none of these people spend any time doing the hard work of politics, like showing up at city council or local authority meetings, or volunteering.

“Part of the key in overcoming this hobbyist orientation, we think, is to find the joy in doing the work. We take inspiration from Amy Wrzesniewski’s work on ‘job crafting’ ... In some research, she studies [cleaning and maintenance] staff at hospitals, finding that some perceive their jobs as rote and vacuous, while others find meaning in it. She finds that the difference is that the latter understand themselves as part of the hospital community, as part of a team working to support patients. Some of them even clean the ceilings in patients’ rooms, because they imagine the perspective of bedridden people staring up all day.

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“So part of the difference here is that ‘happy warriors’ show up and enjoy the work because they see themselves as supporting others. This same lesson carries over to people who are protesting against repressive regimes. Even when protesters are well aware they are facing very long odds and are unlikely to succeed, their determination to show up for each other – and the knowledge that their fellows are going to show up for them – motivates them to stay in the fight.”

Alex Madva and Daniel Kelly will discuss their book Somebody Should Do Something with a panel of researchers at a public event at the Museum of Literature Ireland, Dublin, on Tuesday, March 24th. For details see: Eventbrite

© The Irish Times