Martin Luther King, wasteless future, I have a dream, change, social activism, human rights, equality, racism

Few days ago, on January 15, the whole world remembered and celebrated the day that Martin Luther King was born, back in 1929. I am deeply influenced by Martin Luther King, especially by his famous lecture “I have a dream” delivered at 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. I consider this lecture as one of the greatest moments of human civilisation. Next week I am invited to speak at the conference Let’s Do It World, a global gathering of environmental activists in Tallinn, Estonia. So, I thought it is a good idea to share some of my thoughts for the future of our planet before the conference, so we can discuss them there in more details. Please consider my humble effort to copy Martin Luther King’s inspirational style a sign of deep and sincere respect for the man who said “in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”.

“I have a dream for a Wasteless Future

I am dreaming that there will be a day, when not even a single child of this planet will grow up playing or even worst working in dumpsites. I am dreaming a planet free of wastelands and their vast health and environmental impacts to billions of human lives.

Yes I have a dream

For an earth where all human beings will have the privilege of clean neighborhoods and sanitation, independently of income, color, race, religion and gender.

That this bright, for our humanity, morning will come, when poverty will be eliminated and the last remaining dumpsite will close with a global celebration.

                 Photo by Timothy Bouldry, http://timothybouldry.com

I have a dream

That soon we will find a way to measure progress beyond the usual economic indicators and that we will account human development as seriously as we account the surpluses and the deficits.

I am dreaming of the day when the people in the developed world will stop wasting food capable to feed millions of people while almost a billion of poor people live in hunger.

I still hope that we will soon recognise that poverty and extreme inequality are not natural phenomena but the worst human made virus that is spread by the current economic orthodoxy.

I still hope that we the world will soon recognise that poverty and extreme inequality are not natural phenomena

Yes I have a dream

I am dreaming that the developed world will undertake its responsibility and will stop illegal waste trafficking to Africa, India and other poor countries. And that the rich countries will find a way to pay the price for the environmental degradation they have caused to the developing world.

I have a dream

That we will manage to have oceans and rivers free of plastics and any other human waste, where fishes and turtles will swim in crystal clear water and not within plastic bags.

Yes I have a dream

That there will be one day where we will stop to face markets with a religious belief in their power. I hope for a shift in our narrow perception of economic profit as the sole driver of economic evolution. This is the only way for the emergence of new industrial production and consumption patterns that will contribute to a sustainable future rather than accelerating the depletion of crucial resources. I do believe that circular economy can still be part of the solution and create a positive social footprint only and if it will become a matter of of citizens’ engagement rather a big business buzzword.

I have a dream.

For a world where human rights will count more than business agreements and arrangements. For a radical change to the way we utilize and extract resources, without destroying societies, tribes, forests, rivers, lakes and landscapes that were created through thousands, millions or even billions of years.

I am dreaming of a global coordination that will take care of the planet’s future at least with the same interest and attention our politicians take care the future of banks – for a global leadership that will act in accordance with the planetary challenges, providing equal opportunities for social development and sustainable growth.

Yes, I am dreaming that millions of people will struggle and collaborate through mobile and web platforms to find solutions to our common problems, each one putting a small piece in the puzzle of the global solutions required.

I have a dream that our collective intelligence will be finally stronger than our collective ignorance and the political inertia.

I have a dream

That our collective intelligence will be finally stronger than our collective ignorance and the political inertia.

That there is still a window of opportunity to reverse or at least to stop the environmental degradation we have created to our planet, and that we all deserve to be part of this fight.

And you know something? This dream keeps me alive and it allows me to sleep at nights, because it holds the fire of change burning. Without this dream, the reality of our planet will keep me awake, every single hour of every night, every week of a month, every month of the year.

And I want to share this dream with you, with your friends, with your families, with your children, with everyone in this planet.

Because when we dare to dream, we dare to change.

And when we dare to change, we dare to overcome the problems, we dare to fight against the barriers, and we dare to make dreams come true.”

I made a similar lecture almost one year ago in Argentina (see the video here), but somehow I forgot it. I re-discovered it again by lack those days when I was thinking about Martin Luther King and his struggle.

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©2025 Wasteless Future Antonis Mavropoulos

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