Nobody Is Coming to Save You

One thing that stood out to me around the 2020 Biden election was how many people seemed to think normalcy would just snap back into place if their guy won. As if someone in charge finally had the answers and the rest of us could go back to sleep.

This appeal to authority pulls people away from what’s in front of them. They get hung up on personalities and characters instead of facts, outcomes, and systemic issues. Whether it’s Trump, Biden, Elon Musk, or any other public figure, the fixation makes it easier to ignore the actual problems.

Celebrities aren’t going to solve problems like climate change. They’re public figures, not a plan.

We Face Serious Challenges #

Climate change is here, and ecosystems are already under strain. How we consume, how many of us there are, and what we’ve built our lives around all add to that pressure.

According to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, human-induced climate change is already affecting every region across the globe and will increasingly impact our way of life without significant intervention. The 2020 Living Planet Report documented a 68% average decline in monitored wildlife populations since 1970.

Some people understandably find these realities difficult to confront. Others are working on solutions. Either way, waiting around for a savior is a dead end.

The Disney Princess Fallacy #

One concept I often discuss (though it’s not always comfortable to hear) is what I call the “Disney princess fallacy.” Much of our cultural programming comes from entertainment giants like Hollywood. Disney films exemplify the repetition of comforting narratives—reshaping the same basic stories with new songs and animations without fundamentally challenging our worldview.

These stories are built to go down easy. They wrap everything up cleanly and leave you with that relieved, feel-good ending.

The classic Disney formula often involves a protagonist who simply needs to fulfill their destiny—perhaps marrying a prince—after which all problems magically disappear, and everyone lives “happily ever after.”

Many of us absorb these narratives from childhood. They condition us to expect positive outcomes and to believe that if things go wrong, some authority figure will intervene to make everything right—whether a deity, superhero, or charismatic leader.

Embracing Reality and Agency #

We’re making decisions right now that are going to shape the next few decades, and that responsibility doesn’t sit only with leaders or celebrities.

We face significant climate challenges that will require substantial societal changes, as documented by organizations like Project Drawdown. These necessary adjustments might conflict with the idealized lifestyles we’ve been encouraged to aspire to through decades of cultural programming.

Elon Musk won’t single-handedly save us—he’s primarily a businessman with his own interests and limitations. Political leaders face constraints of time, political realities, and competing priorities that prevent them from making the sweeping changes some hope for.

We still have agency. Communities around the world are building resilience strategies, starting local projects, and figuring out ways to live that don’t depend on someone at the top stepping in. From community gardens to renewable energy cooperatives, a lot of the useful work starts close to home.

No one else is going to do this for us. We either build better systems ourselves, or keep waiting and watch things get worse.