A Manifesto Of Radical Optimism

By Dylan Brody and Myq Kaplan

When the societal paralysis of despair leads humanity into a dark age, optimism itself becomes a radical concept. If we are to survive as a species we must regain our ability to imagine a future. We must re-energize ourselves to be better not just as people but as a species. The book we need at this time. An instruction manual for saving the wor

• Language: English
• Publisher: Active Voice Productions
• Release date: Apr 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781734482737

Dylan Brody

Dylan Brody (they/them), MSEd, is a doctoral student at the University of Georgia. They are currently the graduate research assistant for the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, with a focus on critical studies. Dylan began working as a full-time teacher with infants and toddlers in 2010 and fell deeply in love with the complexity of teaching young children. They worked collaboratively with a coteacher in a setting that utilizes a continuity of care model, providing Dylan the space and support needed to build intimate and meaningful connections with children and their families over the course of a three-year cycle. This time allowed them to create a more deeply reflective teaching practice and mindful rapport with families through daily moments of trust building. Dylan’s primary research and teaching interests focus on ethics, equity, critical theory, mindfulness, and advocacy for fellow teachers who experience marginalization. They prioritize care practices and policies that allow all members of the community to feel safer to be themselves and challenge the barriers in place that might prevent success for all. Dylan hopes to work more closely in the future with early childhood teachers in the LGBTQ+ community and to further advocate for trans visibility and representation in the field. Dylan currently lives in Athens, Georgia, with their beloved cat, Bean.

Book preview

A Manifesto of Radical Optimism

by

Dylan Brody

Also by Dylan Brody

BOOKS

Heroes Fall (a novella)

Laughs Last

The Warm Hello

A Tale of a Hero and the Song of her Sword

Xenophobia and the Jewish Druid

COMING SOON

Relatively Painless

CDs

True Enough

Brevity

A Twist of the Wit

Chronological Disorder

Write Large

All these and more available at http://dylanbrody.com

© 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without express written consent of the author.

Copyright owned by Dylan Brody

Published April, 2020 Active Voice Productions

Foreword

by

Myq Kaplan

The world is full of suffering, we are ash and dust, and I am an optimist.

And this introduction is for pessimists.

If you think that nothing matters and nothing will change for the better, I get it. So why not spend some of your meaningless time reading this book?

You’ve already picked up the book. Why not read it? Couldn’t hurt! And if it does hurt, doesn’t that just continue to confirm your pessimistic world view that nothing can change for the better, and isn’t that satisfying in a way? 

Maybe the half-empty glass will become even emptier! (And wouldn’t a true pessimist see the glass as COMPLETELY empty? Why stop at half? Empty that glass! You can do it! I’m optimistic for you.)

If you’re a pessimist who thinks that even a book on optimism could only add fuel to your pessimistic fire, well then, wouldn’t you like that? You get to keep being your pessimistic self, only even more so.

Now, if you're skeptical of me and Dylan and this book and the whole idea of optimism because how can you be an optimist when the world is full of suffering, I get it, and in fact this book is even MORE important for you to read.

Why?

Rabbi Simcha Bunim is credited with saying, Everyone must have two pockets, with a note in each pocket, so that he or she can reach into one or the other, depending on the need. When feeling lowly and depressed, discouraged or disconsolate, one should reach into the right pocket, and, there, find the words: Bishvili nivra ha-olam ‘The world was created for me.’ But when feeling high and mighty one should reach into the left pocket and find the words: V’anochi afar v’efer ‘I am but dust and ashes.’

The glass is both half empty AND half full. There is fuel for any fire we want to feed.

There is a common misconception that optimism is about thinking things are good even when things are not. This book is not about just imagining that things are better than they are, fantasizing about a world in which everything is fair and just and merciful and kind. It is about so imagining, so fantasizing, and then taking action to head in the direction of those imaginations and fantasies. This book is about addressing the ash and dust, about creating a better world out of it, about offering a constructive, practical perspective on how we can do that. It's not pie in the sky. It's pie on the ground. Pie right here.

Ash and dust are not nothing. They are something. And they can become something else. With work and time. The way that stardust became us.

If you believe, and you act on that belief, and put in work, time, and effort, sometimes you can accomplish something, more than if you didn't do anything. I believe it because I've seen it, and done it, and seen people do it with less than I've started with. And more importantly, if you DON'T believe, and you DON'T put in any work, time, or effort, for sure you can definitely NOT accomplish something. 

And if you think that reading the book will do nothing for you or the world, maybe you're right, but then why not read it to PROVE that you're right? Read it, see what it says, and if nothing improves ever, you win. But you can't win unless you read it. I can't promise magical results for society or your life, but I CAN promise that if you DON'T read it, there will be NO magical results. 

You know that we’re all ash and dust. Now also know that the world was created for us, and maybe more importantly, it is continually created BY us. We are creating this world RIGHT NOW. The world is coming from inside itself! From inside OURselves. We are creating it with the choices we make. The beliefs we act on. The steps we take. So, start with this small step (that you’ve already started taking, because you are doing it right now): READ THIS BOOK. Because for sure if we do nothing, we can for sure accomplish nothing. On that, I am very optimistic.

INTRODUCTION

As I type these words, I find myself in my home with my wife and dogs, anticipating a lengthy confinement.  I have had the idea for this book for a long time.  I began it.  I asked a friend to write a foreword. I