So You Want to Change the World? A Conversation with Alex Steffen

"In today’s politics, especially in the United States, the most independent stance is pragmatic optimism. Nothing drives the opponents of change into a greater frenzy than simply being unwilling to accept their definition of “realism.” The working possibilities in front of us – the array of solutions and new models we know have already proven practical and successful in various places around the world – and range of debate inside the Beltway (or in Olympia, for that matter) are so far apart that the only option left is a sort of relentlessly confrontational optimism grounded in facts and good examples."