Photo: Robert in the Africa Section of the Animal Kingdom, Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

“All our dreams can come true, if only we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

Walt’s recipe for success has become the go-to pop wisdom of our day – the mantra of every role model and the doctrinal undergirding of the American Dream. Be all you can be. Or, as we used to say, just do it.

The belief that our grandest aspirations can be achieved is supposed to get us off our asses. But can our rise-to-the-challenge, have-faith-in-yourself formula lead to success in addressing humanity’s biggest issues? Can we dream a dream big enough for six billion souls? Can we just swoosh our way out of cushioned lives and into the gritty global village?

How well does this conventional notion of success serve humanity?

Many of us live somewhere between our dreams and our doubts, between the world as we might imagine it and the world as it is, between a quaint past and …

This article first appeared in Geez magazine Issue 5, Spring 2007, Humanity Has Big Issues.