Revolt is necessary to solve our most pressing problems. The existing industrial paradigm and narratives are limiting our development and killing the planet. We must ask ourselves what questions are worth asking? What do we need to know to make a difference in the world that adds to our survival and ability to thrive? What is our responsibility to the environment, to our friends in the animal kingdom and ourselves? What social and economic experiments are taking place that show promise for a credible future?

Revolt is afoot every minute of every day somewhere on the globe. Individuals are standing up to say “no” to old narratives, inequality and environmental destruction. Many are committed to direct action, while others to creating alternatives through new forms of personal, social and applied technological innovation.

Without Revolt slavery would be legal today; women would be unable to vote; the 5-day workweek would not exist and civil rights would have remained the private dream of Martin Luther King.

Holly Figueroa O’Reilly, Director of Blue Wave Crowd Sourcing, captures the spirit of so many activists and engaged citizens: “We are not merely resisting values and practices that we detest; we are promoting values and practices we love.”

Courage is what characterizes our era. Individuals young and old have committed their lives to making a difference for all of us: The grandmother who stands up to stop a coal processing plant from polluting ground water in the Philippines; the man who gave his life protecting the Monarch butterfly reserve in Mexico; citizen activists that are engaged in shaping the future of their countries as dissimilar as the U.S., Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Lebanon, Chile and Brazil; and in regions as fundamentally different as the Arctic tundra, and Amazon Rainforest.

Revolt to live is a call to action, and social innovation. It’s a way to learn from others and participate in creating the future you want.