Estonia is on the verge of destroying something beautiful
We have grown into a society that lives for extremes. While reading the news or following social media discussions, I have noticed a growing hatred towards new stuff, which is essentially a fear of change. There have always been different opinions out there, but now I feel that we have grown to HATE areas that are different from what we know and understand.
It’s time to figure out why we have arrived at this state and fix this mess!
I love Estonia, and as a citizen and technocrat of this country, I admire the technological and cultural achievements that have occurred. We have built a new country, inspired forward-thinking attitudes, and welcomed a digital government and society, as well as boasted a booming startup community.
The story that you commonly hear about how we got here is something like this…
In 1991, we separated from the Soviet Union, but did not have any infrastructure in the country. This enabled us to create everything from scratch, without the burden of any outdated legacy, and we have thus arrived at the place we find ourselves today.
Well, that’s all true, but not entirely…
This story describes the basics of our condition; in truth, we literally had nothing, but let’s not forget that the road we chose was not the only available one. We also had the option of retaining old ideas and technology, but we didn’t. Instead, we decided to praise new ideas, which means that our actual driver for change was buried somewhere deeper.
The underlying reason for that decision has a lot to do with our mindset. For generations, we were repressed by a foreign government and we really wanted to change that. That desire for change forced us to establish a mindset that had no fear of new ideas or new approaches; essentially, we grew tolerant towards change. Today, we can proudly stand here and take credit for the all the new ideas and national evolution that we have managed to achieve over the past 24 years.
Tolerance towards change: the most powerful tool for growth.
Without tolerance, our natural reaction is defensive. However, I can understand the fear that comes with the change. We have spent a lot of time making Estonia beautiful, and the idea of change seems as though it could destroy all that we have accomplished.
- We fear that people different from us will come here and change how we live
- We fear that our brains will go away and never come back
- We fear that new ideas in business or public administration will ruin our traditions
We fear that something will change our lives and everything will turn bad again.
For that reason, I believe that we need to wake up and realize that our beautiful home is not going to be destroyed by Change, but rather by that immediate Defensiveness, which may initially appear to be a means of protection against foreign threats.
Defensiveness creates a bubble around us that prevents new people, ideas, and attitudes from refreshing our world. Instead, it causes us to grow into an intolerant and arrogant bunch of people who think that they know everything and reject anything that seems new or slightly unstable.
If you don’t move forward, you inevitably begin to move backward.
What if we could take all of our energy that we pour into hatred and defensiveness and direct that towards creating more integrated, tolerant and dynamic environments? Maybe we can choose to act outside of the extremes — wildly supportive or 100% against. There is always space between.
Gray areas
What if we created gray areas where people can have valid opinions on both sides of the discussion and can tolerate the ideas of others as well? Wouldn’t that help us move forward? If you try ideas from both sides, you will fail occasionally but succeed at other times. Instead of defending our current view and standing still, forward momentum would educate us with new insights, helping to shape our world view and create an enhanced environment for all.
- What if, instead of living in fear that our brains will go out to explore the world and not come back, we direct our efforts to create more national loyalty, as well as new ideas and opportunities that will bring people back with a fresh, new base of knowledge and exciting, insightful experiences?
- What if, instead of blocking our borders against those people who want to enter our country, we welcome them and direct our energy into integrating them into our society in ways on which everyone can agree?
- What if, instead of trying to block new ideas and businesses, we work together with them to refresh our environment by attracting more friends, knowledge, and capital into our country?
What if we welcome the change and become frontrunners in the world of innovation? Then, just as we do today, we can look back in 20 years and feel proud once again. I am confident that Estonia, small as it may be, can manage to achieve something that big countries have failed to do time and time again.
Estonia, don’t destroy our beautiful homeland by being arrogant and defensive; this is the time for evolved thinking, inclusive policies, and a genuine belief in the positive power of change.
