It’s been quite sobering to reflect with others on TragedyoftheHorizon – 10 years on from the original Mark Carney box-office blockbuster speech.
The sequel, built on the themes of the original, revealing why we’re a decade closer to the precipice, and shining a light on what has to happen now.
But I’d only really want the concluding episode of the trilogy if it was the triumphant regeneration of the horizon. And given the current cast of characters are hardly heading the right direction, it relies on some fairly heroic imagination to picture a positive path forward.
Also: whose horizon are we talking about?
And: what’s behind all these characters?
There’s that moment in the movie where we discover a fundamental truth which changes everything. Like when Luke Skywalker finds out that Darth Vader is his Father in The Empire Strikes Back. Aristotle called it Anagnorisis (great word, even if it sounds like a crossword-induced illness).
Our Anagnorisis, perhaps, is realising that the Ancient Order of Financial Regulators have not been given the lifelong quest to save YOUR horizon. That whether or not some parts of the financial system are enabled to profit at the expense of others’ future survival is not even part of the actual plot.
Suddenly the failures of the ‘Empire of Voluntary Disclosure Strikes Back’ which have played out over the last 10 years make more sense.
Financial regulators include some of the smartest people around. It’s improbable that they’re blithely unaware of the unfolding situation and its consequences. Neither do they have an indelible empathy gap preventing them from pursuing different policies. They are not Darth Vader. But for them to take the action that we all need, we have to go back to the source and change the script of their mission and mandate.
That means melting the Ring of Double-materiality-blindness in the fiery depths of Mordor (in the real world, set in Basel).
People from every corner of the earth will need to unite behind a New Hope, based upon our collective ability to thrive – socially, environmentally and economically. Which means changing the political context to precipitate the change we need.
That’s the pitch for a trilogy-ending climax.
The technical parts of the script are written.
It now needs all the other characters – approximately 8 billion or so – to realise that they aren’t just the extras, and all have a role in creating a heroic finale.
PS: If you’re writing a transition plan, or have one on the horizon, download our free guide to the Transition Elephant in the room – or come along to one of our Workshops.