Democracy can do more than outlive climate change; I think it will have a new fire (green of course) driving it as a result of climate change.  My generation has been lucky enough to grow up in a time of unparalleled prosperity – not everyone on the planet, but those who like me have grown up in western cultures.

We have enjoyed the benefits of artificially cheap labour, food, travel, energy – living.  Life has become more than a human right for those I have grown up with, fun has become the human right.  Climate change will alter many views, for the first time in generations young people are beginning to realise their parents will have lived better lives than themselves.

It is time to call for new kinds of leadership around the world.  Gordon Brown, David Cameron, George Bush, Nicolas Sarkozy please step aside.  It is time to have leaders who are real. Leaders who are in front of the public grapple with issues.  It is time to have leaders who attack the populist agenda that has dominated our politics for too long.  They need to not only make decisions of conviction but they need to be willing to enter into open, and honest, debate with their constituents to defend their calls.

This is going to require a degree of humanity and a great deal of superhuman strength.  It means more than simply bowing to the face of public opinion, it means telling the public when they are wrong on an issue.  I think it will be an amazing day when a leader can do this and keep their legitimacy.

I want a leader who:

a) Admits when they are wrong.
This is more than saying they are wrong but actively works to correct their mistake in an honest, humble, and open manner.

b) Sees a bigger picture.
Enough of our looking forward five, ten, twenty years.  What is the legacy we are leaving in one hundred or two thousand years? I want a leader who can look ahead and make that future we will never see matter to us.

c) Is a true leader?
Enough pandering to the crowd. I want a leader who can not only make us excited but who can teach us and even through the hard lessons keep us excited.  A leader who can bring lessons back home in real and tangible form.

d) Is human.
I want to know you make mistakes and I want the chance to forgive you for them.

e) Speaks honestly.
Share your conviction with me. Admit when you don’t know something. Tell me I am wrong and show me how to get better.

Funny thing is: if this is the leader I want then it’s time for me to be that leader.  I will never be able to honestly follow a leader who points out my own weaknesses if I am not humble enough to readily admit them.  I will never show people a better way unless I am ready to learn one myself.

It’s not being super human, it’s being truly human that we need in our leaders.  If democracy is going to survive the threats to our being then it is going to have to evolve. Everyone in a democracy is going to have to wake up to the fact that they are leaders in their own right and as leaders they need to step up to the plate and lead as well.

Ethan Ohs