So when is it that we take notice of a tipping point in a movement?
How do we recognize the tipping point when collective action starts to take on a life of it’s own and no longer the crazy idea of a few people?
The vote to legalize gay marriage in Ireland certainly seems to have quite the buzz around it. It surprised me to know they are not the first country to legalize gay marriage. In fact, there is quite the list growing out there.
Voters in Ireland overwhelmingly chose to change their nation’s constitution Friday, becoming the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage through popular vote. -CNN
However, they are the first to do so by popular vote. That to me is a marker of enough people believing in an idea that it really is a social force. That is not to say that those trailblazing countries already there didn’t have this. But Ireland now seems different in the massive media coverage as well.
Media coverage is a marker of what’s popular, even if it is controversial it means people want to engage on the topic. That means energy and passion and that means there is movement in thinking out there.
I spend a lot of time trying to change a status quo. The lead up to this momentous vote is where many change agents reside. Remember, the good ideas have their day, even if it’s not today. Also remember that when echoes like the vote in Ireland are heard, take note, large scale change is coming.
