Goodness is Not Powerless
How to change the world without being a billionaire
Hello Enthusiasts,
I’ve spent most of my life believing—and telling anyone who would listen—that the world is changed by small people living with big love. That history bends not because of the loud and powerful but because of the quiet and consistent.
I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it. I’ve bet my career on it.
But lately, I’m starting to feel like an idiot.
Everywhere I look, billionaires are launching things into space, buying social media platforms, and calling dibs on the future as if it’s the front seat of a car or something.
I worry about what this is teaching kids.
Children are growing up with a different message than the ones I’ve always tried to share. They’re loudly hearing:
If you want to change the world, you better own it first.
Change comes from the top, not from the ground up.
Being a good person is nice, but being a powerful person gets results.
I do not believe these sentiments, and I refuse to accept them.
Hot take: People with large amounts of money might be building moon colonies or trying to rename the days of the week after themselves, but the actual world is still being shaped by regular, decent people. People living with creativity and compassion.
Billionaires (and the people desperately hoping to be invited to their parties) seem set on making life more challenging for the people actually doing good work:
Educators are underpaid while billionaire-backed ‘disruptors’ push tech gimmicks into classrooms and libraries. Nurses save lives, while hospital systems are run like corporations with staff cuts, slashed wages, and unsustainable scheduling. Artists, journalists, and independent creators create and shape culture, while billionaire-run media companies gut publications, disregard originality, and flood the world with AI.
It’s enough to make you wonder:
Can we normal, non-billionaires actually do good without it being undone?
Billionaires work fast. They rewrite rules overnight. They bulldoze what they don’t like and replace it with whatever benefits them.
I’ve sure felt like a real dummy lately. The news cycle isn’t helping.
My school visits, books, and writing are ALL about little people living out big love. I’ve been feeling my messages of compassion being challenged on all sides. The world feels like it’s being bought and sold, and only the loudest voices in the room are heard.
Am I wasting my time? Am I telling kids the wrong thing? Should I have spent less time spreading this message and more time just accumulating wealth? Should I have, at some point, launched a social media company? Is it too late to become a billionaire now?
I’ve had to come to grips with this fact: Yes, billionaires have power.
I’ve also had to remind myself of this fact: Real lasting power doesn’t come from having a yacht with a smaller yacht inside it (a real thing, by the way).
Lasting change —the kind that actually shapes hearts and futures — still happens in the small, consistent acts of ordinary people.
Teachers.
Librarians.
Caregivers.
Neighbors.
Kids.
People who do what’s right, not for money, not for status, but because it adds to the collective good of humanity.
History shows us that real, lasting change isn’t a single act.
Change comes from people consistently showing up for each other, doing what’s right, and not demanding a 14-part documentary about it afterward.
It’s millions of persistent, collective actions that slowly reshape everything.
People create culture. And culture lasts.
Goodness is not powerless. It is patient, steady, and relentless. Gentleness is bold because it refuses to become what it stands against. Kindness is radical because it thrives in a world that tries to smother it. The loudest voices will fade, but the quiet work of care, connection, and courage last.
The people who love and who listen are the ones who build a future worth inhabiting.
Yes, billionaires can buy things. They can rename buildings. They can launch cars into space. But do they really shape the world in ways that matter?
Do people say, “My life was forever changed for the better when a billionaire purchased another social media platform”?
Or do they say, “My life was forever changed by a person who showed up for me when I needed it most”?
That’s power. Our culture has a bad habit of handing the microphone to all the wrong people. We forget who is actually changing things for the better.
I refuse to tell young people that becoming a billionaire is their only shot at impact.
Because when I squint hard enough - past those carving their own faces into the moon, Mount Rushmore-style - I still see something hopeful.
I see a neighbor carrying groceries for someone without being filmed for viral content. I see a teacher patiently explaining fractions to a classroom full of antsy third-graders. I see a kid sharing half of his ham sandwich with his friend - not because he wants to be recognized in Forbes, but because that’s what caring people do.
So, no.
Kids, you do not have to be a billionaire to make an impact.
But if you do become one, please use your money wisely. Fund some schools and libraries. Pay teachers what they deserve.
Maybe - and hear me out - buy me a jetpack? I have wanted one since 1993, and frankly, I deserve it.
Jetpack or no jetpack, here’s what I plan to do next.
No, I do not have a billion dollars.
I do not have a private island.
Spoiler: I will likely die never having named a single sports stadium after myself.
Here’s what I plan to do, though:
I will show up.
I will keep trying to tell stories that remind us how much we matter.
I will hold door open for others - literally and figuratively.
I will refuse to let people be convinced that goodness is weakness.
And you will too.
They can have their weird bunker cities. We’ll take each other.
If they work fast, we work together.
If they chase control, we choose connection.
If they bet on wealth, we bet on wonder.
We’re not powerless. We’re just not billionaires. And honestly? That might be our greatest advantage.
p.s. If you’re in, let’s start now:
Hit reply or comment below and tell me …
Who’s someone in your life quietly changing the world?
What’s a small, consistent act of good that you believe in?
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Thank you for this. I am sitting at my desk before school starts at an elementary school with tears streaming down my face because even I didn't realize how much I needed to read this. My co-worker and friend, Kelly, is changing the world in beautiful ways with her positivity and the joy she spreads to others. She does this all while running the new autism program at our school with limited resources, an ever-growing caseload and new challenges every day. Thank you for your posts and encouragement, Brad. We need you now more than ever!
Brad, this is one of the best, most important things I’ve ever read. You have a gift, and I am so very grateful you’re using that gift because I sure as heck needed this very true but so hard to remember pep talk. I haven’t known what to say in the last couple of weeks - which for a writer is quite unnerving - but you have articulated so perfectly the words I have been grasping for. I thought maybe the ash heap of grief in my heart had snuffed them out- but the embers were still there, just waiting for a little oxygen to stoke the flames again. Thank you for the breath of fresh air. Today I will sit at my desk and join the revolution of goodness and love!