On Monday night, it was standing room only at the Top Pub in Mullumbimby as the community came together to hear the top-five short stories from The Echo and Creative Mullum Short Story competition for each of the adult, and under-18, categories.
It was an inspiring evening. Not only were there almost 250 stories entered into the competition, but the community had come out to enjoy the talent of young and old as they listened to stories that encompassed everything from metal health, ghosts, the exploration of doli incapax – the legal principle which presumes children under a certain age do not understand the difference between right and wrong – to the life of a leech.
The fact that young people were producing such an amazing array of work was highlighted, reminding everyone that there are plenty of engaged young people who are shaping the world around them.
The idea that all young people are disengaged is an illusion with another person telling me how their child had spent the day writing and recording a song. Later that evening I ended up in a discussion with a young man talking about how much Zohran Mamdani had achieved since his election as New York mayor. He was inspired by Mamdani’s democratic socialist position and the opportunities he was giving people in New York, how he is driving social change, and acting on his convictions.
So much focus has been on the ‘manosphere’, and I agree it is detrimental and needs to be challenged, but there are young men and women out there who are inspiring, inspired, and choosing to shape their world for positive rather than negative and repressive outcomes.
I’ve listened to young men call out their friends saying, ‘that’s a bit of toxic masculinity, we shouldn’t talk like that’ and their friends reflect for a moment and say ‘yeah, you’re right’ and having taken that on board continued to have a good night together.
Others have flagged that they are getting lots of toxic male material in their feeds and reels and have decided to actively take a break or seek out alternative material.
It is easy to get lost in the overwhelming miasma of negative stories, especially at a time where we have some pretty crazy polarising world politics in action. But these moments remind me of hope, the hope that there is good in people, that people are prepared to make their points in all sorts of ways, to challenge and shape the conversations, and world around them, to get better outcomes for us all.
What I saw and experienced on Monday night was a reminder of the power of action in our everyday lives that not only gives hope, it gives life, and a future. Young people are thinking, they are acting, and they are driving change.
Aslan Shand, editor
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For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
