Natural systems are always fluctuating: no two years are identical, with population and community sizes varying from one year to the next. Such variation has led to “equilibrium” becoming almost a dirty word in ecology. Some researchers see the world as being in permanent flux, and consider our field’s historical focus on equilibria as out-dated. But this view is flawed, is driven by current day observations of a world out of kilter, and risks downplaying the risks of ongoing anthropogenic change to civilisation and perhaps too to life on Earth. In this viewpoint, I mount a defence for equilibria.