I remember when I was working in economic development, someone said to me once that most people just want the basic things in life: security of housing tenure, enough money to live a decent life on, for our children to grow up safely and healthily and to be able to access public services easily and for them to be responsive to their needs. There was a general sense that the majority of people were happy to work for this as long as their work was respected and remunerated in such a way that they could afford to live like this.
I don’t think this is too much to ask for.
And yet, many people don’t live like this. They live in accommodation where there is not security of tenure and very often that accommodation costs the majority of their pay packet. Leaving very little left over for living a comfortable life. We’re not talking about great big luxurious houses here, just the ordinary. And sometimes the downright rotten. People aren’t being paid a decent wage for the jobs they do and there is not security of employment either. Redundancy is now something the majority of people will experience at least once in their careers and now, as a result of that, many people will diversify their careers. This may not be something that’s awful (diversifying your career) but the reasons for it truly can be. Many people live paycheque to paycheque and do not have the funds to cover an emergency bill let alone a prolonged period of unemployment. Not because they’re frivolous but because there is not enough left over at the end of the month to save for it.
If the cost of keeping a roof over our heads wasn’t enough, our utility bills are huge (especially in the UK where the tax on them is significant) and many people are in debt to the utility companies because the bills are unaffordable. The cost of food is increasing significantly as is the cost of fuelling our cars. We are being taxed at a rate never before seen in the UK and yet all the things that tax money is supposed to go to – the NHS, Local Authority service provision, policing, defence, safe roads, education, the environment, culture, our judicial system, housing, our economy, – are all, basically, failing. The Exchequer has had some bumper tax pay days and yet, apparently, there might be more taxation coming. And they wonder why people are unhappy and political apathy is taking over when it comes to voting. The common refrain is – what’s the point, they’re all the same.
I don’t think the UK is particularly unique in all of this. The levels of dissatisfaction across the world appear to be high and yet I equally do not think that the basic wants of the people are particularly different across the world. We seem to be incapable of bringing forward leaders who can unite people behind a genuine vision and strategy to make things better. There are the usual utterances – normally about immigration because why not place the burden of fear onto ‘other’ – but no real change or actual action. No wonder people are fed up.
What happens instead, rather than making that change and fixing what is certainly broken, is the creation of division and hatred. While the rich get richer and appear to have the politicians in their thrall, the rest of us just slowly slip under the waves. We are drowning. Whether it’s in debt, fear, or uncertainty or a combination of all, we are struggling. And we look at our children and wonder at what kind of world we have brought them into. A world where wickedness is being allowed to prosper unchecked, where attempts to appease everyone ends up pleasing no one, and where open discourse is barely allowed let alone encouraged.
So, what can we do about this? How can we as the ordinary people achieve what it is we want? That relatively simple, peaceful life that is what most people aspire to have. One where we don’t have to count the pennies constantly or worry that we will become homeless, jobless, and with no light at the end of the tunnel.
Well, the best thing we can do is shout about this. Loudly. Not tolerate it anymore. Peaceful protests where we say…no. No, we’re not paying these taxes until we are told quite clearly why, with more money than ever before going in, precious little is coming out of any benefit. No, we are not lining the pockets of the rich anymore and we’re buying local and independent. Because we are the ones buying the things that make the rich, rich. No, AI is not going to be a tool we use anymore, we will use our brains thank you very much – AI without the A. And we will not put our money in places that do use it. Not just because it’s taking our jobs but because it is also taking our environment. And we want to leave something for our children to enjoy.
We come together, as a whole. As a community. And we remind our politicians and the industry leaders that we are not political or corporate cannon fodder. We can, and do, say no to any and all of this. That we want a clear out of our politicians, the parties and what they stand for. We want politicians that represent the interests of us, the many, not the few. We want our politicians to make sure industry (in all its guises) makes it pay to work. That we as the workers are respected for what we do in how it pays us for our lives to operate in the way we aspire them to. Not everyone wants to be wealthy, not everyone wants to be a leader. And that’s okay. We need all sorts of people. But no one’s opinion is more important than any others, no matter how much money they have.
We want our politicians to encourage community, to encourage connection with each other not pander to a fashionable cause and leave the majority feeling politically homeless. We want our politicians to embody the sense that they serve their communities, as everyone within those communities serves in their own way. And in the same way our industries serve the communities in which they exist as do their leaders. We all serve our communities, that is the bottom line of our existence on this earth. That we serve our communities. We are not islands, we are not meant to be alone. We are meant to live as a community. And we are meant to live connected not just to each other but to the environment that surrounds us.
With the new era we are ushering in of innovation with Pluto in Aquarius and Uranus in Gemini in particular, perhaps that innovation isn’t about AI. Perhaps it is about social innovation as well as technological. And that technological innovation is about how we live our lives with all the preceding innovations but done so in a way that we stop harming the environment. That we enhance it.
That would be the revolution.
Louisa Simpson 