I have been writing on here for some time about the changes we as a society need to make to our world in order to survive. And I wrote about the planetary changes that are happening in order to facilitate this. So, what does all of this really mea? In practical terms?
It strikes me as I look around the world, there is very little in the way of strategy or vision for what leaders want their terms in office to achieve. Very little in terms of strategy or vision of how they want to see their impact on the countries which they govern. In positions which, by and large, the public have democratically voted them into. Those that are less democratic shall we say, have a rationale all of their own. Which is to keep the individual and/or the party apparatus in a position of power. And they will do whatever it is they deem necessary to achieve that whether it is good for the population or not. But this is not a strategy or vision for the country and its people either.
Then we factor in the artificial borders that are created creating identities that are important to the individual but which are meaningless to the collective consciousness. That only sees us as one species. I’m sure you wouldn’t see an Indian elephant saying to an African elephant if they were ever to meet ‘I’m from India and I am different to you because…’ or vice versa. Would they get along? Possibly. There isn’t much reason why they wouldn’t. Most dogs by and large get along regardless of breed. Same with other domesticated pets. It’s only us humans that place definitions by dint of where we were born, what religion we have chosen to pursue, what sex we are, what our sexuality is, and/or what the colour of our skin is. Is that because we are supposedly the more intelligent? I really don’t think so. Because those demarcations do not make for a harmonious existence, do they?
But what if we, as a collective species, were to turn around to the so-called elite and tell them quite clearly what our strategy looked like? For us as a whole, not us separated out by all those different categories. What would we say? Would we say something along the lines of ‘stop treating us like chattel’? Would we say pay us what we deserve to be paid, what is necessary to live a comfortable life’? Would we say ‘stop polluting the earth on which we all live’? ‘Create a decent future for our children’? ‘Stop polluting our bodes with rubbish that is only produced to make you more wealthy’? How about ‘leave it to us to sort out world peace, please, because you’re not doing a great job of it’? Or ‘stop dividing us on religious grounds to artificially create a division which only exists to either pander to your delusions of power or so you can grab more wealth for yourself’?
What if we were to say that our strategy was one of caring and nurturing for the nature we are a part of so that it cares and nurtures us in return. And that we would do that by stopping the over-consumption that is being pumped out of these companies which are polluting out atmosphere. That we would prefer to pivot business into supporting the circular economy across the entire range of products instead. That we don’t really care what our fruit and vegetables look like as long as it is edible, affordable, and as healthy as it is supposed to be without added pesticides, without being genetically modified, and which isn’t the result of the over-intensification of farming which is destroying farms, farmers and the environment. A strategy that says we want our houses to be built by organisations that are around for the long-haul in the place rather than throwing them up in a generally haphazard fashion and then disappearing immediately after having gouged the buyer of as much money as possible because of the financial dynamics of creating a housing development. Instead, use long-term investment models that are as much about creating community as they are returns on that investment over many years. Where we don’t want technology that destroys the earth and which sits between our ears anyway, if our education systems allowed us to think for ourselves rather than how we are taught we should think. Speaking of which, we want an education system that values our individuality rather than making us into clones of each other so we can become corporate or military cannon fodder. We are not drones, we are individuals and we deserve to be treated as such.
I think we would also say that we deserve to be healthy and to trust that we are not being treated as means of making more money through, for example, pharmaceuticals. That a cure is sought not a coping mechanism, for example anti-depressants which temper the problem, not solve it. We could also say that we reject any and all attempts to divide us using any means including and not limited to race, sex, sexual orientation, and religion. That we are one, we are all part of the same species and we will begin to consider ourselves in that way. That we will not tolerate any attempts to encourage harm against any other for any of those spurious reasons. I think we would say that we are taking back control of the reins of humanity. We would accept that we are all individuals and that, as such, there are those who are content to take a leadership role and those who are content to be led. But that that position is respected rather than taken advantage of on the basis that we need all sorts of different types of people to make this environment we have created, work.
We might even say that we are happy that some people will make some more money than others because they, for example, came up with an idea, carried the risk of bringing it to market and continue with the risk of creating a business and all that that entails. But not to the point of rampant greed, of providing what people do not need or which makes them unhealthy whilst dressing it all up as a necessity. When it isn’t. I think we would also say that everyone deserves a wage that enables them to live comfortable and decent lives, that enables them to have a balance between their work and their private life and that the money the businessman earns is not off the backs of their workers but in respect for the effort everyone puts in to the success of the business. And that all business people should ensure they and the business they run/own operates in service of all the communities they and it serve. That this is a mantra that runs throughout society – that everyone, regardless of who they are, lives their life in a way that is of service to the variety of communities they exist and operate within. I think that we would say we respect community, we respect connection and that has to take priority over everything. To make sure we never lose it again.
This may all sound fanciful and pie in the sky. It isn’t. It’s reality. Because, if we don’t, we will end up on a planet that is incapable of supporting us with the eventual ending I’m sure can be imagined as a result of that. We will end up on a planet run by AI, by megalomanic billionaires and politicians who pander to them for their own self-aggrandisement and egoic means. And that is not a reality I am prepared to tolerate.
What about you?
Louisa Simpson 