Sorry for the Inconvenience....

Sorry for the Inconvenience... I am trying to imagine a better, more affluent yet transparent world. One that works for everyone. I know that does not necessarily suit some people. Particularly those who are content with the way things are. 

The utopian mind is trapped, along with capitalism and industrialism, in a self-reflective, disconnected state obsessed with the need for material growth. Initially this mindset brought some of us great wealth. Generally speaking improved health and wellbeing followed. But now the same mindset has turned toxic. The context is changing but we are not keeping pace. In fact we have become addicted to our own deceits and are blind to the consequences.

We are assured by advertising gurus and manufacturers that the never-ending spiral of consumption and desire is bound to make us happy - eventually. If we are downcast then spend a little money on the latest iPhone and happiness will be restored. Feeling lonely? Treat yourself to a Caribbean cruise or a long weekend in Bali. You will feel much better - for a while at least. 

Sorry for the inconvenience. I suspect we are deceiving ourselves. The essential costs of living, such as mortgage payments, gas, electricity, and food, which were originally the reason we laboured in exchange for money, no longer excites us. It is now burdensome. The fact is most of us no longer want to work long hours, in repetitive jobs, that have few benefits, other than a pay cheque each month. We remain disengaged and disinterested. The real motivation for turning up to work is our craving for a stream of new stuff. Novel gadgets and little luxuries, items we do not actually need, driven to some extent by envy, fuels such avarice. This impulse has assumed dominion over us. Little by little it devours everything else we once valued - including simple joys such as talking with friends, sharing a meal, walking together in the shade of a forest. Even our sense of belonging.

Given the identity crisis this is causing, particularly among the young - the increasing rates of anxiety and depression, suicide, narcissism and antisocial behaviours psychologists are dealing with today - perhaps we could redesign our worldview and its impulses from first principles, putting life and everything that sustains it, before everything else.

Sorry for the inconvenience. I do not mean to shout. I am simply trying to get your attention. As we watch coral reefs die, entire species become extinct, extreme weather events become more common, and glaciers melt, world leaders convene to discuss the crisis, nod their heads in sage agreement that something must be done. Then sit on their hands. 

Perhaps they believe the science is wrong, or dismiss it as a socialist conspiracy. Possibly they feel we have left it too late to do anything much anyway and that any action from them will lose them votes. They might believe new technologies will come to our rescue, saving humanity in the nick of time like the best Hollywood blockbuster. Or perhaps they have so much faith in capitalism that they assume the huge amounts of capital needed to decarbonise the economy will eventually be coughed up by others when there are no other options. 

Sorry for the inconvenience. But waiting for more information before acting is a folly when your home is burning. During the past decade venture capitalists have poured billions of dollars into disrupting the hotel, taxi, office-space and restaurant industries. Well done them. They became much wealthier. Governments on the other hand targeted fiscal parochialism, their myopic eyes glued to opinion polls and the next election. Meanwhile the climate continues to get warmer and extreme weather events are now more frequent. Some people presume the big energy firms will take the lead. Don't hold your breath. The odds are against that happening. These firms do not have the will power nor the means to disrupt their orthodox business models.

Given rising levels of anxiety among the general population perhaps we should start one or more government-sponsored, privately financed and managed, Climate Action Funds. Global heating mitigation and adaptation efforts can only succeed if and when ordinary citizens around the world are given the opportunity to engage with the issues. And giving the public a chance to buy in, literally, might hasten this process.

Sorry for the inconvenience. I really am trying to get you to think more deeply. Surely not the climate crisis again? Not this time. AI? No. Political corruption? Not exactly. Human rights then? Well, sort of. It's actually a bit of everything you see. I am concerned that we are not awake to the consequences of collective human action.

Everything is interconnected. We know this from quantum science, indigenous wisdom, and the more esoteric spiritual conditions. This means everything we do, every action we take, contributes to the world operating effectively, and as intended - or not! 

When I was born there were fewer than 2 billion people on the planet. It felt empty. Today there are more than 7.6 billion of us - all needing fresh air, potable water, nutritious food, empathy, friendship and love. Obviously we would be better off without war and inequity. But the fact is we designed our most life-critical systems to be what they are and to deliver precisely what they produce. If we do not like the results we can redesign them. In fact we will have to do that anyway, because so many of them are under stress and are failing the majority of humans. 

For example, democracy is in a shambles. Although we pretend everything is satisfactory, democracy is not working as it should anywhere in the world. Indeed the only governance model that comes close to delivering what its architects intended, global economic power through domestic unity, is the modern Chinese political system. Many will condemn me for saying as such. After all, we are supposed to believe that China is the enemy and that the West has a moral advantage. Inclusive, unbiased analysis, does not validate such a claim.

Failures in some other systems are less contentious. Soils are losing their organic richness owing to the excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides. Aquifers and rivers are poisoned. Industrial forms of agriculture can no longer guarantee food security. Marine stocks are collapsing through over fishing. Elsewhere, the socio-political and cultural theories we use for learning, health, journalism, foreign aid, and economic justice, to name just a few, are in urgent need of review. 

Sorry for the inconvenience. But we need always to seek the truth. Some people like to blame increasing population numbers for what is becoming a scar on human civilisation. But that is only partly true. It is not a matter of numbers. Indeed, although the population is still increasing in absolute terms, fertility rates have been in dramatic decline worldwide for well over a decade.

The real culprit is the stories we tell each other about who we are, what is important, and what it means to be human. The dominant narrative concerning the human condition is increasingly at odds with the optimal criteria for a beneficial and abundant future.

Sorry for the inconvenience. Perhaps we should pay more attention to the root causes underlying why so many things appear not to be working for everyone. Perhaps we should be redesigning these systems from first principles - expressing clearly what we expect them to deliver. 

If all of that seems reasonable we should put more effort into respecting and educating women so that they can take an equal part in shaping our society. 

Given how technology is transforming the world of work, we should revise the rationale for schooling and what we should expect from graduates. 

We should switch from the apparatus of state governance to a mix of cities and regenerative regional activity, cooperating with each other at a local level in terms of food production, the sharing of energy, and the development of community ecologies. 

We should use military budgets, aimed purely at causing destruction, to help regenerate those natural and social ecosystems damaged through war and conflict. 

We should also tread more lightly and responsibly on the Earth, contracting the economic aspirations in more developed nations, so that badly needed growth becomes easier in less developed lands.  

Sorry for the inconvenience. Some readers will assume that I am a rabid socialist. I am not. I am not against business making a profit - so long as the community and the environment also benefit. I am not against prosperity or a thriving economy - so long as everyone wins. I am not against the accrual of individual wealth - so long as it is achieved through personal effort and does not disadvantage others less fortunate. I am not against an individual's belief in a deity, or even the tooth fairy come to that - so long as I am not a target for their personal superstitions and delusions. 

Sorry for the inconvenience. It is just that I cannot abide ignorance. And while stupidity can be forgiven, I think some of us may have forgotten what it means to be human.