The Future Demands Something Different From the Past

Now for this planet to allow us to live here. Us being sentient, thinking, creative and moral. 

Morality is not for the preacher. Morality is what civilized society demands. Civilization needs more than manners and class systems. We need the gut to be engaged and the mind. Following others has never guaranteed a good future if we cannot imagine how our rules and preferences will play out in years and decades.

Take for example the traditions and teachings around gender. Some time ago it seemed that one gender needed to be caring and gentle so that the other could go out and win wars. But hundreds of years after colonizing other lands we saw those who had a higher status tortured and tormented those who were lower on the pecking order. Regardless of whether that status was supported by money or respect we learned that power only granted them the right to kill for suspicious reasons. We learned that power was the only valued thing and life was there simply to be exploited, whether it was labour or animal farming. 

What seems apparent to me is that we are psychologically tortured by trying to meet the expectations of whatever age we are living in.

Young children are bullied by children who have been bullied. In this land "of plenty" not only are some homeless but no-one can guarantee a fulfilling future as long as we are subjected to the judgements of those whose status rises over those who are lower on the pecking order. If a child graduates from school with A's he still can be subjected to ridicule when he gets to university or is given a job in a corporation. Each level that a person rises to is a new battleground with new rules not always shared to the lower caste.

Also the violence, the killing and the rape is hidden to protect the institution.

So here we are witnessing the destruction of this entire planet so that those who have climbed or been given a certain status can keep abusing the people they depend on for their survival. And everyone here can soon have their status removed. It has nothing to do with the quality of their nature.

Everything we have relied on to keep our society functioning has been broken. None of us feel sure we are entitled to respect forever, no matter what we might have achieved. Also there is a shadowy cabal who have extraordinary power simply because they have the means to do us all a great harm. There is nothing we can earn that cannot be taken away from us, even self respect can get lost in anxiety and confusion.

So what can we do about this? There are no guarantees. No bombs to protect us. No wealth to insure our survival in a society that values fear and violence above traditions of character and social justice.

Some centuries ago new born people had the love of a family to nurture them to adulthood. Then a class system gave richer families the option to employ others to do that work, and children learned their worth according to what their family owned, how much they could afford private education. But it was the family that gave them their worth. Schools can provide learning materials, accommodation and food, certificates and ribbons, but the child needs more than these to know who they are.

Every living person needs self respect, elders to guide and to comfort them when they need it. Affirmation is a never ending requirement in the diet of complex creatures.

How do we give this world self-respect? How can we ask CEO's to love all who need it when their task is to compete for ever greater profit which inevitably means stealing from other sources. The whole capitalist movement is built on diminishing the other, taking more and giving less.

This is the age where brutality and rape becomes more deadly while seeming to be fair, or if not fair, agreed upon in the social contract where the term social has been stamped redundant. 

The economy has become the parent, the god, the philosopher and the jailor. The future is up for sale in a second hand shop.

So humanity must defend itself, and re-create its place in the universe. It must battle the future without harming it. It must take back its integrity. It must refuse to be impressed with others weapons. It must celebrate its art. It must realize that recognition through prizes and awards is not a replacement for the ongoing struggle. The end is not about fame and you are enough.