Due to the current state of confusion and dissension across the globe, I am submitting these observations and suggestions in the hope of encouraging a peaceful and international resolution through intellectual agreement. I will begin by trying to establish basic, unchangeable statements as a foundation for a unified strategy to move from arguments to cooperation. As far as I can see, the best place to start is with the nature of human beings as a species.
Unlike the rest of creation/existence the human mind is corrupt, whereas everything else in the Universe is perfectly adapted and connected. This corruption is dominant amongst our species, and the root of it is an arrogant belief that we are “super-smart” - so smart that we can individually judge what is good from what is evil. This belief is the source for all subsequent corruption, in beliefs, actions and communication. The simple truth is that we are not as smart as we think we are. Rather, we are all meddlers and manipulators in a perfect universe, patting each other on the back for our achievements, character, and abilities when, in reality, we have never created anything, (simply maneuvered forces and materials that already exist to bend to our will); we try to judge character by using our individual imagination as a pattern (extolling anything that suits our own disposition at the time); and we are unwilling to admit that creative expressions such as music, art and poetry come from a different source than our clever minds, (even though we often acknowledge them as “gifts”). The first global agreement that we need to enter is that the solution to our own corruption is our responsibility, our choice, and our redemption.
While many people might advocate a laissez-faire attitude towards putting an end to this universal corruption, history and experience demonstrate that it is truly a battle, and will not be won by “turning a blind eye” and hoping for the best. In order to avoid total anarchy, we have relied on government bodies (of one form or another), different religious organizations, community police forces, and various financial systems to limit and prosecute our corrupt behavior, but these institutions are only effective in creating a minimum standard, and only when they have the trust and confidence of the public – when this relationship breaks down, it is ground for violent revolution. The second global agreement would be to specify a separate mandate for each authority, keep them separate, and insist that they are self-regulated. (Any betrayal of public trust ought to be disciplined harshly, immediately, and publicly by the authority itself, in order to restore public confidence)
To understand the human tendency towards corruption, we need to isolate the root of our conflict. In simple terms, there are two universally held paradigms, or perspectives, (sometimes referred to as Memes) that guide us in our lives. The first “reality” (or version of reality) is that we are born into a bleak wilderness, and must pit ourselves against nature, compete with others, and expend enormous energy to survive the ordeal of life, and success is measured by the degree of comfort we can achieve. This world-view is based on fear and selfishness and expands to fighting for the survival and comfort of our family, then the survival and comfort of our community, country, and so on. At its logical conclusion, we must all be on guard to fight for the survival and comfort of our species in case an inter galactic force threatens the planet. This “reality” is a paranoid delusion, but creates its own truth by filling the world with aggressive fear-mongers that collect evidence to support their belief from the carnage that they themselves wreak. This is the prevalent version of reality in our world.
The second perspective, or “Meme”, is the concept that we are all born into a large family aboard a self-powered spaceship on automatic pilot, hurtling to an unknown destination with our fellow passengers, that our magnificent craft has eternal sources of sustenance in abundance, a reliable heat source , and all manner of healthy, exciting experiences to fill our time as we travel. In this “reality”, the society we are born into, and the institutions that exist are simply crew members of the spaceship, some in uniform, some not, but all of them acting as guides and teachers as we mature. What is there to fight, or even argue about? When faced with the desperation and arrogance of the first paradigm, the people who think that life is an interesting holiday aboard a self-sustaining playground (like children) are hated, abused, ridiculed, and used as scapegoats to prove that their version of life is totally false and they need to “grow up”. When two or three passengers who hold to the second reality come together, however, they experience the validity of their beliefs, which encourages them to feel compassion for their unhappy relatives (sparking even more hatred and sometimes violence). In fact they become like “sheep among wolves”, and any attempt to dissuade their paranoid friends is suspect and most times ineffective. But occasionally David defeats Goliath, Jesus raises from the Dead, and Mohammed marches on Mecca. Since the end of human corruption relies on our ability to convince those trapped in the first “reality” to rethink their assumptions and reasoning, the third global agreement needs to be a commitment to ensure that all communication, whether verbal, physical, or financial must be consistent with a reality based on decency” (This insistence on decency in communication will no doubt be heralded as an attack on “free speech”, but the real enemies of free speech are deception, derision and violence, which paralyze our ability to think freely, thereby taking away the very source of “free expression”.)
The beginning of the transformation of our world needs to start at the top, with the United Nations, an organization formed to safeguard us from global conflict. To date, it is questionable whether they have had any influence towards world peace or not. Wildly drawing lines on a map, separating us by religious affiliations, creating an armed force directed by a “security council” made up of the five most heavily armed, belligerent countries, and imposing economic “sanctions” that penalize ordinary citizens who have no possibility of changing the decisions of their leaders doesn't seem to be a voice of reason that we can respect. If the goal is World Peace, the simple and plausible beginning would be to dismantle the pervasive cancer of weapons that already exist, and to punish manufacturers and distributors from every nation. This is a tall order, but the fourth global agreement should be “Operation Clean Sweep” - an order for all military personnel and equipment to return home to their respective countries and disarm their own citizens in preparation for destroying every weapon designed to inflict pain and suffering.
Obviously, the tenor of this essay is to establish a manifesto for the future, and to that end, I have published a draft constitution for “The United States of Canada “ (that is already circulating), in the hopes that we can set an example for other continents to follow. Africa, South America,and Australia, are similar geographical entities divided by borders that have been sporadically juggled at the cost of millions of lives and untold suffering. Sovereignty of any nation is vested in their accepted currency, and the concept of creating new, national currencies can unite existing countries (as with the Euro) while still allowing for individual culture (and even language), and give us the opportunity to “launder” the present system fairly by refusing to exchange money that has been accumulated through illegal or indecent means. The division of nations ought to be based on their currency, which is their chosen vehicle for financial communication, and this might provide a chance to draw lines around a variety of existing countries in the Middle-East to unite them as a distinct nation, as well as the Far-East (Tibet, China, the Korean and Asian Peninsulas); the Former Soviet Republics; India/Pakistan/ Bangladesh; Iran/Afghanistan etc. We might even designate a Federation of Islands that would garuntee every island self government without interference. Separating the world by National currencies would result in each nation taking responsibility for the health and welfare of its own citizens and put an end to continuous colonization and multinational conglomerates. The fifth global agreement would be to define the democratically owned currency for every nation as absolutely exclusive, not to be exported in any way.
There are a number of financial institutions whose time has come and gone, and need to be replaced. Insurance companies, credit brokers and stock markets have become a den of thieves over the years. Insurance is rooted in paranoia, propagating a religion of terror, where “Acts of God” are limited to horrific disasters of nature, and all human suffering and carelessness can be mitigated in terms of monetary settlements. Credit companies lure us to pay huge interest charges for the privilege of being impatient, arguing that 'life is short, why wait?' Stock markets began as a means of inviting public financial support in private enterprise, but have become giant gambling casinos that rule over our industries. All these corrupted institutions can be easily replaced by local, democratic, non-profit cooperatives like the Credit Unions. Essentially, these institutions would prioritize available money to respond to community needs and aspirations rather than supplying the artificial, immoral demands created by deceptive advertising. This would allow completely free and private enterprise (without the constant drain of usury and share dividends) under the supervision of elected boards concerned with the present needs and future prosperity of their members. The sixth global agreement should be to make it illegal to treat money itself as a 'commodity'.
If you add up all these agreements, it becomes obvious that millions upon millions of jobs that have no value for society will be eradicated, and much of our “training” and “education” will have been wasted. On the positive side, there is a never-ending list of worthwhile work to be done, and no excuse for people to shirk their personal responsibility to contribute. The eternal problem of humanity is that while we are working at implementing the details of these agreements, we tend to lose sight of the “big picture” and corruption is at the door, waiting to disrupt our unity. This has given rise to the importance of the 'Sabbath', (which gave way to the 'Weekend' and then 'Statutory Holidays'), where we could take time to reaffirm our place in the community, and exercise the freedom of simply enjoying the trip on our spaceship. In the computer age, with all the technological advances and scientific understanding that we have achieved over the centuries, I suggest that the seventh global agreement can be a four day work week.
I believe that if we could all agree on these seven basic suggestions, we could use our cunning ability to meddle and interfere to correct the current “crises” that we are presented with daily. For instance, the problem of 'global warming' melting the polar ice caps and flooding the continental land mass could be answered constructively by building massive desalinization plants close to arid deserts and using the excess water to grow crops where they don't grow naturally. The salt residue could be transformed into some kind of building material and solar power could be harnessed for the process, turning a perceived threat into an opportunity. Or, in the case of the coming oil shortage, we could extract hydrogen from some of this excess water to increase fuel economy, and redesign the “internal” combustion engine to become an “eternal' combustion engine. I hope one of the first challenges will be to redirect the energy and expense dedicated to planting a flag on the moon and shipping a transformer toy to Mars into a quest to develop unmanned minesweepers to neutralize millions of acres of minefields without the cost of a child's limbs.
This “unification” of our species has been a long time coming, but I believe the rest of the Universe has been waiting for it patiently, and we can all at least agree on one thing – we can't go on the way we're going, so I will close with this thought. As our own corrupt nature tries to destroy every attempt to improve our world, the universal understanding of words is of utmost importance, and we will need solid, unchanging definitions to keep us in agreement. The most critical word to keep us moving in the right direction is “SUCCESS” and I offer this definition: “If success is not mutual, it is not success. It is failure!” Thank you for reading, and I hope this essay provides food for thought and discussion.
THE END
