Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash
I steal all my best ideas from people who are smarter or more insightful than I am. All too often, I forget who I’ve stolen the ideas from. In this case, I remember and want to give credit before I forget.
So, thank you, Douglas Rushkoff, for the slogan that I’m stealing. You introduced me to the phrase “find the others” in your book Team Human. I can’t recall, but I think YOU attributed that phrase to someone else. So, thanks to that other person, too!
Let’s Protest to Build A Movement
The world, and everyone on it, is in serous danger right now. This is because the climate is being actively destroyed by a handful of (allegedly) powerful fools who are extracting fossil fuels and poisoning the air, oceans and soil — for personal profit. These fools include Middle East dictators, egomaniacs like Putin, and the billionaires who dominate Western governments — by funding politicians.
I identify these people as fools and not, say, evil geniuses, because they aren’t very smart — most were born to wealth and power — and they are, ultimately, living empty useless lives in search of an ongoing adrenaline rush. Their own offspring will hate them for destroying the biosphere and dooming their children and grandchildren to a lifetime of struggle and misery.
Now, the traditional viewpoint is to get a bunch of people together and protest against bad government or whatever, and demand change. But I don’t think that’s the best approach. Many people who I admire are advocates of it, and perhaps that is a good approach. But I don’t believe it.
Working through a system that seems designed to favor your opponent is, to my mind, a losing strategy. The dictator and the plutocrat isn’t very sympathetic to your concern for the ecology of the Earth, and perhaps even less sympathetic to any suffering or injustice which you and your peers endure.
I am working with others who are trying to use protest to build a movement, not complain to unsympathetic “authorities.” This movement, ultimately, won’t expect to pressure the authorities to do the right thing. We will simply do the right things. Because the authorities don’t actually do anything. They get others to do things they want. Well, we won’t destroy the climate. We will, instead, do everything that’s needed to repair the climate and to build an actual civilization of people who care about the Earth and each other. It will be based on love and cooperation and truth. NOT on greed and competition and lies — like the systems we currently are experiencing.
We feel certain that to a huge number of people, what we are offering and what we plan to do will be much more appealing than the hell on Earth we are now careening towards. We feel certain that, given the choice, at least one billion people will join us. And perhaps many more.
Who wants to sacrifice their lives and their children to some selfish plutocrat when you could, instead, give yourself and your progeny a better life in a better civilization?
How and Why To Find the Others
We will reach out to everyone, but won’t waste time or energy trying to persuade people who aren’t ready to be part of this. More will come with time. We will, instead, mobilize those who ARE ready.
Are YOU ready? Do you know others who are ready? We aren’t asking much. We would like just a bit of your time, and your brainpower — as your situation and inclination permits — to help create a better future. And, even, a better present. We believe that the benefits of being a part of a humane community is available for us to enjoy RIGHT NOW. This is the case even though our group (and more about this group later) is forward looking with broader objectives.
What Are We Proposing?
We have a (at the moment, small) group of people committed to building community EVERYWHERE and to repairing and restoring the damaged Earth insofar as that is possible. We believe that the future is not set, and that we have an opportunity to ensure that the future is better than the present. We know and fully understand the size of the challenge.
We believe that our efforts can succeed BECAUSE people DO care about each other and people DO care about the Earth. Those of us with these feelings — and there are billions of such people — have felt powerless, and lately, have also felt crushing despair. We see the damage being done and don’t see how we can change things.
Our group wants to show these people that they are not alone and that they are not powerless. We want to encourage them to join together, and — in defiance of the rules and leaders who are poisoning the Earth and poisoning the attitudes of people by lionizing greed and division and hatred — ultimately change things through direct action. We will support and work with climate scientists to take whatever actions are necessary to help restore the climate. We will cooperate with each other to build a civilization based on humane values — replacing the ridiculous sh!t show that’s been our lives up to now.
Given a choice, we feel certain that billions will make the obvious and correct one. And, outnumbered and with no credible argument for continuing our disastrous course, the old order will crumble.
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