Remember the Future

Remember the future. Not your future - THE future.

There's an unfolding that's bigger than the universe and older than eternity. It IS the universe; or more accurately, the dynamic impetus that manifests as time and space, happening and being. It's unimaginably vast, inconceivably ancient and will exist beyond all comprehension. It is, itself, “alive”. But in terms of the stuff of the universe, life, is the rarest element in all of existence.

To disrespect the sanctity of this wee bubble of life suspended in inhospitable emptiness (that we're infinitely blessed to be a part of), and to act in a harmful manner toward its well being – to discount, deface and destroy the most precious of ALL creations - is the most flagrant and violent moral offense that I can imagine. How can anyone possibly justify feelings of superiority toward that which enables his very existence? To imagine that one's personal drama is a higher priority than all else, is like the splash of a single raindrop thinking it's superior to all of human history.

It requires turning a deaf ear to the voice in/of one's soul to harbor such hubris. Once one's own ethical sensibilities have been dismissed in favor of self aggrandizing reasoning, his/her capacity to discern right from wrong is lost. And the disconnect doesn't remain isolated or turn itself on and off, depending on the situation. For those who have committed to rules or beliefs at the cost of muting their consciences, all perceptions are filtered through personal preconceptions, and judgments and decisions are motivated by selfish interests.

If we owe anything to something other than ourselves, we owe our lives, not merely to past generations, but to all life on earth, now and into the future - above all else. Please, in all your seeing and thinking and prioritizing and planning and acting and speaking and dreaming, respect the whole, seek to be (and live a life) of benefit for something bigger, and remember the future that you're creating.

The Machinery

There are, of course, no particular groups or individuals that are responsible for how the machinery works. Its been evolving, via the contributions of generations of people - and societies. But its grown up with inadequate supervision and guidance, and is now a self serving, short sighted, uncaring adolescent punk who's only concerned about meaningless nonsense that makes it happy, because that's what it's “supposed” to want. No concern for how its actions affect other, no thoughts of being intrinsically “better than yesterday”, no sense of obligation to history. It has no morals, no ethics, no sense of justice or virtue – it has no soul. It's machinery. Men just maintain it. The machine is the master - a self appointed master, at that.

Early on in our development, we lived hand to mouth. Our needs and possessions were simple and few. The first societies we formed were tribes or clans. Many experiments failed, but most that did, were done in by their more powerful neighbors. Initially, desires and conflicts were primarily about resources. But at some point, “things” became more important to us. “If things are good, then more things is more good.” Thus evolved the habit of acquiring more than one's needs.

It was soon learned that these “extras” could be used as commodities to bargain with. “I'll trade you this pregnant goat and three yak skins for your services/daughter/allegiance/... whatever” And the machinery slowly began to chug along. “More stuff, more leverage. More leverage, more stuff. More stuff, more leverage. More leverage, more stuff. More stuff, more leverage. More leverage, more stuff.”

Nowadays the “stuff” is mostly numbers in a computer and little intricately printed pieces of paper. But it's still the same chug – only, now, its screaming along, out of control, at breakneck speed. “Morestuffmoreleveragemoreleveragemorestuffmorestuffmoreleverage...”

And what, you might ask, powers this almighty machinery? Well, the answer is - you. You and me and all the other drones that tend to the bits and pieces of the hive. It's human a powered machine. The theory going in (in America, anyway) was that it was going to be controlled by humans. But it seems like the machinery has turned into Frankenstein's monster. It has no concern whatsoever for its reason for being or its creators needs. It feels no mercy for those who feed it, or remorse for all the wrongs it's done or is doing.

It appears as though those who we see through the windows, sitting inside of the machine, are to blame. But they're just obeying the system, too. The anger we direct at them is misguided. They're more hopelessly lost in the illusion than the rest of us. (It would be really, really hard to face the fact that one was partly to largely responsible for the miserable state of things; so, eyes remain tightly closed.) Granted, it'd be much easier to fix the gears from the inside, but those within are still just mindlessly serving the machinery's will. (And, enjoying the perks of being such obedient and conveniently located slaves.)

And like slaves with no means to take care of themselves (and their's) in the immediate future, people feel trapped in the paradigm created by the machinery's momentum. We were all born into cultures that were already hypnotized into submission. It's all we've ever known. Many can't even fathom the possibility of another way. The “world order” seems as irrefutable as the weather - but it's not.

We have to dis-empower and reinvent it, now. It's time ... past time.

For societies to function, there has to be some sort of stability and consistency. Some basic education, “monetary” system, guidelines for all to live by and means to deal with those who do harm. Basically, we need some kind of machinery. The process of fixing what's obviously broken is a highly daunting task. One that must begin with many questions:

What do we want the machine to do for us? How can we ensure transparency and avoid corruption? Is there any means to keep con men away from the tiller? Can we instill a heart into it? Which parts should be saved and which ones scrapped? Who will decide? How will decisions be made and operations guided? Would we be better off to keep many machines going and try to operate them sympathetically, or should there be only one machine? Will we be able to involve everyone in the process of recreation? Should it be reevaluated and/or recreated on a regular basis? And many more.

As with anything else in life, you can't get what you want until you define what that is. So, let's get started. What kind of machinery do you want governing humanity and caring for the planet?