The Crisis of Wealth
Recently I watched an extremely well-made film that delivered a reality that was both shocking and hopeless. There were one or two fleeting graphic clips that left me almost broken! I have recovered now. And since, discovered that certain reports within the film lacked depth and therefore left any signs of hope well hidden. It started me thinking, trying to rationalize and make sense of the mess that the world has become.
I think we tend to credit those in Government with too much intelligence. It is just my opinion, but I don’t think there is any conspiracy going on. I think wealth per say, (and most politicians these days are wealthy), is opportunistic and insidiously harmful in the wrong hands. But politicians are also compromised by powerful corporate lobbies that make huge campaign contributions in order to secure a favorable position, allowing them (corporations) to proceed unobstructed. This hinders Governments’ ability to create an infrastructure that supports those in diminished circumstance to the extent that government itself becomes part of the social problem.
The result of this is both an environmental and social decline that invariably affects the poorest people, and these days, that includes those who work for a living. But in truth this downturn actually affects everyone, including the wealthy who are highly addicted to the need for more and more money that can never be satisfied, as with any drug that displaces you from reality.
The disconnection of society, wealthy and poor, has fragmented and scattered our true values which have been replaced with cosmetic illusions largely produced by an unprecedented dependency upon technology and the deceptions generated by corporate interests. Many of us no longer look within and see that our very nature is made of entirely the same substance as the natural world, least of all those whose material world is unconstricted. Most native peoples do not have a word for “ownership” nor comprehend the concept. The reality is that we all share one, and only one home, and until we switch to an ethos of custodianship, we cannot even begin to share what rightfully should be freely available to everyone, or implement any long term process of transition towards a safe and productive future.
Government needs a new breed of leadership and a radical reform to the rules that govern such a position. Men and women from the rank and file of life. Those who have climbed out of the abyss of poverty with their own determination and inner strength. Lech Walesa comes to mind. Those with a passion for life and the lives of those they love. Those with strength to resist the powerful demons of the corporate world, self-assured and invincible in their own integrity. These are the new leaders that will help save our world. Bribes, corporate handouts, campaign donations, clubhouse gifts all banned by law. A set income for a specific job description. This must be the future of Government in order to pursue the rebuilding of society and invoking anew it’s trust.
We must return to a local lifestyle. Our world today requires us to step into a vehicle nearly every time we go out. Everything is a drive away. We need a structural change in society. As reported recently in the Guardian, Paris is experimenting with “…a “15-minute city”, in which districts that have been treated by transport planners as mere portals to somewhere else become self-sufficient communities – each with their own shops, parks, schools and workplaces, within a 15-minute walk of everyone’s home.” This may be a radical change and one that is going to take a long time to implement, but those of us who grew up in the sixties might feel the familiarity of this type of “local” environment, and in my case I recall our dairy and meat all came from the local farm, the cows from which I could see from our upstairs window.
We need to recreate a life that works for us as the vulnerable and sensitive creatures we really are, we need to reacquaint ourselves with each other in order to find common ground, human and spritual connections and in doing this create a true and lasting community that is entirely responsible for it’s own well-being and quality of life. And what a joy it would be for everyone to have this experience, even those wealthy cockerels who crow from the summit of their own plunder, they too might learn something new and exciting beyond the experience of material acquisition.
