What sort of world.............?
By
Stuart Yates
What sort of world do you want to live in? What sort of life do you want to lead?
A world where everyone has at least the minimum - water, food, sanitation, shelter - or a world in which millions starve to death through non-existent or poisoned facilities, excess cold or heat and others throw away more food and water than they consume and have several homes.
A world in which people who do the actual work - in producing goods and services - receive around one thousandth of the money received by those running companies (in 2004 the figure for Wal-Mart was 1/871) or a world in which this gap is much narrower, reflecting the actual difference in skills, experience, effort and contribution.
A world in which you bear the sole responsibility for your health care needs, old age, inability to work/support yourself and no responsibility towards others or a world in which you contribute to the support of others for when they need it and are supported by others when you need it.
A world in which billions of pounds/dollars are spent on weapons designed to maim and kill people or a world in which those billions are spent on basic human needs and understanding/dialogue between nations and different communities within nations.
A world in which love and sharing are the main values by which you live or a world in which fear and greed form the main values by which people live.
A world in which nations declare and wage war first and talk later e.g. Lebanon, Iraq or a world in which war is genuinely the last option and only in genuine defence.
A world in which politicians only consider the interests of their country and citizens e.g. Bush's stance on climate change/American jobs or a world in which humankind's needs as a whole are taken into account.
A world in which the welfare of others as well as self forms a chief value or a world in which the overrriding value is profit/individual wealth/material possessions.
A world in which the resources of the planet are seen to be there merely to be exploited, even at the risk of future generations and other life forms and the very survival of the human species or a world in which the planet is seen as belonging to everyone/no-one and those resources are to husbanded carefully, considering the needs of the future for both humankind and all other life.
A world in which the continued acquisition of material possessions provide only temporary happiness/contentment but fail to fill the emptiness in life or a world in which life is fulfilled through relationships, with others as well as with oneself.
A world in which time is filled by a desperate attempt to survive economically, or keep up with neighbours/colleagues, or to get ahead of others or a world in which there is time to be with others, with oneself, with nature.
A world in which you are valued for who you are or a world in which you are valued for what you do, what you possess.
A world in which anxiety about the future - job, health, old age etc - and how to protect oneself and reduce risk are paramount concerns or a world in which you live in the present, knowing that the future will take care of itself.
A world in which you are wrestling with the universe or a world in which you are living in harmony with it.
Only some of these are achievable at the political/societal level. Most are achievable at the individual level. We have the choices. To the extent that we choose life over death, community and relationship over individual gain, understanding over violence, justice over exploitation, cooperation over competition our lives will change, others' lives will change, the world will change.
Never believe that what you do or do not do has no effect on the world. It does. Everything interconnects and we are part of a whole, a whole that we do not and may never understand. In all humility we need to accept that we affect the planet, each and everyone of us.
March 2007