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A science-based blueprint for humanity's redemption
A science-based blueprint for humanity's redemption
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A science-based blueprint for humanity's redemption
A science-based blueprint for humanity's redemption
It is home to everything we know, and love; everything we have; everything we are.
It is the only safe oasis in an infinitely bleak, dark, hostile void. We are alone here, in an eternally vulnerable position; we have no wise option but to do all in our power to protect our sole refuge, as it protects us.
Instead, we are systematically devouring its limited resources as rapidly and wastefully as seems manageable; polluting, degrading, and simply erasing its ecosystems, resulting in mass extinction and biodiversity loss; and even altering its oceans and atmosphere, to such an extent that their capacity to provide the conditions favourable to the remaining life, is already breaking down around us.
And we are not even slowing this horrific trend, but accelerating it.
The development of this situation has been known for decades, and has inspired countless, repeated demands - from every stratum of humanity - for an urgent, adequate response. Yet these pleas have remained effectively ignored, by those with the greatest ability to provide it: governments and business leaders, the directors of societal trajectory. The required measures have remained clear and known, and essentially unchanged, throughout the entire period: to simply minimise, cease or replace those practices that science identifies as detrimental.
Our reliance on governments to determine and address those priorities, has been a catastrophic mistake. Understanding the full complexity of how a society is functioning, at any given time; what the ramifications of its activities are; and how to formulate appropriate policy in response, is far beyond the capacity of any active politician, or political party. These are matters for entire fields (indeed, practically every field) of science and research.
Although governments have access to the highest quality expert advice, they are under no obligation to actually take it; using their "best judgement" is central to their role, with their own ideologies, alliances and agendas being their primary influence.
While some people may exercise better judgement than others, still none of us can do so with any sort of sufficient consistency. We are all, as individuals, deeply fallible; with limited cognition, knowledge and perspective, biased opinions, and (often) corruptible principles.
Political debate and consensus does little to remedy this problem; humans are generally reluctant to change their opinions at the best of times, let alone in the midst of an ideological challenge. So, any beneficial legislation that emerges from the process is so compromised and diluted by the dubious beliefs and alliances of its individual participants - and the limited common ground between them - as to be largely ineffectual (or at the very least, unacceptably belated). It can often be undermined - or even reversed - by successive governments anyway.
All too often, wise decision-making is achieved only in submission to massive public pressure; while this may illustrate the need for greater public engagement in politics, it shouldn't even be necessary for us, to ever resort to insistent protest. Perpetual competence - and vigilance - when addressing fundamental societal concerns, is not just some Utopian ideal; it is vital. It is a human right, and an ecological necessity; it must be the rule, rather than the exception. Governmentalism - or political leadership, as a means to govern society - is clearly not up to the task.
The most widely-touted modern "solution" to this ancient problem is to effectively minimise government's responsibilities, by maximising the (supposedly) self-regulating, free market economy (roughly translated as capitalism). Here, our choices as business owners and consumers (rather than voters) is what ultimately determines the societal trajectory; suggesting that we can save the planet and eradicate poverty, if we choose to start the right businesses, and buy the right products. Or, we can stay on the path of self-annihilation; and that's okay too, if that's what we want (and if the market says we do, it must be true). Governmentalism has proven unreliable at addressing society's gravest issues, but capitalism is no solution; it is in fact, the very source of those issues.
Due to its basic exclusion of any other consideration, this is its fundamental flaw; the source of almost every societal problem we experience. Benevolent government exists to address capitalism's inherent shortcomings, but can only partially succeed; it is undermined at every turn. True power - the power to influence others' behaviour - is in money.
Personal benefit is the reason why we form societies - they are, after all, the most effective providers of it - which is exactly why societies must be calibrated to also deliver collective benefit. Survival and prosperity of the individual, ultimately depends on that of the collective; which fundamentally relies on planetary and ecological health.
That is the essence of a responsible, sustainable society.
The only condition capitalism places on individual gain however, is possession of money; and a willingness to spend it. How the money was originally acquired, and how it is subsequently utilised, is essentially irrelevant; personal benefit is assured regardless.
If responsible actions were just as likely to earn reward as irresponsible actions, this might be an acceptable situation; however, behaving responsibly under capitalism actually negates the potential for reward.
A profitable enterprise is one that caters to people who have money to spend. Whereas, a responsible endeavour is one that addresses the needs of those with little or no capacity to make or spend money: orphaned and abandoned children, the elderly, the sick and disabled (both physical and mental), the uneducated, the impoverished; other species, the planet.
If a task doesn't make money, it costs money; so each of these considerations is an inherent liability under capitalism (unless it can be ruthlessly exploited). Very few - if any - businesses are able to fully address them (either directly, or through their basic functioning methods) without compromising their own viability. Resultantly, virtually every service that exists to truly benefit society (rather than its itself) is either lowly paid, unpaid, or government funded (and therefore chronically underfunded). While charity is not a defining component of capitalism, in practice it is a vital supplement; which is a sure indication of an inadequate, broken system.
The deficiency, injustice, wastage, and destructiveness of capitalism is evident in countless examples, and produced through many mechanisms; we are literally immersed in its detritus, and so familiar with, and attuned to, the intricacies of its functioning, as to be scarcely aware that it exists merely as an artificial phenomenon. For most of us, it is all we know; the only way we have experienced, and engaged with, society.
We accept it - often unquestionably - as simply the way the world works; we find it easier to imagine replacing the planet, than replacing capitalism. As a result, we naturally - but quite wrongly - attribute its massive shortcomings to human nature itself; we look at the atrocious behaviour of a minority of others, and our own inconsiderate, self-serving actions and attitudes, and assume that we must be a fundamentally selfish, competitive, and callous species.
We see as exceptional, those who dedicate their lives to noble causes, and decide the problem is a shortage of people like them; we may try to emulate those people, but nearly always fail to, citing the difficulties involved, and the heaviness of the burden. But even then, we are more likely to blame our own "selfish" desire to live a normal life, than the system that renders beneficent tasks nearly impossible to sustain. And we fool ourselves - and each other - into believing that it was never "meant" to be easy; as if capitalism is some grand moral test, set by the deity. But its existence is due entirely to a simple, yet ingenious human invention, devised to make trade more accessible and efficient:
That is the basic, defining component of capitalism; and must - along with political leaders - be rendered obsolete, if we are to enjoy any sort of desirable future on this (or any other) planet.
To change the system seems impossible; yet the biggest obstacle preventing it from happening, is the common belief that it is impossible.
What is truly impossible, is any adequate resolution under capitalism; or from government. We have waited in vain; we have now run out of time.
Wilfully ignoring the problem - continuing to engross ourselves in the frivolities of the market, to over-consume, and to support the status quo, in full, or even partial knowledge of the consequences - equates to murder-suicide.
Lending even passive support to the idea of a superior alternative system, will greatly increase the potential for its fruition; whereas, to dismiss it completely, solely on the basis that it "cannot" happen - or that it is too late to address the problem anyway - guarantees that outcome.
To believe it is not worth even considering, is the greatest of fallacies.
It is literally worth everything.
To offer a valid alternative system -
a just, sustainable society -
and a viable future;
that is the purpose of Conscientism.
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