Planet and PEOPLE

This week’s Lesley Riddoch’s podcast (http://subscribers.transistor.fm/2313536c989765 ) resonated with me, including the idea of the ‘Hotel Caledonia’

(With apologies to the Eagles):

“Relax,” said the night man 
“We are programmed to receive 
You can check out any time you like 
But you can never leave”

It’s time to go.   It’s not ‘just’ about Scotland. The whole planet’s political and economic structure is collapsing on all sides.  If we don’t want to go down with the ship, we urgently need to build some lifeboats.   Together.   The future has to be either mutual aid or mutual destruction, because we are all part of an interdependent ecosystem.    

Chasing power over people and planet is counter-productive because power is always by consent.  And that consent must be  freely given.   It cannot be manufactured or enforced.

‘Shock and awe’, ‘Project Fear’, ‘eminent domain’, ‘force majeure’,  psychological and physical violence, all have a very short shelf life.   People give power to those who they believe will protect and benefit them.   And they take it away from those who do not, or worse, set out to hurt, exploit and destroy us.  And neither we nor the ecosystem exist as mere ‘resources’ for the wealthy to exploit and discard at their pleasure. We are instead all parts of a living system that exists  for its own sake.  It is far older, wiser, and more powerful than even the wealthiest humans.  That is one reality we all have to accept, whoever we are, and whether we like it or not.

Our society, politics and economics are based on nihilism – the belief that the universe is meaningless, and somehow our wonderful planet and its people, animals, plants and minerals have evolved by chance, through an endless fight for survival of every species against every other.    And that this has resulted in a hierarchy of power with fabulously wealthy European men at the top, and amoebas at the bottom.    

It’s the world view that suits the wealthiest very well.   It’s expressed by the symbol on every dollar bill:  the pyramid surmounted by the all-seeing eye of the ‘enlightened’ ones.   JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings has a lot to say about this.   He gives the tower and the eye to Sauron, the lord of darkness, with good reason.   The ring represents the technology to rule them all and in the darkness bind them.   It was a warning.

This is the foundation of the crisis now gripping the planet.   To change the world we need to stop being ruled by our fear and look at things differently.

It is not true that  wealth=power, or power=‘entitlement’ to do as you please, at others’ expense, regardless of any consequences.   In reality, power over others is always by consent, even if that consent is based on fear.    Power is always granted on a promise of some benefit, mainly protection from harm.   But – as in a protection racket – that usually leads sooner or later to the powerful using fear as a weapon.   But there are limits to ‘Project Fear’, ‘shock and awe’, ‘eminent domain’, or ‘force majeure’ (i.e. the power of violence).  Sooner or later we have to seek protection elsewhere from the powerful themselves.   We can always withdraw our consent.  

When this happens we need to be very careful to avoid the trap in Orwell’s Animal Farm whereby we grant power away to a new tyrant or oligarchy, that is just the same dynamic in different clothing.  

We are but one species in an ecosystem. And human societies too are not really that different. An ecosystem does not rely on ‘heroes’ or great leaders.   The lions can be defeated by the mosquitoes. It is not a pyramid at all but circular.  It cannot be centrally controlled.

As Tolkien points out,  the concept of power over all is the real problem.   Ecosystems grow primarily through mutual aid and the development of symbiosis.   Nature is red in tooth and claw only as necessary to maintain a balance.   Humans, by destroying each other and myriad other species, have already damaged the whole ecosystem so badly that if we don’t change our ideas fast we will simply be eliminated.  The planet is more than capable of saving itself from us.  It may take thousands of years, but the ecosystem will heal itself. 

And there surely is the answer:   we can listen to and learn from nature.   The only possible future for humanity is in mutual aid rather than mutual destruction.   Making ‘money’ by extracting, exploiting and discarding ‘resources’, including so called ‘human resources’,  is ultimately self-defeating.   Money is really just a set of debt obligations, promises to pay, and true value cannot be expressed in monetary terms.   

Money can’t buy me love. In fact ‘monetisation’ actually destroys our humanity and the values we need for survival. Of course a medium of exchange is helpful.   But allowing our ethics, ideas, health, freedoms, happiness, and lives to be bought and sold for money is just sad prostitution and dependency.

Let’s start thinking about how we can live  together before we die together.