Wolfgang Maehr

While in the last centuries the masses of the rich countries have been busy consuming (mostly mindlessly) quite a few changes have happened under the surface of this world. Changes that have been noticed by different people, changes that have become buzz-words but changes that our leaders were not able to pre-empt because their implications are hard to predict for our puny human minds. Developments that might seem to be quite unrelated, that actually might come together in synergies that transform humanity—and as the most dominant species—our world drastically. This is not an attempt to predict, but an attempt to line up some of the thoughts in my puny mind in order to see which ones may align and affect each other. You are welcome to join this and draw your conclusions. :)

Trigger

This musing was sparked after CrimethInc.’s article Egypt Today, Tomorrow the World resonated with Telepolis’ article [DE] on the end of money. This all in a head that is currently located in Singapore, an interesting city-state in many regards as it is more business than a country and a place where I hear my neighbours saying things on the phone like “Come here. It’s good here. Everybody happy, everybody earning money. No protests… Hey, how are your stocks, man?”

Status Quo

Let us see a list of “recent” events and developments first:

• Riots in the middle east, a place with a long history. They are not the first riots, but some of the first riots that clearly benefit of the new broadcasting communication means.
• WikiLeaks scrapes on the surface of the facade called government showing some of the ugly inner workings behind. And with that I do not mean the released cables, but how governments have dealt with the whole issue by bullying corporations and people, torture and hypocrisy.
• Yes we can. A campaign of hope that resonated far across the globe. A campaign of hope that ironically turned into status quo by now, as can be seen in the dealings of the Obama administration with the two events mentioned before.
• Financial crisis. The melt-down which shook the rich part of the world more than it was comfortable with. An event that did not only show some of the weaknesses of the current dominant economical model, but also opened an opportunity window for a global power-shift
• Global Village. Globalisation and mobility has increased tremendously in the last decades. Some say the world is flattening, some say we all become one. Fact is, moving around and communicating is as fast and simple as never before. Countries hide their national interests better and pursue it on a regional and global scale.
• War on Terror. The last big lie told to the population in order to keep them under control and under close watch. The stick to the carrot of get-rich-and-famous.
• Climate Change and Peak Oil/Water/Planet. Maybe more a catalyst than a cause, this growing awareness might actually be the spark and also the solution to co-exist as one people.
• Political Agnosticism. Not all around the world but in most of the better-off countries voter numbers are receding and political activism is decreasing. The political leaders are mostly still baby-boomers and most of the population simply seems unhappy but has given up hope on change.
• Religious Agnosticism. It is not that people stopped believing into something. They still do, but people now have a choice and choose what they want to believe, some choose a religion, some choose something else. At the end there is less blind following of traditions.
• A content Generation X. For a large portion of Generation X and Y the childhood and upbringing was fairly prosperous (with discrepancies across the globe of course) and well-provided by their parents which led to a very content and non-rebellious generation. People would instead of rioting and rebelling openly rather focus on growing their wealth and advancing their career as they had learned.
• Equal rights. The notion of equal rights across gender, races, religion, orientation and other human characteristics has never been this broad globally. It gives hope to a final global understanding that all humans are one people.

Background

So what happened, how did we reach here is a big question, but there are a few stepping stones that are fairly obvious. If we look back before the beginning of civilisations humans were roaming or settled in groups probably organised in various forms: chieftains, democracy, anarchy, etc. These groups may have been big, but communication was essentially local. Through growth and communication between such groups the communication slowly spread further, which is why more administrative structure was required—just a matter of organisational logic. So while individuals at that time probably were still self-sufficient and self-organised, a certain belonging to a group increased chance of survival. Specialisation happened as civilisations developed and with that the administration grew. Religion was introduced as applied ethics and a means to control people as the legislature of the state (some few times as a segregated entity). At the same time literacy slowly spread through society often just as a need due to the wider spread of communication tools. New forms of government formed as a result of this literacy and organisation. This development has held true until today with a global illiteracy rate of around 20% and communication tools connecting people in the remotest places.

Discussion

This is what happened. Now here is how I would speculate why we are where we are and it builds on one premise: The ruling power wants to remain in power. Exceptions exist, but overall that is a trend that I think to observe.

Starting from there it is possible to assume that rulers would probably have chosen to not teach reading and writing to their subjugates if it would not have been necessary for the competitiveness of businesses, countries and other organisations. With literacy diminishing as a social barrier, money became a more important way to keep the masses at distance. Banking systems, taxes and other financial systems have become more and more advanced and finally became a fixed pillar in our societies. The industrial revolution started a boom of production. A flood of goods that could only be sustained if people buy and consume stuff. At that point markets were less global but eventually it fortified the flux of cheap resources from colonies and later developing countries to the rich countries, where people would consume more and more.

This cycle of consumerism has become so integrated into human society that the choice not to consume anything except groceries for three days would probably make the world economy collapse. To consume and aggregate things is a basic human trait, an ancient instinct of any being that is not sure when its next meal will be. Now over time the societies we live in have grown from a small tribe to cities, countries, regions and now to a tightly connected globe. This brought peace and more interdependence. Especially the peace appealed to the human need of security, which together with this unhindered consumerism has transformed Generation X and Y into sheeple in many places. We are happy to eat food, listen to music, meet friends, buy stuff and compare our comforts. A very calm time for many, why we stopped caring about politics and economy as long as we get our food and TV shows. And the ruling elite, as much as we may adore, despise or envy them for their riches and luxury has proven us to give us enough to be comfortable not to move our big bottom out of the couch. The number of people looking for happiness instead of money in middle class is interestingly high (I’d dare to argue more than half).

So what changed? We have become a little uncomfortable on that couch. Maybe because we think that climate change is not taken care of. Maybe because we find that we have been harassed enough for the sake of impossible protection from terror. Maybe because many of us are unemployed. Maybe because we have seen that the first and foremost interest of the ruling class is to remain in power and of the benefit of the planet and its inhabitants…

Questions

Where do we go from here? Are we as a people revolting and taking advantage of the fact that the world is flat now and that we can broadcast our message to everybody? Does this new technology called Internet, social networks finally take the leap from being a tool of consumerism and assume its role as a profound changer of society just like the printing press did? I sure hope it does, because its possibilities are rather sweet.

• Can we install a true global society? The trend surely seems to get us closer to one people and becoming brothers and sisters. There is still a long way to go but realising that we share not just the same genes and are all 70% water but also that we share the same resources might just help understanding that the community is more important than the individual
• Can we self-organise and self-govern? Lao-Tse says that the best leader walks behind the people and the best people are the ones where no laws are needed. The events in Egypt give hope that we may one day understand to act responsibly without laws, without centralised authority but instead out of education and insight and compassion.
• Will we be able to be without leaders> I would guess not as people who take initiative automatically become leaders, but maybe the communication will enable us to have different leaders on different topics. Leaders that are more connected to the people, leaders that interact directly and are approachable and leaders that may take use of world-wide polls. At the end, the ability to participate in governance strengthens one’s faith in it as Scandinavia and Switzerland show. If polls can be done electronically within one day, why cannot one day be a global poll day where people actually take a bit of time to vote on the grand plans?
• Will we be able to live without money? Hopefully yes. But realistically there will be some kind of system required, maybe something more virtual like karma. But if there are specialised professions (maybe there shall not be) that do not produce tangible products there will be virtual products be required for them to trade.

Is there a major change in the making. A change which we probably will not see complete by the en of our lives, but a change that will take centuries? Or is the world simply going to end on December 21, 2012 by a black hole created in the LHC? ;) What are your thoughts? Please share.