Election 2017... a reality check
Some will argue that this post is somewhat naive...
others that we must work within the confines of the political system we have to effect any kind of change.Well we are all entitled to our own views... differences in our upbringing, influences, work, study... all define our uniqueness and the rich tapestry of today's society.
To have a view is valuable and to be admired... to believe it is the one truth? ... now that is a different question... to be so bold as to state that we alone have the 'right answer' is a brave statement indeed...
Anyhow... on to the subject at hand
The election of 2017... in reality it doesn't matter who gets in. Haven't we worked it out yet? For as long as I can remember we have been lulled into believing that our vote counts... it's important we're told and that we need to exercise our democratic right to vote. The people who fought for this right are championed as people we need to honour because they effectively brought about the changes to make it possible to vote and be instrumental in deciding the outcomes we want... so let us look shall we at some of the facts...
- Politics divides people and makes us argue, dislike, even hate other people
- The rich have got richer... the poor... poorer... regardless of whether we like it or not
- The NHS is slowly being dismantled... regardless of who gets in... its deterioration has been going on for years... it has no place in being a political football... it just needs to deliver
- The education system is in a mess. It's there to prove that the education system meets targets and justifies 'ministers' decisions. It has no regard to for the students or their life skills
- The banks crashed, regardless of whether you thought the bankers should be imprisoned for their deceit and scandalous behaviour... we not only bailed them out... they continue as if nothing happened
- We got Brexit... it doesn't matter if you are a remainer or brexiter... the issue is that many people are dissatisfied with 'more of the same'... they wanted something different... even though perhaps only 37% of people voted for it... it happened... that's our current democracy.
- Trump is showing us the plain truth. It doesn't matter what you want for a democracy using the current systems... bullies can get their own way
- Capitalism and growth continues to be the main barometer of how we are doing and yet we know that this no longer works... those in power are unable to come up with any strategies for a sustainable future
- Even though we know that climate change ought to be massive on everyone's agenda, because looking after our planet makes absolute sense... no one appears to care!
- Big business continues to drive our politics and the unhealthy relationship between business and politics continues unabated
All this has happened whether we like it or not on our watch... with us voting... in what we call a democracy... for a better future. What did we get? ... sorry but has only got steadily worse hasn't it?
What is the answer?
There is no magic wand... the thing is we have never been in this place before... interest rates at an all time low... house prices at an all time high. No one is saving (what would be the point?) ... everything is funded by debt. In the end the repayments on debt will become untenable and it all goes horribly wrong... or... we all have to tighten our belts because money is too short... we stop spending and then businesses begin to fail... Jaeger went last week... BHS before... this is the start... in any event... the future is both uncertain and very unpredictable. Jobs are starting to look like a temporary phenomena, consigned to history... everything is about to change... everything!
No one knows what to do!
If you look at the track record of politics we know don't we that all the rhetoric and promises are being made to get your vote. Not to deliver any tangible improvements (maybe the odd sop or two). The game for politicians is to get themselves into 'power' for their benefit not ours... and... THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!! They have never delivered on their promises... they can't... and yet we still carry on going through the same charade... what are we doing? ... do we think this time it will be different? Suddenly it's going to deviate from all the times before? ... we just need to think about what we're doing!
What might happen in this election?
I remember interviewing a candidate for the Green Party in Watford during the last election campaign. The message was clear... vote with your conscience . Vote with your heart... don't get swept up into this tactical voting business.
So here we are again... can you believe this? ... There are people out there saying let's all vote against the conservatives and Theresa May. Let us send a clear signal to this woman that we dislike her policies... we don't want a hard brexit.. and we don't like what the conservatives are doing to the NHS, the vulnerable and less fortunate in society, and education... and.. .and... the list goes on.
So we have two possible outcomes really. The First... a Conservative win. A mandate to see through the conservative agenda... for Theresa May to have been elected rather than 'parachuted' into power... and off they go... for good or ill.
or... the second... there is some kind of hung parliament. Can you imagine? ... leaderless... directionless... Brexit happening (anyway)... Trump marching on... a de-stabilised world... and here at home a complete fiasco with zero ideas.
Don't get me wrong. It doesn't bother me one way or the other. The latter just gets us into the mire much quicker than the first... but the underlying issues of banking... the money supply.. debt... and the impending carnage in Europe are much bigger than our election, and those will be the cause of the turmoil that is fast approaching.
So here we are again... can you believe this? ... There are people out there saying let's all vote against the conservatives and Theresa May. Let us send a clear signal to this woman that we dislike her policies... we don't want a hard brexit.. and we don't like what the conservatives are doing to the NHS, the vulnerable and less fortunate in society, and education... and.. .and... the list goes on.
So we have two possible outcomes really. The First... a Conservative win. A mandate to see through the conservative agenda... for Theresa May to have been elected rather than 'parachuted' into power... and off they go... for good or ill.
Don't get me wrong. It doesn't bother me one way or the other. The latter just gets us into the mire much quicker than the first... but the underlying issues of banking... the money supply.. debt... and the impending carnage in Europe are much bigger than our election, and those will be the cause of the turmoil that is fast approaching.
What can we do?
We can start taking action. For all those people that like to look at the facts... then the facts are very clear. It doesn't matter who is in government they are unable to sort out the issues of our time. Just look at the catalogue of things that aren't working... every part of our society pretty much needs to be reworked. Doing what we did last century isn't going to change anything... the Government... the System... just can't change. It's not designed to be that progressive... it's purpose was stability, consistency, and growth... these are no longer an option.
So... let us stop giving away our power to these governments. We... the people.. might like to consider creating a different type of society which is based on working together to solve the problems of our communities.
How on earth do you do that? Where would you start? You start by bringing together all the people who are already committed to doing great work in the community and start sharing what they are doing. There is so much good going on out there, and if we could just share how amazing people really are, others would be encouraged to join them... we could all get more involved and be part of our community if it was made easier and more available.
Why would anyone bother? For all those people out there from the baby boomer generation (I'm included in this by the way), who have 'followed the be a good citizen mantra' saved all their life for their retirement... what if the banks disappeared tomorrow? What if those savings no longer existed? What if they were completely wiped out?
... for all those sons and daughters of the baby boomers... what if your parents had absolutely no money or means of earning and needed taking care of for the rest of their lives? How would that effect you? ... this is serious... we are on course for a train crash... how bad that crash ends up being depends on what we do next.
Well first we need to change our thinking and get started... that's hard! ... then we must trust that with the higher motives... new thinking... unquestionable belief... and the agenda to rebuild a fairer society for all, that we will come up with the answers as we go. It's not necessary to have the whole plan laid out... that's 20th century thinking... it's impossible anyway too much is changing too quickly... What is required is a vision for the future we would like to live in, and one that we would love to raise our families in... to innovate and imagine... and to get cracking with it.
Let's be brave, let's be courageous... let's reawaken the spirit of the 'Adventurer' in ourselves, and believe we can adapt and make decisions as we progress. The decision making criteria must be based on a set of 'principles and parameters' that works for 'those in our communities' not for individuals or businesses.
What's more it doesn't need central control... we all start developing things in our own locality and then communicate, share and co-create through collaboration... We've got this amazing TOOL CALLED THE INTERNET!! ... it's purpose is just about to be revealed... we have just been playing with its power until now... we can use this tool to rebuild from the grass roots up... we were just looking at it through a 20th century profit making lens, it can be a much more powerful force for good than we ever imagined.
This has already been started... there are people who are already preparing the way for community to begin to work together, share what they are doing so that more people can take these ideas and implement where they are.
Link4Growth is one such organisation that I am working with in South West Herts... and you know the beautiful thing about this is that it is not funded by the government (so they don't control it) ... it's not funded, sponsored or underpinned by business (so they aren't able to corrupt it with the money / profit / greed agenda's) ... and ... the best bit ... it is owned by us the people (from May 1st 2017) ... so no one can take it away from us ... all based on the fundamental principles of being the best human being we can be, and co-creating collaboratively to build the future that we want to be part of... now personally I like that idea... that makes sense... that's worth working with in my opinion.
How on earth do you do that? Where would you start? You start by bringing together all the people who are already committed to doing great work in the community and start sharing what they are doing. There is so much good going on out there, and if we could just share how amazing people really are, others would be encouraged to join them... we could all get more involved and be part of our community if it was made easier and more available.
Why would anyone bother? For all those people out there from the baby boomer generation (I'm included in this by the way), who have 'followed the be a good citizen mantra' saved all their life for their retirement... what if the banks disappeared tomorrow? What if those savings no longer existed? What if they were completely wiped out?
... for all those sons and daughters of the baby boomers... what if your parents had absolutely no money or means of earning and needed taking care of for the rest of their lives? How would that effect you? ... this is serious... we are on course for a train crash... how bad that crash ends up being depends on what we do next.
So how could it work?
Well first we need to change our thinking and get started... that's hard! ... then we must trust that with the higher motives... new thinking... unquestionable belief... and the agenda to rebuild a fairer society for all, that we will come up with the answers as we go. It's not necessary to have the whole plan laid out... that's 20th century thinking... it's impossible anyway too much is changing too quickly... What is required is a vision for the future we would like to live in, and one that we would love to raise our families in... to innovate and imagine... and to get cracking with it.Let's be brave, let's be courageous... let's reawaken the spirit of the 'Adventurer' in ourselves, and believe we can adapt and make decisions as we progress. The decision making criteria must be based on a set of 'principles and parameters' that works for 'those in our communities' not for individuals or businesses.
What's more it doesn't need central control... we all start developing things in our own locality and then communicate, share and co-create through collaboration... We've got this amazing TOOL CALLED THE INTERNET!! ... it's purpose is just about to be revealed... we have just been playing with its power until now... we can use this tool to rebuild from the grass roots up... we were just looking at it through a 20th century profit making lens, it can be a much more powerful force for good than we ever imagined.
Ideas are already forming out there
This has already been started... there are people who are already preparing the way for community to begin to work together, share what they are doing so that more people can take these ideas and implement where they are.
Link4Growth is one such organisation that I am working with in South West Herts... and you know the beautiful thing about this is that it is not funded by the government (so they don't control it) ... it's not funded, sponsored or underpinned by business (so they aren't able to corrupt it with the money / profit / greed agenda's) ... and ... the best bit ... it is owned by us the people (from May 1st 2017) ... so no one can take it away from us ... all based on the fundamental principles of being the best human being we can be, and co-creating collaboratively to build the future that we want to be part of... now personally I like that idea... that makes sense... that's worth working with in my opinion.
In Conclusion
As president Kennedy said... we are not going to the moon because it is easy... we are going to the moon because it is hard...
Right now... we need a new system for rebuilding our country and our world... we need to do this not because it is easy... nor because it is hard... we need to do it because it is the right thing to do, right thing for the planet... right thing for the human species... it is the fair thing to do... it is the kind thing to do...
To travel to the moon in comparison was the most simplest of tasks... this one? ... it will need every single one of us to play our part... are you ready?
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