Emerging Solutions to Oppressive Economic and Social Situations
The Situation As It Stands
What has happened to those golden days which marked the youth and prime of our parents? I ask this question as a 31 year old parented by two baby boomers. There is a reasonably entrenched attitude where "if you just work hard, then things will definitely work out for you".
Is this actually the case in 2018?
I want to ask a lot of questions, and I don't have answers to all of these questions. I don't have answers to most of them. Yet I am continually optimistic, at seeing how beautifully life organically meets its own needs and creates its own solution. We are that creative force, we are part of the life pulse of this world. If we can dwell in that place then we can thrive post capitalism, in beautiful ways that spring from the rotting compost of what has been before.
Is It Really Working? If So, For How Long?
If I remove myself emotionally then I can look at things more systematically or analytically. One thing is clear, our labour is worth much less than what it actually produces. The methods for producing goods and getting them to someone have become incredibly complex, all due to the information age. New markets are emerging as we find new ways to propogate, create, and shuffle information of 'content'.
Yet back in the real world, how are things working?
In my country, New Zealand, we can see that wages are getting worse and worse compared to how much everything costs. I recently talked to a friend, one young mother, and she said that working full time was less effective than getting welfare - with everyone taking a cut here and there. Taxes, transportation, parking, and fees of all kinds continually leech that money that we focus so much time in obtaining.
Is it all worthwhile? to become increasingly complex in pursuit of an abstract thing that doesn't directly give us wellbeing, food, or shelter. It doesn't directly connect us to people and strengthen our communities, it can - but it needs to be handled incredibly mindfully.
Cities as they are now consist of massive hives of unhappy disconnected people, can we say that they are working? All that labour and time is going into something, but what is it? So few of us are questioning the big picture and the medium picture, and even the small picture of the quality of our life.
Emergent Solutions
So this is the situation as I see it, what is emerging in response to this unhappiness that we have created through systematization and dehumanization?
As my picture suggests, tiny homes are one way to regain much needed freedom. Freedom from the many taxes on existing which the local government and the national level government impose on us. I don't want to get into a cost benefit analysis about how that money gets used for useful things. In my opinion it's not a worthwhile way to organize ourselves - and is an all too familar pyramid shape in terms of where money and power is going.
We need to rule ourselves, we need to be that grown up - this is what the whole thing is about, Self Sovereignty. Human beings are learning to be responsible, or more just simple enough to be a natural part of how things work. We've gone so far in the direction of systems and logic that we don't mesh well with the system that spawned us - the inexplicably complex and beautiful natural world of planet earth.
That is more on the situation as it stands which was my previous section, but I am making a point here about what will work - and that is things that allow us to reintegrate with natural systems, and allow our bodies and minds to be healed and at ease all of the time. Current city solutions are creating dis-ease and unhappiness. Our quality of life should be our number one quality so this is paramount for these emerging solutions.
The tiny homes provide the ability to be placed into nature, and to change location is circumstances change (of if local enforcers start to demand tribute to the overlord :P). I have been staying in two beautiful tiny homes in the South Island of New Zealand this week, and we are nestled in amazing native bush - wildlife abounding. The quality of water, air, and the lack of noise and energetic pollution are SUPER IMPORTANT factors.
The continual toxification, buzzing and humming of the cities is making people unwell and insane. This needs to be considered as the main factor for living solutions. Not just a secondary thought after we consider how much it costs, and how close it is to money making activities and low quality food supply.
Tiny homes may prove a valuable transition step into post capitalist societies. Where we can organize ourselves into changable communities which support each other. The value of community and personal connection is another major factor that needs to go into potential solutions.
Big Dreams
Aside from the tiny homes movable trailer communities, there could also be much more permanent solutions. This can happen with wealthy individuals who have large pieces of good land, but also potentially on good land which isn't being terrorized by controllers who don't believe that we can make good decisions without complete coercion and subjugation.
Large dome like structures make do for communal spaces such as meeting halls and food preparation/eating areas. Individual domiciles can be made from smaller dome structures. I have had a vision of these domes whilst in meditation, yet I have also seen evidence of a move toward these more natural shapes in conscious communities written about here on Steemit.
Being resourceful, we can re-purpose the building and materials of economic activities that are no longer relevant! Why would we have huge structures dedicated to maintaining governments and corporations which are more or less self serving? The resources could be reallocated to contribute to the well being of many people.
Realistically this is never going to work on a massive scale, without incredibly charismatic leaders and very morally responsible people organizing things. More likely we are seeing the shift to smaller communities, some just a household or two that are self sutaining, some more like 50-100 people.
Big Love to all of the Steemit homesteaders such as @mountainjewel @riverflows, and @goldenoakfarm to name a few. big love to the eco train humans here as well (much love @eco-alex and the whole community). To riff off what @kennyskitchen said today, sustainability isn't good enough, let make things way better, yet it is a bit of a thoroughfare. We are going from unsustainable and environmental devastation (and devastation of our own wellbeing), through to sustainability or stasis. From there we move to bio-regenesis, allowing and assisting ourselves and our world to regrow and thrive in amazing ways.
Perhaps many of us integrated and forward thinking folks can leap forward into the current best step. Pioneering ways of living that take us back into the flow of life, which is how we always were before all of this strangeness.
This is my 2 cents/0.00002 bitcoin on the matter. Definitely some food for though. I haven't even gotten into the food side of things, or resources more generally. A Bit pressed for time as I am on holiday without my normal set up. I would LOVE to hear what you guys think or any responses to what I have said here.
BIG love, peace, harmony, respect
PhillyC
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- felipejoys
I'm a bot. I detect haiku.
Oh my god.
Apparently the material wealth that modern societies seem to have have not made us happier and healthier but quite the opposite.
I very much agree with you. There's nothing wrong with material wealth - but if we don't have a wealth inside our hearts then it's a bit meaningless
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