Helplessness Blues

I was raised up believin'

I was somehow unique

like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes

unique in each way you can see

But now after some thinkin'

I'd say I'd rather be

a functioning cog in some great machinery

serving something beyond me

But I don't, I don't know what

that will be

I'll get back to you someday soon you will see

- Fleet Foxes, "Helplessness Blues"

It can be so easy to get caught up in the doom and gloom of the coming eco-disaster, which is why articles like this one are so important. They remind us that we have everything we need for sustainable abundance right here at our fingertips. This is the money quote:

Humanity is on the verge of self-extinction while we already have everything we need to thrive. In practical terms this means that we now have the collective choice and capacity to pragmatically accelerate a global shift into a world that:

Is life-affirming and regenerative for the biosphere

Ensures the basic rights and needs of all people

Promotes the sovereign freedom and creativity of all individuals

Works for everyone and in which everyone has a role to play

Supports the evolution of humanity

Energizes and drives collaborations built on compassion into meaningful impact and right-livelihood

Though the world´s problems are becoming increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple. ~ Bill Mollison (Co-originator of Permaculture Design)

Yes. Yes. Yes! I wrote an as yet unpublished manifesto a few years back about just this topic, that there has never been a global generation this connected, with the numbers, and the reasons to fundamentally change the way humans operate in the world. All it would take for massive global change would be for one of the world’s 5 existing generations to decide en masse that they were going to change.

Any single generation would have enough power, wealth, and influence to affect change unilaterally. This has never been possible in all of humanity. Even if a generation 100 years ago had wanted to collaborate, technology would have made it incredibly complex and difficult. But Millennials make up nearly 1/4 of the world’s population, a surprising amount of wealth and influence for a generation so young, and have at their disposal several globally available digital platforms capable of mass communication and collaboration. It is, for instance, theoretically possible for the Millennials to unilaterally decide they will no longer participate in any acts of violence on behalf of any government of organization. While it may not end “war,” a global act like this would effectively make it impossible for organized violence to be carried out. This is just one way global collaboration could affect change. Now apply this same logic to global capitalism, politics, architectural choices, economic policy. The potential effects are limitless.

This is admittedly far-fetched, but it’s possible, and that is more than can be said for any other point in history. We have everything we need around us right now, we just have to grab it.