Perhaps We Need A New Communism!

Dear Reader,

It now seems to be the case that when a national financial crisis occurs and prices escalate, the automatic response in many is ingrained to clamour for higher wages to restore parity. It's a human situation that is understandable, but it also perhaps reflects the fact that there are many (not all) that feel that 'they' should keep us at least in a none-worse position financially, but must do so regardless of other considerations.

And yet this is in the face of the whole world being in such a challenging state. We want parity while the world is burning or starving. The whole situation is the outcome of a western policy of capitalism without responsibility or compassion towards the Earth and its resources, an approach that has existed for many years but has grown as virtually fully-blown materialism in the past 40 years. We have followed its dictates like sheep.

It is a way, a system, but its administrators only recently admitted the existence of a world crisis to deal with and yet now want to deal with that crisis using old systems and ideas. Young people have not had their say, even though it's their future that's at stake. 

There are short-term priorities as well as long-term priorities, but for the current rulers to conclude that electric cars are a good way forward in the short term is utter bunkum. They aren't, and it's barely scratching the surface.

We need to engage and create a new way forward, and it's a way forward that requires a lot of re-examination of us individually as to what is really important; we need to lay down a set of realistic priorities based, in my opinion, on a 'Limits to Growth' strategy including a 'Personal Responsibility' approach that calls for limiting our personal consumption. Certainly to curtail personal ambition when it comes to taking while at a cost to others. No, I am not advocating the Communism that we have known about, but I am advocating a system of fairness to everyone, everything and the Earth based on compassion. It can happen - it will happen - it has to happen.

When the chips are down there have been people in history who have made a huge personal stand at their own cost, for the betterment of the greater good. One outstanding name in recent history was Mahatma Gandhi, whose philosophy should be imbibed by all young people in my opinion. His contribution was not in fact just to India; his stand was a template for everyone.

Not just Gandhi. There have been many selfless people and one whom I learnt of today was Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba (1853-1927) of Senegal who, like Gandhi, was a lover of Truth and made a non-violent stand against foreign rule (in this case the French) only for him to be made to suffer by those rulers for many years. He laid down a way of life and even founded a city (Touba) that he intended to be built and work on the lines of his philosophy. In the end, even the French saw the positive contribution that Bamba had made.

Of course, the greatest exemplars to us have been beings such as Jesus, the Buddha and Prophet Muhammed. Their ideals should be our ideals but adapted to the need of the immediate future as a precursor to the greater future of peace and happiness.

So, what next? Practically speaking, I would say to join the Green Party and influence it to become something greater than it is at present. It is a vehicle that can be utilised, but its members need to be self-constrained and evolve their operation with the whole country in mind, not concerned with personal ambition.

Thank you for reading this.