People are being left out, many are no longer needed. Our material goals have been fulfilled to such an extent that we can make do with fewer and fewer people – efficiency is great, supply is rich, prices are low, everybody have been happy for a long while. But now we have to start thinking about what the future system shall be – what kind of societies we really want.
This is a harsh statement: we are in deep trouble – already. The huge forces of greed and technology is carrying us in the wrong direction. Humans are becoming dehumanized, societies suffer.
It is all too easy and soon the only activity we will have is to consume mass produced goods from large scale factories all over the world. The food we eat is produced by large scale industry all over the world. And it must go on and on, because there must be growth for ever. Distribution systems move goods back and forth in a huge setup called logistics. Your own work is like that too or will be – large scale. Unchecked we will have a catastrophe on our hands.
Ownership is in the hands of large scale investors. Everything is gradually becoming large scale and in the hands of a few. 1% of the people own 80% of all values. Big money are being made, but only by some, The rest is managing reasonably or worse. To many are in the latter category. It is all very efficient, cheap, exciting, entertaining: we all do it – we are consumers.
But the strain is showing in many ways: resources depletion, finance system weaknesses and perhaps most telling: Seen from a people view this can not go on. We are starting to suffer. We are losing ourselves, this can surely not be the ultimate goal for humanity.
People who are no longer needed become lost, they lose their respectability, they have economic troubles, social relations suffer, they become restless, they make trouble. They start roaming, from rural areas to cities, from poor countries to rich ones. The economic refugee is a reality.
So the system must be changed. Local communities and local production must be rebuilt, the real costs of what we do must be put into the calculations: transport, environment, human degradation, resource depletion, social losses. We must have new arrangements of ownership with sharing and fair distribution of wealth and profits among all participants, local influence on all companies, introduction of measures to establish small scale agriculture, industry and services. The use of capital should be reduced and the use of manpower should be increased. Global thinking without checks is good only for profits, humans are becoming mere tools or wage earning slaves.
The ethics should be brushed up so that we see what we really are doing. The greed, rough competition should be given a milder form so that all people can thrive. Harsh business practices should end. We should also look into what we make and consume, start thinking long term about what is sensible.
This is not a detailed future world view, but the signs are on the wall – we must start the transition into something better – a humanized future for all – long before people become desperate.
We can all do our little part in this big change that must come.