a world that is changing rapidly. We live in a world where we are
surrounded by a glaring contradiction. A contradiction that the
various media savvy pundits and interpretors of the world fail to
mention. When they do attempt to face this contradiction it is only to
belittle and expose their own confusion.
What is this contradiction? That all things are made socially, but are
appropriated individually. (From the Latin meaning not to be divided.)
So all things are made socially, but not to be divided.
What does this mean to me? It means that the world is drowning in
wealth, yet I have to struggle to pay the rent. Google reports the
world GDP to be some 63 trillion dollars! And yet this wealth is not
to divided. How far would even one trillion dollars go towards feeding
the hungry, clothing the naked etc.
But even more than the things of the world we have created, even we;
our very selves are socially created. In a world dominated by fictions
of individualism and Robinson Crusoe stories it is sometimes difficult
to see ourselves as socially created products. But of course on the
most superficial level we can see we are born of preexisting
parents. The beginning of the production process being the production
of other human beings. And so much flows of this simple fact. All
language, all history, all economies, all education is a huge process
to create human beings, to create individuals. Sadly for the great
bulk of these individuals life is lived as a commodity. Not as what
they truely are, unique, real, actual human beings for in the some 4
000 000 000 years of this earth that strut and fret their hour on
the stage.
We are now in a world where we are on the cusp of the fabled 'Brave
New World', a world were energy can be drawn from the sun, from the
wind, from the heat of the earth itself. And yet too many argue that
we should never change. To my small position it seems that the
opposition to renewable energy comes more from a posture of not
wanting to give up their power. With solar for example people can heat
their houses, run their computers and more without the need to buy
electricity from the large corporations.
In this coming world of super abundance we must fight for a new order,
a new way of doing things. We should fight for socialism, a new type
of socialism were we understand that socialism must be the dream
factory.
Some simple demands we must make that will take a long way forward.
Free education for all. Education is key for anyone to become the
person they want to be, it is a right that everyone should be able to
go as far as they want.
An immediate cut in the hours of work. Solving the problem of
unemployment, and underemployment. This will allow people to work, and
to contribute to society, while also giving them the time to be able
to fulfill their love, love of family, love of knowledge. From a
Christian point of view all people are equal before God, and are made
in Her image. If this is to believed than why are some allowed to die
in the gutter, while others roll in incredible wealth. From an atheist
position there is no afterlife, we only have what is in front of us,
why should so many suffer and die, never to get their life back? Why
should this be allowed to continue just so some lucky few get to
increase their wealth?
Equal rights for all people. Nothing more needs to be said.
In this way we can edit Lenin to raise as a banner, Democracy plus
solar power equals socialism. True grassroots democracy. Democracy
based around where people live and where they work. No one should be
forced to give up their legal rights when they clock on to work. Many
people despair of the current political crisis, but many then turn to
the lure of facisim and dictatorship as a way to get past the
crisis. Many seem to despair of democracy, and then cry out to lessen
democracy. But of course falling into a dictatorship is easy, it
allows one to keep their head down, work and shop and all will be
well. However on the side of socialism we can only offer years of
struggle and hard work, years of vilification for an uncertain
goal. But this goal shall be the dream factory, shall be a world of
expansion and personal growth. The begining of history, not as the
right wing pundits will say the end of history.
As all political failures are failures of imagination it is important
for use to keep in mind that we need to create the dream factory.
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