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Thursday, September 23, 2010

A Brief History of The World

Then.....

Once upon a time, in a place called Utopia, in the days we call The Good Old Days, lived a thing called The Community. It existed way before religion came along and took it over and before governments made rules about it.

Community gave everyone a sense of security. Because life was slow, expectations low and camaraderie high, The Community flourished. There was little communication with the outside world, the focus being on providing for The Community. The more The Community was nourished, the happier the people were.

Aboriginal Australians were a good example of such a community. Women gathered what food they could from their surroundings, with the young children in tow. They made bowls and spoons and useful home items as well as cooking over fires .... all for The Community. Men did what men are good at - hunting for wild meat, making shelters and tools, as well as teaching the boys how to be men in The Community. Elders told stories about their heritage and were called upon to preside over justice and harmony for The Community.

So it was that everyone in the group was looked after. There were no individual needs that were not met by The Community. On the whole life was pleasant, parties frequent, daily life slow and healthy. Children grew up understanding The Community and how necessary it was to look after it, because there was no place for Greed and Selfishness.

If food ran low, if huts fell into disrepair or family members became ill and could not work, The Community was responsible and meetings were held to decide on action to remedy the problem.

Now....

All over the earth live individuals, often grouped into large masses called cities. It is a complex life for these individuals who talk a lot about My Total Wealth, My Job, My Family, My House, My Holidays and how much more I could get if only the government would see how much more I need it than anyone else. The system is totally based on My Money.

My Money makes those who have it secure. Those who need assistance should ask the government because the people with My Money do not have Time. The Government is made up of people who like being in power and work tirelessly at staying there; telling the My Money people that they will get more money if they vote for this government or that.

Western civilisation is the main example of My Money. Children are farmed out to be cared for by others, while women and men work endlessly because they need more money to get more stuff in order to feel secure. Food is expected to be cheap. Those producing good quality food are expected to do so at the same price as those who call poison "food" and put it in fancy packets on fancy shelves.

All kinds of machines do all kinds of work, so that people can get more money. One of the biggest machines is The War Machine which uses the most money to run and kills a lot of people in doing so, but often makes obscene amounts of money for corporations. Corporations are made up of several overweight men who drain what is left of The Community to feed My Money.

When things go wrong, everyone in the My Money scheme blames someone else. There is a lot of fighting. People are not happy. The people try feeding money to the problem, but it does not provide a cure. This scheme cannot work forever and eventually either the My Money people will all kill each other or...... they will look inside themselves and find The Community.

The future.....

The Modern Day Community thrives. Smiles are on faces again. Food is grown and shared, taking into account all creatures of the earth as well as humans. Communication with outside The Community grows so that knowledge and ideas can be shared with all other communities. Stuff is swapped, work is less frantic, people begin to Care, Share and revel in being a part of The Community. Mental and physical health engulf The Community.

Life is good..... lets get there fast and then take it slow.

5 comments:

Brigid said...

Kate, have just discovered your blog this morning courtesy of my dear friend Belinda, http://belindas-simple-life.blogspot.com/. She thought I would like it. Well, I have only ready to-day's post - and love it.

Over at The Network, http://misseaglesnetwork.blogspot.com, I take things from a community angle - my blog consists of political comment, comment on aboriginal matters, the environment, food security, economics but all from the perspective of the human community and in the hope that co-operative work in community can bring about a better and more just society.

So you can see why I love your post to-day and will post about it on my blog with a link to you. I will also picture you with link on my sidebar.

Blessings and bliss
Brigid
aka
Miss Eagle

Mr. H. said...

A very well written post, I could not agree more with you. I have always thought that small communities that operated as you suggested would be the only long term sustainable reality for human beings on this planet.

Apple Island Wife said...

Like your thoughts about the Aboriginal community - I was reflecting recently that we've got all these programs on tv celebrating villages in Spain and France where they have a tradition of slaughtering a pig each year and processing the whole animal in the village over a couple of days, making sausages, hams etc. We all sit there on our sofas remarking on how marvellous it is, when actually we've got an example right here - mutton bird killing has exactly the same principles! A yearly tradition of using a seasonal food source, bringing all the family and community together, training up kids in traditional food methods and ending in a slighty tipsy sing song round a fire.

AlexF said...

Not sure I agree with you here, mum. I do think we need stronger communities in modern society but let's not forget the good things that cities and money have lead to -- medicine, long-distance travel, freedom to explore our interests, the technology that powers this blog. You see, it's precisely because of the global economic system that I can spend my days working on interesting problems half way around the world from where I grew up, and you can spend your days blogging, organising, visiting gardens, and so on. A thousand years ago we would have spent all our time providing for ourselves, and a few years of drought or an unfortunately illness would simply have killed us. I prefer what we have now!!

Kate said...

Yes, but Alex that is why it needs to be a Modern Day Community.... taking all of those things you mention into account.I am not suggesting we go backwards..... but we definitely need to go forwards.