When we consider the future and the future of the future, it can all be overwhelming, dizzying and almost frightening. But, yet a brief glance at the things we can now do, the capacity we have developed, and this should be the best of times.
Let’s remember that the core principles of what we want are well elucidated already in documents like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Equality before the law, freedoms from exploitation and social freedoms are well stated and known. Also rights to live peacefully and to maintain one’s health have been agreed upon now by most all of us, even the raletive access to supports from our governments is commonly understood as defensible now. We want to be curious, to be moved, to be in relationships, to listen to a child sing like an opera singer and be caught in the moment, to follow sports, to play, to conquer challenges.
We also know without any fear of contradiction that if we encounter a group of 18 month old children drawn from all parts of the world and from all groups that we believe different, that, in fact (or, in science) there is no difference at all. So do we want to watch that child protegee sing and feel the chills of joy or do we want to be a party to killing children; over the last century, and right now, we have done and are doing both. Talk to someone about a hobby or sport and you’ll find intelligence universally abounds. In fact, while there may well be a difference in speed of thought, differences in capacity to think are mostly exaggerated and not sensible in evolutionary terms. What we do in our multitudes though is lazy thinking – particularly about what matters most. In our oversimplified way where we can compartmentalize our thoughts and refuse to see the interconnection of the world we continue with ancestral tribal arguments and with resistance against all innovation in a stubborn adherence to acquired identity and holding undeserved certainty in a whole bunch of things that we are too lazy to realise lead indirectly through the complexity of our society to impoverishment, oppression and death; considering all this, just one question…..isn’t it about time we grew the fuck up!!!
Really, I’ve written about this in another blog here about the mentality and the conscious reach of the majority of people two lifetimes ago, and implied how much, collectively we know by comparison. We really do lack so much of the ignorance that led to the atrocities of the past. We need international cooperation across medical and scientific endeavours, we need to feed and clothe the world’s remaining 1 billion people in dire poverty, we need to raise up those and another 2 billion to a life of relative financial freedom, we need to address a lot of globally significant issues; but one thing is for sure, posturing like a bunch of 12 year old kids in a school yard and running into wars is not going to help.
First things first. All nations need to work for an upgraded United Nations agreement, where the biggest military in the world becomes over a period of time, the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, and secondly all countries again over a period of time come to truly recognise international law. Is this easy? No. But looking at the world from afar, it is the only logical way to manage our shared planet and our shared destiny. States work because there is a judiciary, there is an arm for enforcement, there is a political structure and there is free press. This does not require a world government, and surprisingly much of the structures already exist. Really all that remains is for the worlds populations to use the opportunities of global communications and social networks to force their political representatives to address this transition to a group of kids who play in adherence to at least some rules. And for those who feel it is too hard to take steps to save children from war and death, 2 options, 1) get out of the way….2) again, Grow the Fuck Up!!

Martin O'Dea

About Martin O'Dea
