Dreaming Different Futures

I read too much science fiction as a child - well - to be honest, Sci-Fi is still my staple.

And for the most part, the "type" of science fiction that I gravitate towards is the imaginative dystopian hard science stuff where authors are dreaming of a future state of being and how that affects us.

So, for example, Robert Heinlein was one of my mentors in the field and he talked about everything from religion to race, sex and politics in his groundbreaking work like Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers.

Or think about Orson Scott Card and Ender's Game.

These works were meant to criticise the way we do things, the way we are, and to subtly point to other possibilities.

Like what if the marriage idea was wrong and we should be polyamorous? What if men were, in fact, inferior to women? What if militarism was left unchecked?

But I digress from what I was going to write about - which was just a quick sketch of a dream I just came up with for moving forward with society after the pandemic.

(by the way - this is by far the perfect science fiction story - and in fact, has been written a few times check our Steven King's the Stand or Margaret Atwood's MadAdam series)

So - here is my science fiction suggestion for moving forward.

First and foremost - every household, everywhere, every class and country - needs free high-speed internet, probably from Elon Musk's Starlink Satellites. We also all need free state of the art computer systems and "smart" enabled devices.

These should no longer be for-profit creations - well, in a perfect world nothing should - but I am willing to start there.

This is step one - and you are not going to immediately agree with me on step two - but suspend your disbelief for a second.

Step two is that we sell off every school, every police station, every doctor's office, every church, every psychiatric clinic, every public health clinic, etc. Especially those that are government-funded or require tax breaks.

Step three is that we build campus organizations where all of these professionals work, together, along with high tech infrastructure and broadcasting studios.

NOW

Here is the thing, we start having multidisciplinary teams producing educational and creative resources that educate children, teach holistic health, manage conflict, embrace spirituality, and provide - through the internet - all the resources necessary to create "health" in the population.

Yes, we would still need hospitals, and teams that could be dispatched to deal with crime or emergent situations.

But in reality, we would be approaching the human situation from a whole different perspective while at the same time cutting an incredible amount of cost. Each of these campuses would create content that is regional, that honours every culture and race and sexuality and background - but at the same time does not have to reinvent the wheel as they would all be networked as well.

We would instantly level up humanity worldwide.

The reason we do not do this is that we are stuck in archaic patterns of professional services that are stuck in outdated thought patterns and traditions.

And I would argue that this is because of racism and elitism, classism and sexism - all of those isms.

Otherwise, we would have been working together on all this stuff long ago.

Why do we have two dental clinics in the same small town, one of which offers better care for higher prices and one of which offers to take anyone?

Why do we have food banks, churches, and social workers all doing the work while not communicating with each other?

Because we believe some people deserve better care. It is as plain, as simple, and as horrible as that.

Oh, and it also has to do with turning a profit. That is why I am fed up with capitalism and our current economic lie of trickle-down wealth.

So my solution might not be the best, and it might not be feasible, I am not a city planner or a sociologist.

But here is the thing. Even I in my little corner of the world can come up with a better solution than how we currently do it. I am willing to bet there are hundreds, if not millions of solutions that would make the world a better, and safer place - that would allow us to accomplish more with less, and that would keep us safe.

We do not implement them because they do not make anyone rich.

So here is my idea. Close the schools and make teaching an online resource. But while we are at it. Close the rest and force us to work together. I am 99% certain that it would only make the world worse for the 1%.

Quarentine Roulette

I have posted memes on Facebook which amount to saying this: Things were broken, let's not go back.

The black and white divide between the past and the future I am calling out is, of course, artificial. And I have attributed those posts to economics, capitalism, lack of socialism, broken health and tax systems... a number of "culprits" who when taken at face value, are probably not to blame.

The other thing I have seen over the last few weeks is a so called divide opening up between introverts and extroverts. Those who are okay with being locked in a house and those who are needing to leave.

Now this divide is also artificial but has equally black and white factors attributed to it. I need to see people, I need a hug, I never liked people anyway, I read books, I have a cat... all kinds of people saying all kinds of things as if they were the one and only answer.

A problem with social media has always been presentation of ideas. How I present something makes a difference, and in social media most people present "opinions" as not merely "facts" but as somehow brought down from the mountain on stone tablets.

Carved in stone truth for everyone is rarely found in social discussion.

But we sort of know that.

So I wonder what is really behind the messages. What is at the root of thrive or failure to thrive in the pandemic world?

I am going to present some ideas born from discussion with my wife and consideration of our families and see if they might not round out some of the edges of what is causing problems both now, before, and potentially after.

None of this might ring true for you - but I think good discussion makes you think, and so I am presenting this as something to think about.

Extrovert and Introvert is a false label. Or rather, has become a shortcut, used to describe very limited understandings. To be an extrovert means more than needing to go outside. To be an introvert means more than needing to be alone.

Here are some issues around that - how comfortable are you reflecting on your own life? How comfortable are you in your own house? How much do you need to be around other people? Do you like to be in a crowd? When new ideas crop up in your head do you need to talk to other people about them? How much television is actually healthy?

You see - the ideas are complex. And when we say, I am an introvert I am ok - it could mean SO many different things that there is no easy label on why that is true.

Take me, I am somewhat introverted in that I recharge emotional energy by being alone. However, I cannot for the life of me sit in one place for longer than, say, half an hour. In the round of a week I usually travel, say, 400 km just driving from one place to the next - sometimes for no reason.

I cannot not have my mind occupied - so I need to be "doing" something all the time. But is that an extrovert quality or ADHD?

I have anxiety and PTSD but that does not mean that I do not thrive off of constant newness. I do not even drive home from the store using the same route I took.

So jsut for myself, there is no easy label. And I imagine that is true for others as well.

How about the economy, social safety net, etc.

I say it was broken but the reasons I say it was broken may not resonate with anyone else.

I think it sucks that the main point of most of our lives is sustenance employment. It takes two breadwinners most of their week to earn enough money to provide human basic needs. That should not be true. We should have way more time to paint, make music, love, food, etc. Or at least that is how I feel.

I always thought communal living would be a better answer. Still do. If we were in groups of 10-15 now instead of groups of 2-4 would that not be better? But again, that is me.

I do not value "stuff" the way others do. I wear old clothes and buy most of what I own at Giant Tiger. But I need high end tech and expensive rum, as well as trips across the country.

What we value and why differs from each person, and it differs greatly.

I guess when I say the old system was broken I am meaning the system that said getting rich was the plan, having 1.4 kids was the plan, working more than 40 hours per week was the plan, always buying the next new thing was the plan... these are the things I am glad have been taken away by the pandemic.

Now what is important is keeping healthy. What is important is finding joy where you are. What is important is spending time with family. What is important is making do with what you have.

And in those ways I feel joy in my heart.

But "I" think, and again, this is an opinion, that what needed to change, and may yet perhaps change in this - is that our value system needs to change.

And it is not about how we run an economy, it is not about whether we are introverted or extroverted, it is not about rich or poor, gender, sexuality, or anything that we have been fighting over before...

What needs to change is the recognition that each individual person is just that. And what I need, how I meet those needs, and how I fit in with others is unique to me alone. And I wish we could create a society that valued that - the individual and how they fit into the common good without losing their identity.

That is why I keep saying I want to go back to the hippy movement. I think they were on to something when they claimed that each person was a wonderful person just for being them.

But maybe I am wrong...

Either way - each of us needs to find how THEY thrive in this new world. I don't think we will go back to the way it was two months ago - there will be more diseases, more natural disasters, more political turmoil in the months and years to come. And they will change us. So maybe be patient with each other and try hard to help everyone be the best person they can be.