Today, we have European Elections. As I see it, this is a sad day. It is about time to think about how colossally we failed.
In our times, we seem to suffer from a collective illness: we are permanently under stress and consequently, we cannot give even those things we consider important the time we would like to give them.
That is why my project PEACE failed and also why I do not really seem to make any headway with my soft and active mobility AKTMOBCMP.
As I perceive it, I and many of my friends are actually better off in this respect than many other people. More often than not, only scheduling problems are in our way. At least, we often manage to actually consciously give the right things priority.
As far as my projects are concerned, I am no longer the force I probably used to be. I call this old-age wisdom.
On May, 31st, I will disappear for more than three weeks because I am travelling to Russia and China. Consequently, you will not read a lot from me in the IF blog in June.
After my return, late in June/early in July, I will try and put a lot of energy into AktMobCmp. I would really like to see more people get enthusiastic about the topic.
On the other hand, I often believe that the project PEACE is probably more important than active mobility in everyday life. Incidentally, the latter is a sub-topic of the former, anyway. After all, soft mobility is also part of PEACE if you think in terms of war on the streets and war against nature. And when no cars are left, then it will be about pacifying those who ride their bikes ? (and then those who walk ).
Apart from this, I am mainly sad about what currently happens in this world. Especially because it is a consequence of how my generation failed. When I was a high-school student more than fifty years ago, we already knew about it. We discussed exactly what we are discussing today and what we see happening today. We knew what the consequence would be. Regardless of several nice approaches, we followed the human virtues (?) “protection of acquired possessions” and “becoming rich without having to work hard” as a matter of course. And this is how we generated the catastrophe we are facing today.
Especially in Germany, we had the chance to create a better world after WW-II. What I mean is the creation of a social construct for a sustainable society without armament and military forces and in shared responsibility for life as such. Based on a reasonable education for all.
We probably had the chance to build a beautiful Europe of regions in courage and joy and thus replace the nations.
We did the opposite. Germany in particular divided Europe and thus destroyed it. Brown coal mining is a good metaphor. The European capitalism – pushed by the Euro – destroyed the country in the same way as the huge caterpillars destroyed the soil.
The internet was our second huge chance. Now we destroy it as well.
Naturally, the responsibility for this downwards spiral was our social and political system and mainly the oligarchy of our bourgeois parties. They will now get what they had coming. But even their downfall is far from guaranteed.
However, the destruction of the world is something we all managed together. Greed brought us here and we followed the liars and hypocrites all too happily.
Another metaphor for what went completely wrong during the last fifty years is the car. It became a symbol for “movement without effort” and for a totally misinterpreted freedom. For most of us, the car was the golden lamb we danced around.
This is how we implemented a “church of reason” the basic principle of which was consumerism as a religion and growth as its mantra. We replaced old superstition by new superstition. Only the feudalism remains the same. And the destruction of the world is maintained and justified by some kind of feudalism for all.
We now slowly realize that we are paying the price. Some ignore it, others flee into the land of dreams and get over-enthusiastic about #newwork“, #agile and democratic enterprises. Yet, all of us are just standing there as the rabbit before the snake when we see the multi-dimensional destruction of the planet.
The extreme increase in carbon dioxide and the destruction of the climate caused by it destroy everything – which would already be more than enough. We know what should be done, yet we do not do it. We do not have the courage to initiate the “huge transformation”.
But I do not wish to spoil your Sunday with my miserable contemplations. I wish you all that is nice and good and beautiful. Lots of sun, courage and joy! Hope is the last thing that dies.
Thank you for your friendship!
RMD
(Translated by EG)
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