Tomorrowland – Would you get a Pin?

Just saw the Disney movie ‘Tomorrowland’. The following passage is quite interesting and worth looking at:

“Let’s imagine… if you’d glimpse the future, you are frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? You’d go to who? Politicians? Captains of industry? And how would you convince them? With data? With Facts? Good luck. The only facts they won’t challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in. But what if there was a way of skipping the middle man and putting the critical news directly into everyone’s head? The probability of wide-spread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it, was to show it. To scare people straight, because what reasonable human being wouldn’t be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they’ve ever known or loved? To save civilization, I would show its collapse.

But how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up like a chocolate éclair. They didn’t fear their demise, they repackaged it. It could be enjoyed as video-games as TV-shows, books, movies, the entire world whole-heartedly embraced the apocalypse and sprinted towards it with gleeful abandon.

Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You’ve got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation – explain that one. Bees and butterflies start to disappear the glaciers melt, algae blooms all around you, the coalmine canaries are dropping dead and you won’t take the hint.

In every moment, there is the possibility of a better future, but you people won’t believe it. And because you won’t believe it, you won’t do what is necessary to make it a reality. So, you dwell on this so terrible future, you resign yourselves to it for one reason: Because that future doesn’t ask anything of you today.

So, yes, we saw the iceberg, we warned the Titanic, but you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you want to sink. You gave up. And that’s not the monitor’s fault – that’s yours.”

It still puzzles me why the character speaking these words was portrayed as the villain – wasn’t he right on the money? Isn’t that exactly what is happening today? Some say the movie is about imagination, about feeding positive thoughts rather than negative thoughts – but it’s not really. The movie has one simple message: Are we giving up when seeing the world we’ve created with all its unintended ‘ooopsy’ consequences – or are we going to realize that if we want a different future, we have to actually create it. Positive thoughts or feelings won’t do. It is actions that are needed, our behavior that needs to change, our demands that need to change – from destruction to construction.

So ask yourself: what do I DO each day to create a different world?

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When Life No Longer Needs to be Paid For

At the moment life is not free – we have to pay for it. Buying groceries, paying rent or paying off the loan you needed to take out to buy your house, paying for medical support, paying for water and electricity – all of the life-supporting essentials cost money. So, in essence, you pay to continue living every day another day.

Now – what would happen when everyone received at least a Living Income – and if working – would receive at least double? Yes – you would still need to pay for everything to have your living essentials, but… the money to pay for it would be given to you, a security. It would practically mean that life is free – no longer a commodity to be paid for and even a luxury for some – life would be yours to live!

So – what would you do with your life? What would I do with my life?

The first thing that comes to mind is that anything I have to offer in terms of education – whether it is about personal empowerment or practical skills – I would put out there for free – for as many as possible to be able to benefit from it. At the moment – so many educators charge fees for their courses, for their knowledge and their know-how – which is of course how they make a living – but imagine now information and knowledge being able to spread so much easier to so many more – either because they can afford to share it for free or because the courses that are charged for can be paid for by so many more. Anyone with an interest, a goal they want to achieve would be able to do so with the help of the world’s knowledge at their disposal.

Would I work less? I don’t know, hey – perhaps a little, take more time for reading, gardening and dancing classes – but working from the perspective of creating something or contributing to something that helps others – that is very fulfilling for me. And even – let’s say I take out some time from work to just focus entirely on dancing – something I have very little time for at the moment – because I want to see to what extent I can develop my dancing. Well – I would do that, but then afterwards, I’d want to share it with others – so I’d become a dance teacher – not because I have to, but because it’s fulfilling to help others in getting better at what they love doing.

Oh – here’s one: I would feel a lot better about anyone providing a service – whether it’s a doctor, a lawyer or the tech support guy of my cellphone provider – because I know the only reason they’re doing it is because they want to. And when you do something because you want to, you’re going to do it well. That opens an interesting point, because it means the level of trust between people in society is going to increase - imagine feeling like you’re in good hands ALL THE TIME.

This may sound like the description of a utopian dream society – but is it really? Or is it only that we don’t realize to what extent our current economic structure affects our inner well-being, our physical health, our personal relationships and our daily interactions with others? In very low and depressed moments we may ask ourselves ‘what is the meaning of life?’ – I suggest we rather implement a Living Income Guaranteed and find out: What does it mean to live life?

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How is War Still a Thing?

If you look at human history and all the progress we’ve made, the technology, the infrastructure, the institutions, the various ways of communicating over enormous distances – instantaneously -  traveling into space, creating music, art – it’s pretty impressive. And yet – with all of this apparent evolution and progress, it’s hard to be optimistic about humanity’s history and legacy, because: there’s still this one huge nasty atrocity we keep doing, over and over again… we keep on waging wars.

This is the 21st century and war is still a thing we do – every day. It hasn’t been erased yet – we haven’t yet come to the day in time where we can say ‘wars – that’s a thing from the past – we remember it to make sure never to do it again’ – because it’s not, it’s part of our present and it looks like, part of our future too.

I’ve had many moments where I look at the news and get frustrated, horrified and mind-blown at the stupidity of war, the destruction, the senselessness – wanting to scream at those apparently ‘leading nations’ – WTF are you doing???

But is it that surprising really?

I mean – how can we expect continuous mutual cooperation, problem solving and conflict-prevention on an international and global level if that’s something we’re not living up to ourselves? Conflict PREVENTION – yes, you read that right – because for world peace to be the ‘new thing’ – we need to not only be able to master the art of conflict resolution, but also need to learn to prevent conflict, rather than waiting for conflict to manifest and then trying to ‘do something about it’. Conflict is nothing more than the manifestation and revealing of misalignments that were already present.

It is easy to blame politicians and diplomats for sucking at what they do – but in the context of ‘as above, so below’ – we’re all playing our part here – how often do we go into arguments with those around us, openly or behind their backs in the form of gossip and backchat? How often do we wait for ‘shit to hit the fan’ before we actually look at problems that we actually knew were there but conveniently chose to ignore? And when there is conflict, how often do we focus on solutions instead of sticking with our own self-interest, walking away or just wanting to ‘win’ the argument, regardless of the cost?

That is our responsibility on a purely personal level – but how about the following: if we are so frustrated with our leaders making bad decisions? Why are we still leaving these decisions up to them? Do citizens demand referendums before going to war? Do citizens get a say in any way about how their military gets used and who their soldiers will go to kill and terrorize next? Do citizens demand a say? How can we as children be taught about the horrors of world wars and then grow up to be adults who stand by and do absolutely nothing but focus on our own personal happiness and fulfillment, doing our best to look away and pretend it’s got nothing to do with us? Or how about this – why haven’t we yet demanded global demilitarization to instead redirect all the funds that go into wars and military development towards securing a basic income for everyone? Because – yes, let’s not forget – poverty is also still a thing.

So – let’s use that creative human brain that we must possess to be able to create things like cars, the internet, art and space shuttles to find and promote solutions, to get a say, to end things that shouldn’t be things anymore.

Join us in the Living Income movement – read the proposal – make your own blog and start sharing solutions, join a political party that has the provision of basic human rights on their agenda, or create one if there isn’t one, find out how you can participate in political decision making in your area, make your voice count.

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Parenting and a Living Income Guaranteed

How does the lack of parental economic support affect our societies? How would Parenting change in a society where our basic needs are guaranteed as a Human Right? What effects will securing the livelihood of mothers and fathers bring to our society at large? What needs to change in society and economics to make parenting a successful and satisfying part of our lives and those of our children?

Join us in our discussion with Equal Life Foundation’s very own Leila Zamora Moreno & Gian Robberts, sharing their perspectives and experiences thus far in relation to parenting and how we can change the ways it is lived to build a world that is best for all.
You are welcome to place comments and questions for Leila & Gian in the comment section of this video.

Hosted by: Marlen Vargas Del Razo

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Politics? Fun?? Have you Lost your Mind?!

One of the reasons it is so hard to push for substantial change is that – the way to do that is through politics – and trying to get people engaged and passionate about politics is not an easy feat. Just ask yourself – apart from the sentence I just wrote – when last did you hear the words ‘politics’ and ‘passionate’ in the same sentence together? It seems the two are each others' opposites. I imagine the following is actually how some people have defined politics in their minds’ dictionary:

“Politics: I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s boring and I want nothing to do with it”

So – for those who ‘get’ that politics is probably quite important, but just can’t get themselves to read the newspapers for fear that you might die of boredom, I have good news. There is a show called ‘Last Week Tonight’ hosted by John Oliver, which may be just what you need. It’s a very funny show – sometimes bordering to, or just plainly grotesque, so breathe through those parts if it’s not your style. As with everything, you have to use your own common sense in relation to what is being presented. Yet, overall it’s really entertaining and while you’re being entertained, you’ll simultaneously be introduced to various different topics and problems on the world’s political agenda. You might actually learn more from watching this show than from reading the newspaper…

Seriously, watch it.



And if you have any suggestions for funny educational shows - share it with us in a comment!

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Voting Fun – What does it Feel Like to Have a Say?

One of the pillars within the Living Income Guaranteed proposal is the substantiating of Democracy through Direct Political Participation. Technology is available to hold regular votes that includes a large number of individuals. These votes can range from participatory budgeting where each citizen is asked to approve the yearly national budget, to making decisions on a daily basis on a local/municipality level.

Now – before such increased direct political participation is a reality – let’s do a little test to see what it feels like. So – here are some mock-questions where you’re asked to give your input. Imagine that this relates to your direct reality (eg. your town) – and your answer has a weight that influences the outcome of the decision. Of course, in reality – a lot more context would be given to each question – providing information about the different options, what benefits and costs are involved. Pretend that you are aware of all these factors and are answering after having weighed the options carefully. At the end of the poll you’ll be asked what it felt like to have a say, where you can share for instance that you felt uncomfortable in a way or actually felt empowered.

Let’s have some voting fun!

Here is the link: http://surveynuts.com/surveys/take?id=38568&c=357448241DFNH

It won't take you more than 5mins ;).

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Humanity Washed Ashore

“The full horror of the human tragedy unfolding on the shores of Europe was brought home on Wednesday as images of the lifeless body of a young boy – one of at least 12 Syrians who drowned attempting to reach the Greek island of Kos – encapsulated the extraordinary risks refugees are taking to reach the west.

The picture, taken on Wednesday morning, depicted the dark-haired toddler, wearing a bright-red T-shirt and shorts, washed up on a beach, lying face down in the surf not far from Turkey’s fashionable resort town of Bodrum.

A second image portrays a grim-faced policeman carrying the tiny body away. Within hours it had gone viral becoming the top trending picture on Twitter under the hashtag #KiyiyaVuranInsanlik (humanity washed ashore).”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/02/shocking-image-of-drowned-syrian-boy-shows-tragic-plight-of-refugees

This was an excerpt of just one of the stories about the boy. Over the last few days, dozens have been written and published on various major news sites. What is more striking than the content of the posts, is the comments that are left on these articles. What is humanity’s response to such images, to such news? If you have a moment, I would suggest to read through the comments. It ranges from expressing shock, to sending love and prayers, to abdicating responsibility, to assigning blame to the parents, countries, presidents, religions and then it just goes into back-and-forth bickering over ‘what kind of person you are’.

That just makes you wonder...

When I read/hear such events and news stories – what I see is that: we’re more and more coming to a point where we can no longer ignore the painful truth that what happens on this planet is a problem for everyone – they are no longer ‘far away’ – what we’re accepting and allowing, even just through our ignorance and complacency – is literally washing up our shores. Does it help, then, to assign blame? Does it help, then, to debate over the exact historical figure and events that led up to the problems we’re facing today?

We can no longer afford to think in terms of ‘us vs. them’ and ‘my country vs. your country’ or ‘my religion vs. your religion’ – because it’s simply not constructive. It’s a similar point with climate change – does it really matter who started it? Can we really afford to debate over who should take the first step?

When recently traveling to Belgium with my sister and her little boy, we spent a lot of time on playgrounds. It was fascinating to see so many families of different origins, with different cultures and speaking different languages all in the same place. Belgians were actually in the minority. But more interesting was to see the difference in how the parents interacted (or rather, didn’t) and how the children interacted with each other. The parents stayed away from each other, individually watching their children from the sidelines and stepping in when needed, kind of avoiding each other. The children, on the other hand – would all play harmoniously together on the playground. It didn’t seem to make a difference to them what the other child looked like, what they were wearing or even what language they spoke. They would actually adapt and use more body language to get a point across.

My point being… how the world exists today is one version of what can be – and is a result of our collective history. At the same time, there exists a potential for a different way of living together. If we wait, stand aside and refuse to look for solutions that will actually work for everyone – we know our children will end up doing the same – and that potential for a different world is lost.

We still have a ‘choice’ in how we address these global problems, or at least – it seems like we do – because we haven’t yet seen the worst of it. Despite problems escalating, there seems to still be a belief in many that ‘things will work themselves out’ – call it ‘Disney-brainwashing’. But if we’re going to find sustainable solutions, we better do it now – and we better include everyone in the benefits. If you follow the trends of the ‘state of the world’ – what we’re doing to the planet, what we’re doing to each other – it’s very likely our children will no longer have that choice, that chance to say: okay, let’s turn this ship around.

So, from one human being to another – we’re all here, all living and breathing – and all capable of working together if we choose to, all capable of focusing on formulating solutions that work for everyone, all capable of standing up and no longer assuming someone else will solve our problems for us.

So, I invite you to – if you have an idea, if you are part of the solution – SPEAK OUT - let’s hear about ideas and solutions, start constructive discussions, connect and support each other.

Here is the solution I stand for: A Living Income Guaranteed for All – read about it and share what you think. Then share what you stand for! The Living Income Guaranteed crew hosts weekly hangouts, a platform where ideas and solutions are discussed and promoted. So, if you want your idea and solution to get some extra attention, you can also contact livingincome@equallife.org and be welcomed on a live hangout!

Let’s start a new trend:

#IAmPartOfTheSolution

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Welcoming New Life with Living Income Guaranteed

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And Then You Crash - Meconomics

This blogpost is a continuation to:
Reality in a Bubble – Meconomics
Inflating Reality Much? – Meconomics
Do You Know the Stakes of the Bets you Place? – Meconomics
Have you Ever been Swept Off your Feet?

In this little series, we’ve been investigating the phenomenon of inflation, how we in our daily lives participate in ‘inflating our reality’ and so, how we are on a personal level participating in the same principles/dynamics that we see playing out on a bigger scale when it comes to inflation, speculative bubbles and financial market crashes.

We saw that there is actually a set process involved that we can roughly break down into three stages:

1.    the start/onset,
2.    the process of inflation,
3.    the popping of the bubble.

We discussed stages 1 and 2 in the previous posts, so let’s look more closely at:

3. The Popping of the Bubble

The popping of the bubble is usually a singular moment that can be experienced as a ‘crash’ or an ‘explosion’ – though the consequences of the entire process (stages 1, 2 and 3) can linger and last for quite a while as the domino-blocks start falling.

The popping of the bubble is in essence the sudden release of all the energy that had been accumulating and growing in the process of inflation. Energy cannot ‘keep on accumulating forever’ – it has a breaking-point – and that is the point where the bubble pops and we experience some form of a crash, explosion or release.

Looking at the example of the couple fighting, where the on-set was one person forgetting to buy toothpaste, the popping of the bubble would be the moment where a snap decision is made at the culmination point within the fight of: ending the relationship. This is of course an extreme example, where we illustrated the process of inflation over a very short period of time, but actually, you would be surprised how often such decisions are made not because of practical common sense considerations, but because of an energy that had been growing and accumulating to the point where it seems like ‘the only choice’ to make in a moment.

We also saw in the previous post that inflation can occur both with negative and positive energy. Remember the example of the teenage girls ‘screeching’ in excitement? Well, I used to be one of those – and let me tell you – I would experience quite a ‘crash’ afterwards – not necessarily in terms of a ‘fight’ or a ‘break up’ type of experience, but I would get absolutely exhausted and experience huge headaches after a day out with my girlfriends. Another example would be when you fill your ‘inflation bubble’ with ‘high hopes and expectations’ – where you can easily crash into a sudden experience of total disappointment and despondence.

The moment the bubble is popped – the energy releases and all that we are left with is the physical reality. The abrupt transition from being emerged within energy where everything you see, think, feel and do is influenced by whatever energy you are experiencing, be it positive or negative – can create quite a ‘shock’ as you are suddenly faced with ‘what is left’ – which is your reality. That’s how we often have those moments of looking back at something we did or said and regret it or wonder why and how we could have done or said what we did/said in past moments. Because when looking back at the event without being emerged in the energy – you can see alternative courses of actions and behaviors.

So – with the example of the couple breaking up – you might have experienced similar moments where you are suddenly ‘snapped back’ to reality and all of a sudden everything has changed and you don’t even clearly see or understand how it could have ‘come to that’. This is the immediate experience after the popping of the bubble, but at the same time it is the on-set of a series of consequences. Because no matter how you wish you could ‘take things back’ – you can’t – it is done, things were said and done and there is no way to ignore the new reality that you suddenly created for yourself.

Understand then – that when you experience a ‘crash’ – it’s not something that ‘just happened’ or ‘happened to you’, you actually created it over a period of time through your own participation in reactions and mental energy. So, then you can have a look: where did I make an interpretation/react to something that was said/done or that happened in my physical reality? Where/when/how did I keep adding energy, inflating a bubble and removing myself more and more from physical reality? What kinds of energy did I fill this bubble with? Now that you have an overview of the process that ‘leads to’ such a crash, you can trace back your steps and learn from the past.

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