A World of Solidarity
“When shall we have the courage to outgrow the charity mentality and see that at the bottom of all relations between rich and poor there is the problem of justice?”
Sometimes, when working towards profound change that would alter the world as we know it for the better, it can help to start by imagining the result and working backwards from there. Getting a clear sense of where we want to end up can help guide our work along the way. So today I envision a future where we have finally come to our senses and to the understanding that Planet Earth is a place of great abundance in which there is more than enough for everybody to live beautiful lives. I envision a day when we all see, with great clarity, that Heaven is here, if we want it to be. This world is peaceful, and solidarity prevails. In this future we can have fun together as friends and rejoice with the outpouring of good news that results from a change in our paradigms, reducing our fears, accumulating less, and sharing more. I imagine the good news will sound like this:
OK. Good news, finally! Charity is no longer needed. Fundraisers, donations, and all other forms of charitable initiatives used to raise money to help the poor are no longer necessary. Through a better distribution of wealth and the systems and organizations that were put in place to provide for the needs of all, poverty has been eradicated from the face of the Earth. No more poverty. No more hunger. No more homelessness. No more fear. No more greed.
OK. Good news, finally! Oppression and exploitation of workers in general, and of women, minors, immigrants, minorities, and of people living in underdeveloped areas of the world in particular, is over. All forms of slavery are ancient history. Sweatshops are completely gone. Work is valued and well rewarded. One member of the family working no more than 24 hours a week is now not only able to provide for all the needs of their family, but also able to save money for a comfortable retirement. Not pressed by material necessities, and not having to work two or three jobs just to subsist as they did in the past, people now have more leisure time to engage in aesthetic and intellectual pursuits. They have more time now to cultivate a higher consciousness through contemplation and service for the community. Both parents do not have to leave their homes and work extended hours in multiple on-call, part-time, low-paying jobs as they did in the past to make ends meet. As a result, we now have less stressed-out parents, healthier families, better children, better citizens, and less crime and other social problems.
OK. Good news, finally! Corporations—those irrational and insensitive man-made aberrations whose only goal was to amass the highest quarterly profit without regard for the pain inflicted on others and for the damage to the environment—are things of the past. With their disappearance, old forms of government susceptible to corruption also came down. The nefarious influence of money on politics that made elected representatives turn away from the interests of their electorate to advance the interests of those who paid them the most is also a thing of the past. Those imperfect forms of government have been replaced by a modern social democracy where people, using advanced and secure technology, vote on issues directly, or constitute educated individuals who have a better understanding of the specific issues to vote on their behalf. Voting became an easier, safer, and wiser process.
OK. Good news, finally! Advancements in the understanding of how the brain works, and breakthroughs in science in general and quantum physics in particular, brought about explanations that before could only be formulated through spirituality. A great awakening took place when science and spirituality found common ground. People engaged in a series of introspective practices that led them to the clear understanding that we are all in this together. Since this shift took place, we overcame our fears, our tribal mentality, and the violence originated by the inadequate distribution of wealth. Divisions caused by race, religion, ideology, and sexual orientation are now at an all time low. The concept of nations, territories, and borders is vanishing. Expansionism and conquest are irrelevant since we came to the understanding that we all share the same planet. The state-sponsored violence is gone, and the military industrial complex has been dismantled. The amount of money and resources used to build weapons and maintain military supremacy has been redirected to take care of human needs, such as good housing, healthy food, clean water, sanitation, transportation, health care, and education for all. The capacity of radical ideologies to influence people and recruit extremists to perpetrate acts of violence has diminished considerably since people now live better lives, have hope, and can see the possibility of a better future for themselves and their families.
OK. Good news, finally! We have adopted new technologies that preserve the natural resources and don't wound the planet as we did in the past. Sustainable communities are the new norm. Consumption is not what it used to be. People are much more educated and scrupulous. Mindless consumption and waste are things of the past. We have become more conscientious members of the global society, caring much more for the health and preservation of the planet.
OK. Good news, finally! Through the growth of mindfulness and similar introspective practices, we finally came to our senses, grew in compassion and solidarity, and created a wonderful new world. Universal Basic Support, through a combination of Universal Basic Income and Universal Basic Services, brought more tranquility. We have decided to better distribute the fruits of the increased productivity and pay everyone more than mere living wages. Now everyone has enough to live without the fear of not having enough. People now live with a real sense of belonging to a community where each member helps and is helped by all others. With that, the ever-present fear of not having enough is gone; it is a thing of the past. People are not as afraid and anxious as they once were of not having the necessary to provide for themselves and their loved ones. The stubborn tensions of the past subsided, people became more relaxed, less anxious, healthier, and social interactions improved immensely. Now people find time to consider the great questions of life and imagine the kind of world they want to live in.
OK. Good news, finally! We finally realized that this planet of ours is a place of abundance where there is more than enough for everybody. It was amazing to realize that the only thing that we had to do was to change our thoughts and organize ourselves differently in order for everyone to have what they needed to thrive. Since everyone is now taken care of, if something bad happens, the fear of not having enough is gone and the desperate compulsion to accumulate as a protective mechanism against potential times of lack has vanished. Since we are less fearful of not having enough for our own survival, we are now better able to love, care, and share. We finally have organized ourselves to live on this planet in new ways, and as a result of this new order we—all of us—are now able to live dignified lives, take care of ourselves and our loved ones, share from the much we have, give our best contribution to society, and actively support others to do the same.
OK. Good news, finally! While all this is taking place, we are also transitioning to a time when work as we know it is becoming obsolete. Work is not what it used to be. The idea that one has to necessarily work to be deemed worthy to live in society is long gone. New technologies create what is needed in abundance. Advancements in science and technology are making work unnecessary. We are coming to a new time in humanity's history when people do not have to work or exchange labor for money as they did before. Artificial Intelligence, robots, machines, and automation are replacing human labor, and something new is happening: people are now earning the means they need to live dignified lives without having to work as it was done in the past. And with the creative ways we have organized ourselves to embrace this new reality, and with the active sharing of all Earth's immense abundance, everybody has more than enough to pursue their vocations and live beautiful, creative, contributing lives. Everybody is supported to be the best that they can be. Everybody is developing their innate talents and giving their unique contributions to the betterment of the world community. People, now, occupy themselves learning, doing what they love, following their passions, exploring their innate talents and skills, satiating their curiosity, and making great contributions to society, while living happy and thriving lives. The young population is now finding other forms, besides work as we knew it, of contributing to society with their talents and skills. This gives them renewed hope to invest time and money to learn what they love.
OK. Good news, finally! We have attained a higher consciousness. We became able to see beyond what we once saw. We went beyond the illusion of separation and became aware of our oneness. We made it! The day everyone became less afraid and selfish, charity became unnecessary; that was the day when charity was replaced by economic, social, and environmental justice. That was the day when we brought Heaven to Earth! We can now celebrate life as brothers and sisters, as members of the same human family who live in peace, and rejoice with each other's accomplishments and successes. We made it! We live in a new world of solidarity! Let's celebrate!
This is the world that I envision and that I believe is possible. In order to bring this new world of solidarity to life, we need to expand our mindsets, see things differently, and change the ways we have organized ourselves to live on this planet. We must realize that the ways we are living right now are the result of our own creation and that we can create whatever we want. We can organize ourselves differently and create an improved way of living, a new world arrangement based on kindness and compassion that will be much better for everyone and for the entire planet. We must realize that when others are living better lives, the quality of our lives improves as well. Since we all benefit from other people’s well-being, it makes all the sense in the world to actively promote it.
Creating this superior world order will not be easy: it will be a mighty undertaking. But although we will always feel inadequate and not up to this big challenge, we have to put ourselves in action because the way we will make the world a better place for all is through one imperfect intervention at a time, and then another one, and then another, over and over again. Let’s realize that no one will ever be capable of doing this job perfectly. Let’s accept our feelings of inadequacy and do what needs to be done, however imperfectly we may do it.
The truth is that we can restore Heaven on Earth. So let’s put ourselves in motion and do it!
“If you could stand on someone else’s shoes, hear what they hear, see what they see, feel what they feel, would you treat them differently?”
“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?”
Piero Falci teaches Mindfulness Meditation and Mindful Living and the acclaimed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. He leads Insight Meditation Silent Retreats and organizes Silent Peace Walks. Piero is an educator who believes that the inner work that leads to personal awakening and transformation is indispensable to create a wholesome world. He is a promoter of peace who believes in advancing the idea that Heaven is here if we want it to be. "A Better Life in a Better World: Can Mindfulness Save Us from Ourselves?" is his latest book. For more information, visit his website www.pierofalci.com