Pop!

That would be the sound of me going off after a week of not blogging. It's been a crazy kinda time. I feel for the first time i'm really struggling with work and the house and i'm exhausted all the time.

Ghin was sick this week as well. I've never seen him so sleepy before- it made me promise never to get annoyed with him when he's in his hyperactive state. Bring back hyperactivity.

Of course everyone but everyone is talking about the recession. I'm really tired about it. I'd much rather talk about SOLUTIONS. As usual because it's men and professionals being in charge of the solutions its got to be expensive and it's gotta be complicated.

The way i see it is we have 2 choices. We can go back to what we had. In which case we need to get used to the boom and bust thing. OK, you may say, but what happens if the boom and bust thing is not a cycle by a widening gyre? That is, everytime it happens it gets worse and worse, until the entire thing breaksdown and we end up right at the bottom. Back in the Middle Ages. Or full blown war. In other words, it is not the economy of creation, but destruction. Even if it may look like the economy of creation.

Or we could choose the ecnomics of creation. This does means redistribution. It looks at making sure that everyone has something. No top heavy pyramids of wealth develop where the fewest own the most. We look at closed systems in consumption - i.e. we do not consume more than we generate. Any excess is kept for a certain amount of time - say three years - and then it must be spent. This then prevents a fetish for accmumulation. We place children and the most helpless - the disabled and the old - at the heart of this economy. Life is cherished. Waste is reviled. Creativity is woven into the hearts of our cultures. When people are creative - when everyone is creative - then there is little room for emptiness. They begin to have a sense of self worth which eschews the emptiness found in shopping - the junkie's equivalent of creativity.

Why can't our leaders take this opportunity to reshape our lives? Why? Because they do not have psyches which will allow them this. Because intrinsically, within their very fibre they beleive that the economics of destruction is the only way to govern. Because they have become who they are by being selfish, greedy and self serving. And what do you expect from a pig but a grunt? Unless they undergo some kind of transformation to face their shadows, to be kinder, more loving and caring human beings, we will never have a system of governance which will work for life, not against it.

Maybe i'm wrong. Maybe the commonsense inherent in the economics of creation, the economics of life, will show a way. Maybe the truth will finally win out. Maybe we will return, or come forward with something more sustainable naturally.

If i could dream...

My world would start with the children. It would start with kids and ensure that the first three years of life they would have a primary caregiver. Mother, father, grandparents - whatever. And they would be supported in doing this. So a bit of an income and support groups which will enable childrearing to be a beautiful and rewarding time. From the start. Cars would be banned from clusters of housing. In the middle of a certain number of houses there would be a playground and a community centre, all designed sustainably - zero carbon, made from recyled materials and self-sustaining. There would be a LETS scheme set up so that people can trade services. Jam making for webdesigning. Dress making for tomato growing. Everyone's labour would be valued. There would be animals which the children will look after. Cattle, pets. There would be a vegetable plot which they can tend. Where they learn about the seasons and the sweetness of the earth. We'd replant trees. Trees that used t live here. Oak, willow, birch...we'd plant herbs and children will learn the healing properties of life. To recognise what things can be eaten and what can be used for medicine.

Before someone starts a business or new work, they must ask themselves, how does this contribute to life? The same way people are asked in their business plan, how does this make money? Is what i'm planning to do closing the system or blowing it wide open? If it generates excess, where do i channel this to? Can i place the extra money we've earned into a charity, into another country?

This seems so simple, so basic? Why the hell aren't people doing this already? Why the hell aren't people able to see this?

And what kind of life will this create? One of contentment. Not happiness or exhiliration. But one where everyone has enough. Where everyone shares. Where everyone feels free to be gentle, to love. One where patience is the a virtue.

Simple.

Is there enough of the earth left for us to do this now? The answer must be - there always will be. We just need to start doing it. We just need to believe - and then begin.