Odds are against us, but we are not alone

community

It is overwhelming to assimilate what is really going on around us, from personal to socio-political to global. No one truly knows all sides of a story. The underlying story in the global media seems to be of doom, from climate catastrophe to rising fascism to the finanancialisation of every aspect of our life.

As Michael Parenti said, “The dirty truth is that many people find fascism to be not particularly horrible”. Today’s greatest challenge facing humanity is nothing else than to be human.

Mysteries of life have not ended and we are not ready to go into silos just yet. Take something as fundamental as water, a basis for all life yet so little is known about it. How it absorbs energy, transforms and has self-momentum. Yet we are already moving towards a gamified world, where our performance will be marked on a dashboard. Based on our performances, we will be able to unlock tokens which will be our currency. This scenario may seem far off, and may sound like the stuff of sci-fi films. But all indications show that it is coming: digital IDs, social scores and mediated lives. This is all happening in real time and is awaiting filling of infrastructure gaps and social acceptance.

Social acceptance is a far bigger challenge than the infrastructure gap, which is going to get filled sooner than later. With the collapse of domestic politics, economies and the climate emergency we are all driven to the edge, where any solution given that can help us out will be accepted with open arms.

As we settle in the quantum world, the science and technology is so far removed from what is happening on the ground that it is virtually invisible to the majority of us, until it is manifested in a form that is so far removed from what we seek as humans. I am not for a second against science or into any new age cults, but fully support education that helps build understanding, curiosity and common sense to parse what is for us and against us.

This journey from human to transhumanism crosses every aspect of our lives. Some may argue that we were always the way we are now, and only the scale and degree has changed. Some may blame population, others education but few blame greed and arrogance. New findings in how trees in a forest help each other completely turns the theory of survival of the fittest upside down.

The new global green movement proposes alternative energy sources and materials, without highlighting its true impact. The answers are not simple and perhaps there is no one answer. Yet solutions which suit global conglomerates are what is proposed as answers to our problems. But the answer is not Great Reset which relies heavily on technology and surveillance. Where we are all dashboards and on given pathways, and any deviation from the pathway would be considered an offence.

But what is truly shocking is to see the erosion of our everyday life as we know it, though it has been so since the invention of television, which boxed us into our respective homes. Virtually killing the sense of community overnight. What is truly under attack now is the shared connection we have with each other, wherein the goal is to make each and every connection of ours with each other mediated, quantifiable, monetised and controlled.

With an incoming digital grid which will cover every nook and cranny of the world, it will be hard to live outside the grid and maybe outlawed too. I am in no way saying that we should get rid of digital advances and return to the stone age. But, instead I am proposing that these incoming advances and changes must be scrutinised, verified and not accepted blindly.

But the curious thing with the power of marketing is that even a disaster is made desirable. Let us not become our own avatars on a screen and not allow the commodification of every aspect of our life. Take the financialisation of nature as an example, which is now openly proposed as our last hope, let us not allow nature be measured, quantified and monetised by placing it too on a dashboard.

Our only hope in these rather dark times is left with individuals, to pursue one’s own goal, and in the process work with like-minded individuals to form a bond, which advocates and stands for humanism.

The odds are against us, but we are not alone. Be a human, join hands, build a community and spread love.

Chandan is an artist and a writer.


SIGN UP FOR COUNTERCURRENTS DAILY NEWSLETTER


 

Support Countercurrents

Countercurrents is answerable only to our readers. Support honest journalism because we have no PLANET B.
Become a Patron at Patreon

Join Our Newsletter

GET COUNTERCURRENTS DAILY NEWSLETTER STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX

Join our WhatsApp and Telegram Channels

Get CounterCurrents updates on our WhatsApp and Telegram Channels

Related Posts

Join Our Newsletter


Annual Subscription

Join Countercurrents Annual Fund Raising Campaign and help us

Latest News