I think most of us interpret the word ‘freedom’ in a similar way. Most of us realise that freedom means both rights and responsibilities. Many of us understand that there are different levels to freedom, too. When people agree about something, freedom expands. But it also calls for increased responsibility. In many areas in our society we sign papers to regulate and validate an agreement. This signed paper is the proof that freedom is based on fair rules. But is it? There are many situations where the signatories are very unequal. For example: Parents who can save their kid’s life by signing a loan would probably do it, even if they knew they would have problems with paying the loan back. Governments in different countries sign loan papers that make some people unbelievably rich and the already poor, much poorer. There are people who are tortured, who would probably sign a confession in order to stop the torture. These examples are easy to understand for most of us.
But we also have examples that are highly topical and much harder to understand. In the financial crisis we see today, lots of people must have signed lots of papers and now can’t fulfill their responsibility. An unbelievable amount of money won’t reach its destination, or the amount just isn’t enough for some reason. Of course most of the agreements concerning the failed investments with high profit margins are covered up so it’s not a crime, even though morally most of us think that it is a crime, especially when some of those responsible get very high salaries, big bonuses, golden parachutes and a pension that could feed an ordinary family for generations. And these ordinary families whose work is what our economy is based on – real work, production and services – are now seeing their pension go down the drain. Is that freedom?
Sure… voters used their free will to vote for politicians who are now bailing out the banks. That’s called democracy. Democracy is supposed to be freedom but I’m 100% positive that if the same voters could vote for or against a bailout, the outcome would be not to bailout. So how does the freedom work where decisions are made on the highest level in our society? Is this what is called democracy?
Another perennial hot issue is poverty and starvation. Based on a United Nations report released in 2003 and reported by BBC News, about 25,000 people die each day from starvation. This was before the current food crisis. Why don’t we bail them out? Because it’s in another nation, another part in the world? Or is it because we, the rich countries, exploited their land, forests and water and made it worthless for growing crops? I wonder how starving people interpret the word freedom. One thing is totally clear for me: The freedom one can have is vastly different, depending on who you are and what you do. I’m amazed how much effort we put in to maintain a very bad system.
But on the other hand… we have made the system so complex that if you’re in it, trying to look at it, you will find no end to the complexity.
Let’s try to make it easier! We, the humans have a lot of needs. If we have money we can satisfy most of our needs since we use money to buy products and services. We all know now how money can lose its value very quickly. When that happens we need more money in order to maintain the previous standard of living. To maintain the money system itself, we also need money – actually an enormous amount of it. But how true is this? And if you believe it’s true – how good is it? What makes it good – our living standard? Money in the bank can’t help you. It seems as we actually believe that money can do things.
Put any amount of money on a table and ask it to do something for you. Nothing will happen.
Any product or service is made by hands, minds and materials. They are the real resources. We don’t need money – we need people. By looking at our system that way we realise that people are the real resources, including the unemployed. Today we let them be a burden instead. How clever is that? What we need is to organise those resources. That’s exactly what capitalism has done, too. The thing is that it’s so badly organised that too many people just work to administrate or invest money. If we see people as productive forces instead, working to improve our livelihoods – would that be freedom?
Organisations or charities fundraise on a daily basis in order to help in different areas. It tells me some important things. 1: There are needs to be met. 2: Some have a lot, and some have so much less that they need help.
But most of all it tells me that our system has failed to be good and just. The solution is not to pump in new money to bailout and maintain a bad system. The solution is to redesign it and with it our mind set.
thx Sonja for editing my text
Filed under: week 16 | Tagged: Amnesty, Democracy, Human rights, junivers, justice, money, Obama, peace, rich, second life, social change, solutions, sustainability, war | 3 Comments »
I wanted to use as little words as possible. I use only a few and they are in Swedish. Therefore i will translate them for you. First it says: “Uppvaknande och insikt”. That is: Awakening and insight (awareness). Then it says: “Fantasi – din intelligens” Empati – din medvetenhet”. That is: “Imagination – your intelligence. Empathy – your consciousness” And in the end it says: Du väljer. Paradis eller helvete. Välj nu! That is: You choose. Paradise or hell. Choose now! Hope you will enjoy it.