Centuries of 'doing' have blocked our escape

Easter Island's civilization
 is on that historically
 famously collapsed.

Centuries of “doing” have fostered for us a way of living from what is now nearly impossible to escape.

It is understood that the acceptance of a new idea is not what frustrates change rather it is the letting go of that with which we are familiar.

Considering that and conscious that we have become so emboldened by, and addicted to, tradition – a familiar and established way of doing – that the vitality and excitement of change is no longer attractive, interesting or inspiring, and so instead, in the extreme, frightening and so something to be avoided.

Society has changed immeasurably in the past few centuries, but those differences have always been within the relatively narrow confines of cultures driven by wants rather than needs.

The difficulty confronting humanity, particularly in the past two or three centuries but in reality for millennia, has been differentiating between wants and needs.

History is littered with examples of civilizations being sacrificed on the altar of a perverse wants, a want that could be answered only through the pointless and needless death of millions and, ultimately, the collapse of the civilization of which there were an integral part.

The current trajectory of modern life has, it seems, just one destiny; a point where the developed world will fall to its knees, exhausted, from the weight of its own largesse.

Rather than live in hypnotic-like trance in which we tirelessly pursue profit and growth in our materialistic, confrontational, consumerist world and in which happiness and contentment is at best chancy; we need to reassert fundamental human values of collaboration, sharing, generosity, friendship and a connection with nature.

Humanity’s present aspirations are perverted in that they appear unrelated to the broad betterment of people, regardless of their socio-economic standing, except, of course, for those among the super-rich minority.

Happiness is not connected, despite our present mindset, to wealth and consumption with many studies demonstrating how the relationship between happiness and wealth ends about the time our needs are answered.

Work and human wellbeing are intimately connected and yet the former has gained such primacy that the latter is left in disrepair with most of us medicating our unease through consumption.

Humans are innately social and instead of bonding through shopping, we should be investing our time and energy, and resources, into building stronger and more resilient communities in which our neighbours become our friends.

We should be advocating for public transit; sharing everything from vehicles to various house appliances and garden tools; working with neighbours to build and repair our homes and grow and share our food; re-inventing our neighbourhoods, enabling them to become places in which we live, in every sense; and, importantly, remain engaged with our fellows.