Its no secret, I feel uncomfortable with the way the world is at the moment, I think many of us do, with countries led by leaders who are becoming more and more authoritarian. A world full of wars and oppression, poverty even in my own country, restrictions on free speech etc.
My problem is that by looking at the news, social media etc. I feel so many people are suffering in this world and there is nothing I can effectively do about it, I sign petitions, give to charities, write to my member of parliament who only replies if there is an official government response. So I feel useless. At seventy years of age my options are limited, I wish I had trained as a nurse or a doctor so I could help with medical needs, I wish I had more money to be able to give to those that are in need, maybe I could have had a political career to enable me to stand up for those in need but history shows those politicians rarely are listened to and I hope that changes.
I will continue to try to help the world no matter how small that is, I believe we all must try.
We live in a world of complex economics and "me first" policies, policies are not easy to change and are often based on manifestos set at election time to gain the popular votes and the world economics are based on methods which basically cannot be replaced without global consequences that initially would probably make things far worse.
What is the alternative? I used to think there must be a better way but lately I begin to doubt that. In truth we can all jump up and down about the way the world is, write to our politicians, protest about injustice but it does not seem have significant effect. OK it does have some effect, politicians want to be reelected but generally we have very little influence over the way the world is run and what happens in it and to be honest deep down most people in the west don't care as long as their own life is at the very least bearable and most likely comfortable in caparison to others in the world.
Machiavelli's writings in the 14th century dictate that to succeed in politics, those who flourished engaged in deception, treachery, and violence. He advised rulers to engage in evil when political necessity requires it, at one point stating that successful founders and reformers of governments should be excused for killing other leaders who would oppose them. The basics of this still hold true in the 21st century and so it is reasonable to assume this will not change other than with a cataclysmic event such as extinction which wont really help.
The world is run by some very powerful people, we don't even know who many of them are. They dictate how the world is run and will work to their own agendas and individuals are of no consequence to them. Whether that is some form of global dynasty such as The House of Habsburg or a group of Tech CEO's I do not know but I do believe that they are a dominating influence on the world that we as ordinary people cannot change.
Considering my thoughts above I want to think about what we can do to make the world a better place, I can do things to improve the way I live my life and maybe that will influence those that I spend my time with and maybe if we all do that things will get better.
We can live better lives with less consumerism, be happy with what you have, repair, reuse, recycle. Help others around you, your friends, your neighbors and yes even vulnerable strangers who you do not know but need help Be generous to those that are in need though charitable giving Eat what you need, eat sensibly, think where your food is coming from. and the impact of low prices on those that produce your food. Think when you travel to use less carbon based fuels Although politicians and their parties have their own agendas, keep pressuring them to not stray from decency. Take an interest in the world and support any action to defend those that are vulnerable or oppressed in the world Set a good example to your children and those round you.
I will try to be a better, more honest person and if I can in a small and humble way inspire others.