Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Pick the rule we're going to break

While following the current sets of rules and the limitations they set on us, making a difference, achieving the good that we want, is impossible. Many times the prevalent rules trap us in a bind where neither this nor that can work. As long as we obey the rules, we cannot save ourselves from our impending doom.

Renewable energy will never be cheaper than subsidized, cost-externalized grid power.
The poor have no reason to buy costlier renewable power, and they also have no choice but to be at the whims of grid power with full day powercuts.
The rich in urban areas can not be allowed to convert to renewable, otherwise there will be no one to cross-subsidize grid electricity for rural areas.
Those social sector organisations will never see beyond their specific causes, will never work together.
The poor have no hope other than complying with the systems that thrive by exploiting them.
No one else is going to vote for the good guys; no point in me supporting them.
The pollution being done is irreversible.
There is no way to have both prosperity and good environment.
Education cannot be done without enslaving the student.
People need to be controlled; they cannot survive by themselves.
Men are inherently abusers of women and little children.
Women will always be their own gender's worst enemies.
A romantic relationship with someone you work with will never work out.
Religion can only divide and destroy.
Atheists don't have any morals.
Only the ruthless can survive.
There is no choice but to sacrifice the environment and the natives for the sake of growth.
We cannot afford getting off fossil fuel dependence.
Organic farming is not financially viable.
Continuously degrading land leaves us with no choice but to keep pumping in more and more fertilizers.
There is no choice but to stuff all our babies with vaccines even if we know they cause problems. They simply don't stand a chance against natural diseases unless they are vaccinated against every possible one.
Shutting down industries doing immense harm to the land, water and air or to the general public will cause too much unemployment, and all those people will never, ever, ever find other, better avenues for making a living.
If we provide the basic necessities for living to everyone, everyone will become a lazy slob, no one will do any proper work anymore, and everything will collapse.
People who don't even have the basic necessities of living cannot be expected to think about big picture like conserving the environment, etc.
People who have the basics taken care of, must work for more and more money to guarantee future security. They have no time for things like conservation.

These are some of the rules and assumptions that dominate our current civilization.

Therefore, the task ahead of us, for those who do want things to get better, is deciding which rule, which assumption of the status quo, we're going to break.

Fighting elections without major funding from vested interests.
Voting for the guys who spent least in campaigning and whom you know have your best interests at heart.
Conducting an event on zero money, or gift economy /pay as you can.
Getting an all powerful management to reverse a bad decision they had sworn they'd stick to.
Growing food where it's believed impossible to grow any.
Working together with people you had no hope of getting along with.
Forgiving a wrong or injustice for achieving a greater cause.
Making another human being the center of your universe.
Letting go of your rightful profit so you can enable something wonderful to happen.
Initiating an enterprise that doesn't fit in any category.
Doing a tv show focusing on serious social issues and not following any entertainment / attention grabbing strategies.
Choosing the more expensive option because you found a value in it that goes beyond its functionalities.
Letting the other person have the last word even if you're sure they are wrongc.
Paying for the next person in line.
Giving the other person your seat because you'll feel more relaxed seeing him/her relax.
Doing something that's guaranteed to fail for the simple reason that its the right thing to do.
Letting healthy food, an active, engaged life and a happy non-oppressive upbringing be the vaccine for your child.
Giving amnesty to those who were part of the corrupt system and had to play by its rules so far rather than going after them; giving everyone a fresh start.

In doing any of these and so many more, we break the unwritten rules of the status quo. Doing so, we empower ourselves and others to break free of the fate spelled out for us by that status quo.

Throughout history, change has always happened, no matter how strong, how vicious the status quo. And it has always happened by breaking the existing rules. So it's not as onerous a task as doing something that's physically impossible; it's mostly just doing something that a lot of people want to but think they can't. Many possible things are forbidden by the rules; we only have to break that do one of them.

When once a rule of the status quo is broken, the halo surrounding it is shattered. Even if things revert back to where they were, the next time around the breaking will happen faster, easier and more widespread. So, put on your long-term glasses; and lets go ahead and break a few of these stupid rules!

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