It is all about trust.
Seriously. The only way to have a civilization is to create a system where everyone understands how things are going to go. Say what you will about the repressed Victorians...they all understood the meaning of every interpersonal transaction down to a handkerchief appearance or a lingering look. I think you can do it without that level of Dickensian detail but the bottom line is, trust matters. Trust in one another to react a certain way in certain circumstances goes miles in creating a safe environment. From there, you think through VERY CAREFULLY what kind of governance you'd like, preferably one with many layers of anti-corruption safeguards. Then you can build on other things that provide for the general welfare. And yes, it is imperative to provide for the general welfare. GET THIS RIGHT.
Unfettered Capitalism is a bad plan it is what got us to the point that you might actually be looking for answers on how to rebuild society. Once the level of corruption creates a breakdown of whatever governing body citizens have to rely upon, well, you have entropy of the human and environmental condition. We're witnessing many such breakdowns across the globe as climate change and the consequences of authoritarian governments collide. Lebanon in the summer of 2021 would be a good place to look for an example of what are you going to do now? Or Haiti in the summer of 2021...or Nigeria in 2021...or South Africa in 2021...or Cuba in 2021...Afghanistan in 2021...North Korea all the years, or even the GOP of the USA. I don't know how any of these will turn out but the urgency of the environment is like a tulle undergarment of the ball gown that is authoritarianism and grift? Who knows how that dance will end?
There is a school of thought usually termed, "The Broken Window Principle." Basically, if a house in your neighborhood is starting to fall apart and you accept a broken window...eventually you slide into total chaos but along that continuum is the idea that if you don't accept the little broken rules...social mores and taboos...then you will not see as many big ticket items to fix that may be suddenly out of your price range.
Which brings me to SHAME. Nobody likes to feel ashamed but it is a very necessary emotion- it keeps people from doing very bad things and like the broken window principle, if you have a healthy sense of shame over the small stuff, (I did say healthy) then you should be able to avoid the big stuff like, oh, I don't know, selling cheap Chinese phones riddled with spyware to unsuspecting and less well educated supporters (or patriots as they prefer to be called) with the label, FREEDOM PHONE. If your mother had not been afraid to call you out for spitting as a kid, then maybe you wouldn't be the kind of shitty human being who thinks up and acts on stuff like that.
Things you have to do in a new world order (just a few suggestions)
- Accept people in all their forms and expressions.
- Understand that life will be messy but try to come to some sort of understanding about how to interact without blowing up each other or the planet
- Provide for the general welfare- nobody should HAVE to be poor. I don't care what Ted Neely sang about...there should not be poor always and nobody should have to pathetically struggle. Get this right.
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