An interesting quote of Harvard blogger Umair Hag this week made me think again. Why are we doing what we are doing?

His blog quote:
“As citizens, we reduce our civic selves to ‘voting’ for the ‘candidate’ who represents our most immediate, narrowest, perhaps self-destructive self-interest — the common good be damned.

As ‘workers,’ ‘executives,’ or ‘leaders,’ we become little more than instruments serving the glacial goals of blind machines; puppets of shareholders, marionettes of markets, much less than thinking, feeling, judging beings, who stand tall for a more enduring and worthy ethos, even in the face of adversity, hardship, and disaster”. Unquote.

I was driving this week from Utrecht to Amsterdam, traveling along the A2, a 10-lane highway, with a speed limit of 100 kilometers an hour. Why this limit? Due to some vague agreements with the municipalities along this highway I think. Are there many people living there? I can only see some remote farms. But a multi-million Euro costing surveillance system enforces the speed. Justice will prevail!

Between Utrecht and my house there is a 6-lane highway (A27) with the 3rd lanes closed and not being used. Millions and millions spend and invested. Or should I say 'wasted'? Due to some license problems the lane remains closed and the traffic jams persist. Under the nose of thousands of people living there…

We are willing to spend over 20 to 30 billion Euro’s on the Joint Strike Fighter. We think, because nobody knows yet what these planes actually will cost us. But, sofar we spend already 1 billion on development, and this investment created already 300 new jobs! Wow, that is over 3 million Euros per job.

The European bankers are creating in Frankfurt a palace of over 1,2 billion Euros, making the Municipality of Utrecht look like midgets with their 200 million Euro city-office.

But in our ‘civilized’ country we no longer want to pay for medication for patients with rare diseases. Without these medications they will die, but it is more ‘important to start the dialogue about the increasing cost of our Medicare’ according to officials of the monopolistic insurance companies. Companies, in collaboration with our Government, redistributing our insurance premium, making millions of Euro on this mob-scheme and playing the hangman…

What will be the next step here? The steps on the gliding scale of our decadent society have been made. I no longer recognize my country and it seems that the politic, governmental and corporate elite collectivily have lost their way. No matter what Rutte and Samson, as our new political leaders, contrive in their little tower in The Hague.

We all have a choice: playing the hangman, the governmental crook, the puppets of shareholders and marionettes of markets. Or one can be a global citizen of Society30, a smart, sharing, simple and thus sustainable society. I have made my choice. And you?


picture by Scientificphotolabrary