Notion of Aware Humanity

Here we are, sharing the world. Do we have enough? Do you have what you need? There’s more than enough love, space, shelter and money to go around. There’s no need to suffer – or make others suffer – for you to live a fun, rewarding and meaningful life. 

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    The laws we use to govern societies are merely agreements we make with each other. They’re malleable and adaptable to circumstances, not written on stone – they’re not directions for how to live, but agreements about the ways we want to. Our cultures and nations are notions groups agree to.

       It’s possible to create agreements that almost everyone can agree with. It’s surprising how few agreements are needed for a group to govern itself if they are not directed by superstitions, religions or myths of racism and nationalism. 

       If you could create a few simple ideas to guide your own society, what ideas would you choose to actualise? What agreements could you make and keep with your family and friends – and others? 

       The loss of the extended family is one of the great tragedies of modern times. The clan has been the crucible of human development and evolution, but now its demise is inevitable and necessary if we are to survive our own success as a species. Our success means not many of us can have large families any more – even if we can afford to. 

      Yet without exposure to many personalities and ideas in childhood our growth becomes stilted, our expressions stunted. Think, ‘only child’, think, ‘loneliness and depression’. One ‘natural’ development arising from this is the hive-like growth of cities filled with ever more isolated worker-units, male and female, in which reproduction is required for the maintenance of civilization. It ceases to be a joyful celebration of love and self and becomes an end in itself.

      There are alternatives, if you’re ready to open up and experience more. If you start by changing yourself – by examining your own nature, attitudes and motives – with a few good friends you can change your world. You can be part of an intentional community rather than an accidental one. We can all live in diverse communities of supportive friends and lovers – all it takes is chemistry, tolerance and a willingness to accept happiness and the other.

            What a group needs if they’re to join together is to discover what they all already agree to. In fact, there may be some notions that just about everyone can agree upon.

            For instance – we won’t damage or pollute soils, waterways, the atmosphere or biological systems. In fact, we’ll repair, regrow and cleanse them; we won’t poison our food. Most can share such notions. It’s the changes in lifestyle that grow from such simple agreements that will change the world and our lives for the better.

            Environmental agreements are relatively easy compared to social ones. But there are some social agreements that just about everyone can agree to; living in a peaceful, non-violent state, for instance, or a taboo on sex between adults and prepubescent children. Most people feel secure with a space – a bedroom, at least – that they can retreat to that is their ‘private’ area, and most agree that theft is a social no-no, just as we usually agree that caring and sharing is the reality of social life. Social equality and a lack of hierarchy are the will of many or most.

            There’s no need for vast lists of prescriptive laws to ‘govern society’. Most of us are actually self-governing, or tribes and civilizations would have disbanded long ago. There’s no need for middlemen to interpret and define our agreements and contracts for us - if they’re clearly stated.

            There are many people with more land and property than they know what to do with, wishing it were possible to share their advantages – their world - without being ripped off or put upon. There are many with no such advantages that are willing to uproot themselves for a chance to live an equitable. Money and property are not actually necessary to start a community, but they can help.

            For one approach to agreements that protect and maintain a pristine living environment and social equality, see http://www.geocities.com/ringwood_oz/ 

         We could all be part of a single notion.

- R.A.

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