This article was first written in July 2009. It remained in draft form for a while and I published an edited version during the Covid pandemic. I have updated it since.
Like many of us I ponder questions which later reappear and gain prominence in my mind.
These questions are varied and many, but here are some examples:
Why are things the way they are?
Why is oil so important in today’s world?
Why do wars happen?
Why is religion so important?
Why do diseases like bird flu appear out of the blue (A question in 2009 before the Covid-19 pandemic)?
Why do we need passports and visas to travel?
Why is Africa poor and North America rich?
Why are there billionaires and also people starving?
Why are we so successful that we have become the most widely distributed species of land mammal on the planet?
These are often followed with slightly different questions:
Is this inevitable?
Do we have an effect on these things?
Are we helpless and destined to our fate?
Do we or can we know the answer?
If not, is there a rational way to reach a sensible solution?
There are so many questions I would like to explore, but before I begin, perhaps I should ask myself : “Why bother? Why am I writing this?”
I think various things have inspired me to put pen to paper.
I think the greatest driving force is a sense of confusion and despair in modern life. I read about the rise in mental health issues, and sense we don´t know where we are heading or why.
How can it be that many Westerners and other people on Earth feel that we are better off today than ever before (our knowledge resource, tools of justice, science, the ease of trade, the efficiency of food production, the ease of travel) but at the same time we know that so many of us are living in abject poverty with little hope, and know that we are destroying our environment, and using way more resources than we need, while diversity and other life suffers?
I also have the impression that our current trajectory is one moulded primarily by our attitudes, beliefs, and education, which I know we can change. There is a glimmer of hope there.
If we do nothing, or we think we are doing something but in fact are not because we have not understood the root problem, the result will be tragic.
Over the years these questions have not gone away. My concern for our future has mushroomed. At the same time, I want to do something, but what? Well, this blog is the beginning.
This is a blog of personal views.
In many cases I would like to have more time to ponder these questions, and look at the them from a different angle. I would like to discuss ideas with others before writing them down. Once I begin writing, I would prefer to wait until I have revised and reviewed the article and publish at a later date, promoting clarity.
However, I have realised that I do not have the luxury of time on my side. This is a hobby that I do in my spare time. Furthermore, if I wait, these thoughts may fade into the mist of memory or disappear entirely. Most of all I feel an urgency to do something positive.
So I publish earlier than I would like. I hope that this compromise still promotes thought and is interesting to read.
The urgency and desperation that I feel today is ultimately the reason for this publication. I would like this to result in dialogue, and a positive trajectory in thought. I hope it leads to something beneficial.