A fervent appeal to the world’s non-elites

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Ordinary people the world over – citizens, consumers, taxpayers, technology-users, employees, workers, professionals, labourers, students, scholars, housewives, retirees – urgently need to realize it is time to wake up and shake off both indifference and ignorance.

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It’s time to act decisively, collectively, unitedly.

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As explained on the home page, the raging COVID-19 pandemic is no ordinary event. It’s going to be a massive game-changer.

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If people don’t wake up and act, the elites will yet again run away with the world, exploiting the pandemic to their advantage, and imposing their new model of society and economy on unsuspecting masses.

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Only, this time their new vision, it appears from all indications so far, will likely result in a new world that is infinitely more cruel, cunning, riddled with extreme inequalities and authoritarian regimes, ripping asunder the fabric of societies as we have known over the ages.

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Why are we saying this?

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As other pages of this website establish, the crude form of profit-oriented capitalism as the chosen (imposed) economic system of the last 150-200 years has caused untold misery to individuals, families, societies and the environment, while stimulating and feeding baser instincts among ordinary people like greed, sinful propensities, laziness, indifference, selfishness, self-centeredness, ignorance, fear and insecurity, sense-gratifications, weakness for comforts, pleasures, conveniences.

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Why do non-elites, the ordinary people at an individual level, particularly in developing economies like Asia, South America and Africa, shy away generally from any initiative or cause whose vision is grand and global in scope and encompasses a macro view of the world, and envisages systemic change to “make the world a better place” for everyone?

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Key reasons are as follows:

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The fear of losing something already secured – a selfish, self-centric approach to a hectic life of running the Rat Race that is not neutralized or offset by the responsibility to render selfless service to the larger community.

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Ignorance or lack of awareness of how the world and its systems, institutions actually work at the macro level.

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Despite globalization, coming together in a diverse, cosmopolitan group is a strict no-no because of preference to remain in one’s comfort zone of domain groups, professional network(s), “close friends”, and known communities.

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Pessimism that individually there is nothing that can be done to remedy macro problems.

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Misconception that individually, one can continue to do one’s little bit in one’s own way, in a stand-alone way, rather than as part of a collective, concerted, collaborative effort, even when the latter is the need of the hour.

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Most individuals believe it's not possible for the world’s non-elites to act collectively as one global-scale united force.

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Most of the ordinary people don't know how to connect and network with others to work toward a common vision; they see middle-income people as a collection of stand-alone individuals unconnected from each other rather than as interconnected, interdependent beings.

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People mistakenly believe the world is beyond repair and redemption, and the decay and degradation of societies and their constituent individuals are inevitable, natural and irreversible, so why bother?

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How many ordinary middle- and lower-income people could really claim they are worldly-wise, and understand how this world, and its local, provincial, national, regional and international institutions and systems, work?

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Unfortunately, not many. Despite centuries of being short-changed, tricked, conned, manipulated and exploited by the elites, most of the ordinary people continue to be naïve, and believe the elites and the institutions they control are their benefactors.

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Take “customer is king”. Reality is this: “Customer is a sucker to be exploited and cheated and disempowered”.

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Most of the pharmaceutical companies, private hospitals, diagnostic facilities and clinics exist not to protect you from dangerous diseases and disorders but to make money from your illnesses and misfortunes. No cures, only symptom reliefs that can create life-time revenue streams through non-stop sales of addictive medicines.

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Educational institutions exist not to enlighten you but to make money out of you, and to reduce your children to bundles of industry-oriented skills.

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a cover-up of dreadful crimes committed against communities, environment, Nature and the planet.

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Perks like insurance, stock options, etc, are not really to offer a just and fair deal to employees but employers’ way of covering up unreasonable investments on machines and technologies, and to make the former work for them in spite of potential future layoffs, retrenchments and other kinds of similar risks.

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All the R&D facilities that sequence the human genome, and study genetics, biology, brain, etc, are not really to serve Ordinary Man but an attempt to undermine, exploit and liquidate him systematically, gradually and eventually, over a long period of time, so as not to give the game away prematurely, thereby risking anarchy.

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The point to understand is this: nothing can be taken at face value and everything tends to be upside-down or topsy-turvy, make-believe, an illusion, almost evil-minded tricks of flawed geniuses whose knowledge level compared to ordinary people is infinitely higher.

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Is the current system of flawed capitalism, with stress on hyped efficiency of free markets for profit-obsessed private enterprises, sustainable and essential? What might a better alternative be like?

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We common people are saturated with high-tech, manufactured products, processed foods and beverages, and invented services, none of which we chose consciously. All of that has been thrust upon us by the elite. We had no say nor choice to pick or reject. Are the gadgets, devices, wearables, technologies, appliances, etc, really essential? Should enormous resources and investments continue to be directed toward them while the world continues to suffer from lack of adequate fundamentals like good public health systems and quality education for all?

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And, are these actually a highly sophisticated conspiracy to disempower, zombify, marginalize and even harm the masses, while creating addictions, compulsive expenditures and illusions of convenience, status and utility?

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Can we ordinary people co-create a better world with a clear vision of what we really need and what we should be doing with and in our lives, now that we have the benefit of real-life experience of centuries?

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Continuing life in the past pattern of last several decades that has now brought us to a dead-end of sorts, a cliff edge, would be fraught with the risk of an ultimate catastrophe, an apocalypse, a perfect storm – superbugs, nasty viruses, pandemics, health epidemics like obesity and diabetes, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, melting glaciers, rising ocean levels, rainfall, drought, avalanches, floods, tsunamis, drying up of oil wells. Besides, the prospect of dystopian societies looks very real now because pandemics could be invoked to justify things like surveillance, violation of privacy, bans on social gatherings, travel, etc.

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Admittedly, these may appear to be in the realm of speculation, but there is nothing to suggest they won’t come to pass.

Assuming they won’t become our reality is a huge risk. Not thinking about the larger community, the planet, and focusing obsessively on selfish interests, and delegating big-picture responsibilities to the elite are no longer an option for the non-elites in the post-pandemic (post-2020) world.

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What are the forgotten lessons from history?

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Believe it or not, in a certain sense, the world has changed little over the centuries!

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Even in 2020, we have kings, queens, princes and princesses. We have kingdoms, religious republics, and tribal zones. If you look at politics, entertainment and sports industries, dynasties abound in so-called democracies. Educational systems are class-ridden. Even after centuries, societies remain hierarchical, stratified. The lot of the downtrodden has not really improved. Exploitation continues though slavery has been made illegal, unlawful. Voters don’t really have a say in big issues. Elections are won through frauds, manipulation, false promises. Contracts are clinched through bribery. Policies are formulated on the back of lobbying. Bank loans are granted through connections. University research is rigged by corporations. Media set agenda.

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To assume that this paradox is natural, in the nature of larger scheme of things, could prove fatal for ordinary people in the post-pandemic/post-2020 world. For, their very survival will be at stake from now on. It’s not as if the masses could survive in spite of injustices, exploitation, inequalities, as they had done for centuries. This is a very important point to understand.

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Allowing the elites to continue to shape the future could mean only one thing: signing our own death warrant. The 2020 pandemic therefore represents an unprecedented opportunity for the non-elites. Having seen the pros and cons of life under the flawed capitalism model, it is easy now to realize most of its elements are not only inessential but apocalypse-bound. And if apocalypse doesn’t get the masses, dystopian regimes will.

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If the world’s masses resolve to evolve in consciousness, and develop a clear vision for a simple life with stress not on material pursuits but intellectual and spiritual evolution, it is entirely possible for them to co-create a saner world. If they don’t rise to the occasion now to exploit the hidden opportunity to the hilt, what will befall them in the pandemic aftermath would be not just economic woe but the fate of an extinction-bound species.

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What are the biggest unrecognized presumptions that shape the attitude of non-elites toward life and community responsibilities, in spite of the 2020 pandemic?

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1) That life will soon return to “normal” (how could the past pattern and lifestyle be considered “normal” in the first place, when it brought us all to the cliff edge?).

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2) That we will all be allowed to continue with our lives unimpeded, and without any new, excessive controls and curbs.

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3) The imminent economic pain won’t touch us at an individual level, and that our livelihoods (jobs, professions, vocations) are all safe, secure, and will continue in the future, that it’ll be business as usual.

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4) Vaccines, if any, will save us, protect us, cure us, immunize us; and that they will be affordable and optional (not compulsory).

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5) “This too shall pass” because we are a resilient species that has weathered many a storm in the past, and we shall rebound this time too; and just like the great economic boom that followed the 1918 Spanish flu and WW-II, we shall again prevail, and there will be a great era of prosperity and innovation and happiness for the world’s population.

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Why the elites seem to consider the non-elites dispensable now?

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At a macro level, the task of feeding, clothing and sustaining 7.5 billion people 24 x 7 [x 52] appears to be daunting and scary, given the amount of manufacturing, agricultural production and logistics needed on a daily basis, which is straining earth’s natural resources and threatening the planet’s future (climate crisis, global warming, deforestation, etc).

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That apart, astronomy and space research has clearly established it is almost impossible to colonize celestial bodies like moon, other planets like Mars, other satellites in the solar system, or exo-solar planets, and to create ecosystems beyond earth that are habitable for life-forms within the time available (before earth begins to implode or explode due to human activity).

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That apart, from the elite’s point of view, the economic value created by the non-elites has turned lower than the investment needed to create it. Stated differently, the investment-return equation has become skewed.

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This seems insane, irrational, unsustainable and a luxury against a background of the earth’s meltdown on the one hand, and technological advances like automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, superfast telecommunications, internet of things, cloud computing, big data, supercomputing, etc, on the other.

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Majority of the lower- and middle-income groups seem to have allowed the ecosystem created by a flawed form of capitalism to zombify them no end, as seen in their propensity to get sucked into the trap of the “rat race” – a hectic, busy-busy lifestyle of ultimately little consequence.

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It is a lifestyle characterized by greed, selfishness, self-centeredness; crass consumerism and materialism; decadent lifestyles marked by addictions to pleasures, comforts, sense-gratifications and indulgences; corrupted or compromised values, resulting in a malfunctioning moral and ethical compass; laziness; violent or sinful acts; hatred, intolerance and prejudice; detachment from community responsibilities;  disdain for, or indifference toward, environment, Nature, ecology, other life-forms; sense of entitlement to “goodies”; neglect of health, and intellectual and spiritual evolution; low priority for all-round development of personality.

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Taken together, all these above factors seem to have convinced the elites that the “masses” are not only dispensable but a threat to the planet, a kind of coronavirus-like pathogen feeding off, and destroying, their host, Mother Earth.

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How could the masses transform themselves into an asset, not a liability, for the planet and for the larger global community of humanity (and other life-forms)?

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First of all, the majority middle-class people need to urgently start thinking about life and living,  and even bigger issues like mankind's place in this vast universe, and perhaps our purpose of life in human form.

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If they forge unity and learn to act as a collective, concerted and cohesive force rising above narrow divisive identities relating to geography, religion, skin color, sexual orientation, profession, gender, language, so forth, it is entirely possible for them to co-create a world that is safer, more secure, saner and simpler.

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They must seriously spare a thought to visualize how the post-pandemic, post-elite, post-expert world should be like. They must figure what is really important in life, what life's priorities should be. 

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What price comforts, pleasures, conveniences and seductive wonders of science and technology if the net result of all that, even after 150+ years of striving, is pandemics, cure-less diseases, poor and inadequate public health systems, expensive medicines and hospitals, corrupt educational systems matched by inadequate basic education, and still-rampant abject poverty, not to forget crumbling or non-existent infrastructure, widespread corruption, marginalization, zombification and disempowerment of non-elites, and moves to install dyspotian regimes worldwide in the name social distancing and epidemic prevention?

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The Devil and the Deep Sea

Now that we find ourselves staring down the cliff edge on the one side, and shuddering at the very real prospect of the dawn of dystopian societies on the other,  can't we, the world's vast majority of non-elites (ordinary people), make up our minds quickly on whether we really need to continue living in the same old tried, tested but failed pattern?

 

Don't we owe anything to the future generations and to the planet, Mother Nature, and to Life itself?

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In the name of progress and "flourishing", science and technology are abused to merely produce a socio-economic system that delivers the following to the masses (non-elites, particularly middle-income groups):

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-- sense-gratifications
-- comforts, pleasures, indulgences
-- conveniences
-- cheap magic-like wonders (TV remote controller, Bluetooth, wireless headsets, facial recognition tech, blah)

 

The price we end up paying, and the TRADE-OFFs we make, for all that superficial stuff include, but are not limited to, the following:

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-- rat race-induced perpetual stress
-- compromised health
-- pandemics
-- planet's meltdown
-- ever-widening economic inequalities
-- societies in ferment due to issues like immigration, crime, corruption, under-development, haphazard development

-- local, provincial governments whose budgets (finances or revenue streams) would collapse
    if sales of society-destabilizing liquor, wine and tobacco products are NOT resumed despite the pandemic and lockdowns
-- sinful propensities like greed, laziness, indifference, fear, insecurity,
    ignorance (not education, enlightenment, evolution), selfishness, dog-eat-dog attitude, racism, hatred, intolerance, hubris
-- loss of freedoms, rights and basic human dignity in dystopian high-tech societies 
-- eventual liquidation and elimination in the name of extinction ("survival of the fittest") . . . 

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Then, it is time to ponder hard and fast: whither this flawed form of capitalism?

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Can't we non-elites simply reprioritize life and live in a simple, modest, moderate manner without being profligate, decadent, indulgent, insensate and extreme? 

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Do we need elites/experts any more, if all that the latter can deliver is enslaving, addictive, disempowering, zombifying and marginalizing products and services that are the output of abused, misapplied science and technology?

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Think about it -- if we free ourselves from bondage and dependence on entrapments like comforts, pleasures, conveniences, and ego-fuelled pursuits, and learn to focus on just needs (not wants), we would no longer need experts and their technologies, products, services, economic systems and flawed social order. 

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If we continue to be slaves of elite-determined technologies, products, services, orders and systems, we will also continue to be subjected to the same old trade-offs listed above and worse, going forward.

 

And history and experience have repeatedly shown that there's no way we, the non-elites, could make the elites truly work for our benefit, even though they will profess to be doing just that, using con-games, rhetoric, make-believe, false promises, grandstanding, distractions, rat race, etc.

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Make no mistake -- the 'Bad People' are not in this Great Game of theirs to serve us, or to make our lives meaningful and purpose-driven, safe, secure, etc. Wake up!

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Never has the choice been so clear, simple and obvious for us, the vast majority of non-elites. 

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The 2020 pandemic has brought us to the cliff edge alright, but it has also embedded within it a golden opportunity, and has presented us all a tipping point. 

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Instead of panic, let's embrace calm. In place of indifference, let's focus. Instead of being strangers, let's unite and forge cooperation and collaboration. 

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We can all finally co-create a world of our dreams -- simple, sweet, secure, sane, sustainable, only if we commit to it. 

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Let's commit.

 

NOW!

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For, it's now or never.