0.1.8 Labelling Our Alternative

Version 1.0 November 2016                                        Previous Version

●   In public discussion many proposed solutions to the current critical issues are inconsistent with science and history, without a sound philosophical and moral base, attempting to railroad over local religions and cultures, with a cognitive dissonance between personal and political action. 

§  If we all became good Buddhists or Christians or Muslims, so some say, then all these issues would be resolved.  But wouldn’t we all then be in intellectual straitjackets?

§  If we all adopted democratic pluralism as practiced in the USA, so some Americans believe, then we would all be better off.  The Communists once thought their way was best, but the remaining Communist rulers are commonly seen as self-serving elites.  

§  Various politicians promote Conservatism, Liberalism, Christian or Democratic Socialism. 

§  Some suggest Green or environmentalist policies that others say will destroy the economy. 

●   Many people suggest that the current system is so broken that we must allow it, or help it, to self-destruct.  They have no plans for what happens afterwards, and just hope something good will spontaneously arise in the aftermath that somehow fixes society, with no idea of how it might occur or what that society  might be like.  But history tells us that revolutions that destroy the old system, often lead to disasters: huge social disruption, increased poverty and oppression. 

§  In Russia and China the communist revolutions led directly to tens of millions of deaths and totalitarian governments that are only now gradually dissipating. 

§  The American destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan has not led to the spontaneous eruption of stability, peace and prosperity in those countries, but the very opposite.

●   Outside these explicitly religious or political approaches there are other traditions, such as Existentialism, Atheism, Scepticism and so on.  These more intellectual movements are decidedly negative and narrow in their outlook, and will never take hold of whole societies.  Atheism is a non-belief in God(s).  Scepticism is a non-belief in almost anything.  Small L liberalism is at risk of a takeover by those embedded in identity politics.  Too many attribute the pain they feel to women, intellectuals, other races, capitalists, foreigners, refugees and migrants.  Many people who despair of modern society have no label for their feelings.  

●   Some people have a simple faith in science, that scientific advances will overcome ignorance, so that eventually fundamentalist religious beliefs will simply fade away, political policies will be soundly based on the evidence, and we as individuals will identify ourselves as rational humans no longer trapped in anachronistic and parochial religious and national narratives.

§  Donald Trump’s election as president of the USA shows that one of the oldest and most technically advanced democracies doesn’t choose its leaders based on the evidence. 

●   Where is the alternative to counter to these limited, false or anachronistic approaches?  Where is the comprehensive plan, one that involves not just reform of a risky global financial system, not just tinkering with political processes, not just countering the narrow mindedness of ethnic, national, religious and racial backgrounds, not just a method to obtain personal peace of mind? 

●   What we need is a comprehensive understanding, a set of paths on a single map that integrates all the positive aspects of the proposed solutions to our moral vacuum, political malaise, environmental degradation, and all forms of oppression and inequality. 

We need to be able to develop and promote a reasonable alternative to the current inadequate political, religious and personal responses to the critical issues the world currently faces.  We need to distinguish this alternative from idealistic, anachronistic, parochial or elitist proposed solutions.  We need a “handle� that identifies the approach, a brand that we can name, linked to a comprehensive set of beliefs and values that satisfy our political aims, intellectual demands, and emotional requirements.  This is our goal.