The
global system in which we are functioning is in crisis. Our economy, our
financial system, the world’s ecosystem and our society are all having hard
times. The facts are overwhelming, but crystal clear. Just three of them as a
reminder:
·
Our society is peaking regarding suicide rates, burnouts
and ADHD children.
·
Being only at the beginning of the consequences of the
global warming, already today the yearly cost to society are estimated to be 1,6
% of the GNP worldwide (by the way, for developing countries this is even 7 %).
·
Already today there are yearly 400.000 climate dead.
That is our beautiful cities Bruges and Gent whipped a way completely, every
year!
In the rest of my text, I will illustrate the absurdity of our current global
crisis, and what according to me, could be part of the solution.
Who has been already in Central
or Southern America? Then you probably have seen or even taken one of these
overcrowded public busses? You know what I mean: these beautiful, colourful,
old American school busses. At the central market place they gather and then leave
for a long trip often in the mountains. A lot (and with a lot, I mean a lot) of
people sit, stand or hang half-outside the bus … and the chicken, sheep and vegetables
are put on deck. Quite a lot of people get car sick when taking such a bus.
That is no surprise with all this turning, in a bus that has often no suspension
and is way too hot. By the way, what I admire is the way the locals can elegantly
throw up in the middle of this crowd. While we are making a primal scream as if
we are dying, they only do a very modest "bheuh".
Respect! Anyway, you always find two key figures on these busses. I call them
the “Stuntman” and the “bus driver”. Two of them I remember really vividly. When
I was in Guatemala for a couple of months for my thesis, these two were the
regulars, driving the bus I had to take to get to my working area. The bus
driver drove like mad: way too slow with his overloaded bus uphill, but he
compensated this completed downhill. Now I know why the “Guatemaltecos” always
make a cross when they enter the bus. But even more crazy was the other part of
the duo: the ticketing man, performing one big stunt after the other. As the
bus was often so overcrowded, he could not use the passageway to go and get the
tickets at the other side of the bus. No problem: just take the back door,
climbs the little stair to get on deck, crawl on the top of the roof to the
front of the bus, and come in again through the other door (and all this while
his companion is racing of the mountain).
We can laugh about it, but all too often these busses go into the deep! But
let’s imagine that you can prevent such an accident. Imagine, we are all in
this bus together; You are the driver and I am the stuntman. Suddenly, someone in the back tells me he heard that there is a big problem
due to a landslide in the next big curve? I, the stuntman, am in total panic
and I have to just knock off one
of my most spectacular stunts, by getting on deck, roll like a real action hero
to the front of the buss in order to finally jump on the engine bonnet to urge
you, the driver, to stop immediately! What will you do? Speed ahead or will you
break?
Now let’s do the same thing but now change the beautiful, but
overcrowded bus into our even more beautiful and overcrowded “earth” . The
complete world population is in the bus and all the fauna and flora is stapled on
the roof. Our driver is now a one-person mutant representing all our leaders. The
ticketing man, in our case is the crème de la crème of the scientific world.
The latter goes to our driver and explains him carefully all the facts including
the ones I told you at the start of this speech. He makes him very clear: “if
we take this curve we will go in the ravine”. What do you think our dear mutated
politician will do? Will he slow down? No, he will not break immediately! For
the moment our leaders even haven’t the finest clue of where the break could be
and are pushing the gas pedal deeper as ever before … . Totally absurd, a very
good basis for tons of movies and books in a few decades.
Okay, our politicians suck but probably you wander: what can I do about
this? This all asks for big actions. That’s true. But I do not agree with the
idea that we cannot change anything ourselves, because others would take all the
decisions above our heads. Let’s take our example again. What could we,
passengers in this bus, have done? Well, first of all we could have, by opening
our eyes and raising our voice, shouted the message to the driver; as loud that
even this ugly mutant would get scared! And if not, we could have voted for
another creature behind the steering wheel! And secondly, we could have taken
small actions ourselves. Maybe I could have tried to block the wheels. I don’t
know: I could have thrown my “bokes of choco” in front of the wheels.
Frruummph. Not a lot of success; but if all 7 billion of us would throw their “rice
with Peking duck”, “manioc” and “frietjes met mayo” before the wheels it will
definitely slow down.
By the way, did anyone of you already asked himself why the hell we are
driving as hell in this bus? Wouldn’t it be much more relaxing and saver to lower
our speed with a few kilometres per hour: less stress, we can enjoy the beautiful
landscape, and the passengers, although they do it very serene, would become
less sick. Effective change will only come when people understand what
fascinating possibilities a sustainable future holds. It is not about a society
of "cold showers" and "cars stopped in traffic jams or without
fuel”, but a society in which our quality of life is improving!
We are all awaiting a fascinating time. Maybe the bus will go in the
deep; maybe we will be able to break just at the edge ; who knows?… Anyway, things
will change drastically. We do not live in a period of changes, but in a change
of time periods. In the coming 10 to 15 years probably more will happen than the
last 50 or even 100 years all together. And what can we do?
First of all, BE AWARE - let us be aware of the beauty
but also fragility of this bus called “Earth”! Won’t we reach our destiny by slowing
down a few kilometres an hour.
Two, ACTIONS - not “them” but “we” can all make this
happen, all of us together: many small changes make up a big one!
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