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A toast to not repeating history's mistakes

Anonymous

November 29, 2024

A toast to not repeating history's mistakes

This image was generated with Dream Studio AI.

Dear future self,
We are currently living in times of great civil unrest. We see the atrocities committed around the world driven by a quest for more power, resources, productivity, success at the cost of another. Inequity is rampant and we are all victims of this as we live lives hoping for financial and physical freedom near the end of it.

Dear future self,
I hope you are living in a time post a transformation, with a new world order. I hope you are living in a time where transparency is rampant in political decision making and equity truely thrives. I hope you are living in a time where historically marginalised groups can represent themselves when policies and corporate decisions affect them (both positively and negatively). I hope you are living in a time where we are aware of and taking care of both the negative and positive externalities of our human actions on nature, where circularity is the norm and that we are truely regenerative - leaving a place thriving further than how we found it. I hope you are living in a time where the knowledge of traditional custodians of the land is prioritised, and a mind-body-spirit-place connection is restored. I hope technology is leveraged for the collective good, rather than a tool to build wealth for a few. I hope community has replaced the individualism that currently seeks to divide and conquer us. And I hope that colonialism in a macro scale, a micro scale, and in our minds is abolished and that we have learned from history's mistakes not to repeat its narratives.

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hallo
Et maintenant, en 2040.
hallo
An idealistic European future
Europe will have learnt from its past mistakes in terms of security and defence and economy. It will no longer be seen as a side partner with no real power when it comes to wars at its borders. It will be equipped and able to deter foreign threats, both military and online. While having strong foreign partnerships, it will no longer rely on third countries to provide it with rare materials, energy or manufacture critical products. It will have understood that companies are critical to its social welfare and adapted its regulations to European companies' needs. Energy and life costs will no longer be an issue for Europeans as there will have been investments in new nuclear technologies, incentives given to companies to produce in Europe in a simplified regulatory framework, taxation, social and labour costs will be harmonised and education will be again a strong pillar of the society.
hallo
What a relief we have left behind in the 1920s with all that succession of intertwined crises that seemed impossible to resolve! What a relief that we no longer have to think about whether democracy is in danger or live in the permanent uncertainty of whether there will be a reactionary retreat from everything that cost us so much to win! Just as we were finally aware of the physical limits of the planet and the doughnut economy succeeded capitalism, we were also aware of the limits of our democracies with mass debates that prevented (at last!) cruel authoritarian demagogues who did not believe in the values of democracy from seizing power again. I don't know how we could live with this permanent anguish... . No more gerontocracies, no more idycracies, no more techno-auritarism, no more perpetuation in power. AI is no longer a private business of billionaires who (finally!) were forced to distribute 90% of their fortune, as had already happened in the 50s of the last century. It has put itself only at the service of solving the great problems of the world. What a relief too that money no longer moves the world! All this was possible because the Constitution of the Land of Ferrajoli was approved and launched in 2030, the Magna Carta that protected all our global problems. The nature of which we are a part and without which we cannot live is especially protected. The Constitution provides a framework for everything to be solved diplomatically. Since its approval, the wars have ended and the genocidal people of the past have been severely judged. Yesterday we celebrated the feast of #Nevermore. If I have to describe what life is like now, the word that comes out is calm. Without constant threats to our safety and well-being, day-to-day life is placid.
hallo
A world of citizens
Strenghtened EU-level, even global, governance mechanisms. Human-centered technology Limits to accumulation and consumption, especially for the super rich Vibrant ecosystem for new businesses Private initiative, public Administrations, and non-profits working side by side on big societal and environmental issues A post-growth economy based on sufficiency High quality of democracy High citizen participation
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