entitlement

Kim and I were having this conversation about entitlement. Clearly some people seem to feel they are entitled to more than others, and some people do indeed seem to consent to this arrangement and feel entitled to less.

But at the most basic level, it seems to me that to be born on this earth would give us title to, or access to, clean air and clean water, a reasonable supply of a diverse and health giving range of food, and perhaps even the land on which to live and grow this food, harvest and store water, and build a shelter to protect us from the elements?

Am I a dreamer?

Do we live in a world where "dogs eat dogs" as some (usually those with more to protect) propose?

Or is there a way that acknowledges that my needs and yours are of equal importance and - within 'reasonable limits' - we all have a responsibility to monitor our consumption and limit any negative impact (direct or indirect) that we could be having on others?

The following is a teeny clip from a well researched document entitled "Our Future Prospects" by Derek J. Wilson, which you can read here. It speaks eloquently to this topic.

At the start of the Industrial Revolution the ruling powers in Great Britain embarked on one of the most sustained efforts to destroy community life ever undertaken. From 1770 to 1830 some 3,280 enclosure bills were passed putting into private hands for private gain more than six million acres of commonly-held lands, leaving less than 3% of the land under public ownership.

This led to the concentration of wealth in the hands of a small group called the ‘upper classes’. Today, under the control of this ‘special class’, increasing numbers of people are beginning to realise “that the most awesome and ferocious destruction centralised power has inflicted on human life, lies in its destruction of the power and even the identity of localised communities.”

And...

The virtual eclipse of these forms of localised power, and we need to grasp that this is indeed what they were, could not fail to result in the highly centralised forms of political and economic power with which we are familiar today and which we all too often assume are as natural as the stars in their courses. So modern man and woman emerges today, isolated, alienated, manipulated, disorientated, disempowered and debased, at the mercy of giant forces they can neither in many respects comprehend nor control and which are sweeping them towards an inevitable destiny of doom unless some profound changes are made in the management of human affairs. (Small is Powerful, 1995.)

Is it time yet?

Is it time to say "Enough!" ?

Is it time to change our actions and express our understanding of what is reasonable and fair, through non violent acts of civil disobedience?

Is it time to say to those who are clearly having negative impacts - on us and those who follow us, our children and grand children and beyond - stop your wars, your fighting, and your abuse of our environment?

Is it time to call people to "live simply, so that others can simply live"?

Is it time to begin trusting each other, knowing that we are only going to find a way through the challenges of the coming years, by working cooperatively, sharing our talents and skills, our strengths and our creativity?

Or should we wait a little longer?

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My Purple Chard seedlings popped their heads up overnight. I noticed this as I left for an early morning swim. As I was about to leave the beach I spotted some field mushrooms - they went down a treat with some poached eggs on toast.