Many fear retirement as they feel they are becoming surplus to requirements
When a machine is ‘retired’, it is put out of service, no longer fit for use and pushed into a dark place where it starts collecting dust. Words have power, so it’s odd that when someone comes to the end of their working life, we describe it as retiring. Many people end up experiencing retirement blues due to the fear brought on by oncoming retirement.
“I work; therefore, I am. If I don’t have my work, then I’m worthless.” …
In a hyper globalised world, the nation-state is no longer fit for purpose
The climate crisis is considered a wicked problem—a reason why, is that the climate has no borders. Carbon emitted in one part of the world doesn’t float around where it’s emitted. It spreads all around the atmosphere. So, the emitting country isn’t solely responsible for dealing with the problem; everyone is.
To add spice to the wicked problem, while the climate has no borders, human societies do. This means we are trying to solve a problem using a structure that isn’t suited to the problem at hand. The Paris Agreement highlights why.
The Conservatives have been condemned as murderous for removing social restrictions
Freedom, the foundation of a fruitful life. Yet some people fight their whole lives and never manage to savour that joyous feeling. The word conjures up the image of William Wallace fighting for the Scots independence and freedom from England. It conjures up Gandhi’s peaceful protests that were so effective in defying British rule in India. It conjures the image of Nelson Mandela fighting for the freedom of an oppressed majority against a system of apartheid in South Africa.
And then there was Monday 19 July 2021; a day labelled ‘Freedom day’ in the UK.
Entrenched racism is a product of entitlement
The Euros was meant to unite a nation. But the fallout from England’s Euro defeat, where black players were victims of racist vitriol, brought England’s dark underbelly floating to the surface. Underlying the facade that England is a tolerant nation that celebrates diversity and welcomes different cultures with open arms is a country divided by those who believe themselves more ‘worthy’ than others.
It wouldn’t be out of place to hear one of these bottom of the barrel racists claim:
“I’m so English, it hurtsssss,” or “I bleed English, me.”
Neither of these statements makes any sense, but it’s like…
A challenge took an unexpected twist
After a 24-hour bus journey, the first thing you want to do is have a shower and relax. The last is having to wait a further 12 hours for a bus that will take a further day to get to your destination. Having gingerly got off a bus just after sunrise in a small town on the northwest coast of Peru, that’s exactly the situation I and two fellow travellers found ourselves in.
Having bought our tickets for the bus that was setting off at 6 p.m. we trudged over to some chairs and collapsed into them.
“What are we…
Neoliberals want to destroy government to create a free-market nirvana
It’s a sad reflection of the time we live in that people instantly assume that the government doesn’t have your best interests at heart. In fact, the government is seen as a malicious force that’s out to get you. It’s little wonder this view has become commonplace because it is part of the agenda of a wealthy elite and powerful corporations who desire free unregulated markets. They spread misinformation about the government to make you believe it has no idea what it’s doing because it’s in their benefit to do so.
The myth government is evil has a powerful influence…
The ego is a symbol of the ecological crisis, to solve it we need to move towards an ‘eco’ perspective
Having met and worked with lots of environmentalists, what has surprised me is how many of them are egomaniacs. It’s as if the ecological crisis has been designed just so they can solve it.
These people are, of course, a product of the social system that moulded them. There are plenty of egomaniacs in many different fields. Yet it’s not hard to see why so many egomaniacs are attracted to solving the environmental challenges we face. It’s a problem that involves everyone and everything, you can’t really get a bigger challenge if you thought of one. …
MINDFUL TRAVELING
You’re left with nothing but your thoughts
They say it’s not about the destination; it’s about the journey. At nearly 2,700 km, the journey from La Paz in Bolivia to Buenos Aires in Argentina was certainly a journey to remember. The journey is 33 hours, but that’s non-stop travelling.
With drivers that need to rest, borders that need to be crossed, and buses that need to be changed, the journey was set to take closer to 50 hours. It’s fair to say it wasn’t a trip I was looking forward to taking. Yet, in a twist of fate, it ended up being wonderfully therapeutic.
Sitting on a…
The saying of our time is a symbol of a culture out of balance with the world around it
I’m living my best life — it’s a phrase often used by social media influencers. The idea is that they have grabbed life by the scruff of the neck, and they are living every moment to the maximum. Now, what it means to live your best life is highly subjective; the best life of one is a nightmare for another. There are lots of people who live highly fulfilling lives and become wonderful people but don’t have any desire to tell anyone else. …
Lance Armstrong was the best cyclist in an era rife with doping
It’s the eve of the Tour De France, one of cycling’s most famous and gruelling grand tours. It would appear on the surface that cycling has overcome its darkest hour when during the nineties and early noughties, a toxic culture of doping had become rife. Lance Armstrong is a symbol of that culture. Having won an unprecedented seventh Tour De France in 2005, he finally admitted to doping in 2013.
Disgraced, those titles are no more — wiped from the history books. Cycling was putting an end to a dark episode everyone would rather forget, or though it seemed. …
Paul Abela, MSc
Blogger and systems thinker | Place a lens on the social, economic and political causes of the climate crisis | Visit my website and blog at transformatise.com
