I was reading a post from 9/11 two years ago in which I wrote:
People say the world changed that day – maybe it did but by how much I'm not sure. You only have to look at recent events in Afghanistan to realise it can't have changed that much, or that at least some of the change was temporary. As much as we hate to admit it, maybe some things just can't be changed and, given time, return to their natural equilibrium despite our best efforts.
I was reminded of what I wrote about the pandemic:
To steal a line from politicians, we should build back better, personally and societally. We should be aiming to improve things for so many and not just returning to the way things were.
The impact of the pandemic has shown just how inequitous life can be (we already knew that but Covid has hammered the point home.) The question is how can we move forward and build that better future?
True to form, the pandemic doesn't appear to have been a catalyst for any kind of meaningful change. Things have 'slowly, then all at once' returned to pre-covid normality with seemingly no lessons learnt.
I overheard someone in the toilets at work recently remark upon someone else barely washing their hands that everyone seemed to have forgotten the lesson and routine of basic, good hygiene. It's over, we don't need to worry about all that any more.
Those in power seek to stay in power. As Alan Jacobs writes:
These Powers ... call the shots ... they identify an “environment” which they stand outside of and manipulate; they determine what within that environment is "proper" ... What are the proper activities in environment X? What is the proper environment for activity X? The Powers organize and channel the energies of ordinary people into the proper, and do so according to their strategic purposes.
Move along, nothing to see here, be good obedient citizens. Know your place.
I can't help but wonder exactly what it would take for humanity (as a whole) to change. It is always said that we would band together in the face of some extra-terrestrial threat. Maybe so, but that would likely be just for the duration of that threat. If we survived there would be a race to claim responsibility for success and rapid moves to fill any kind of power or political vacuum. And we all know that politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum.
Even after an almost extinction level event there would be those seeking to gain power and profit, putting personal gain before the good of society. That's why our many imagined dystopian futures are less a warning and more a premonition.
What will it take to ensure they're not?