It seems like these days, everyone wants to be the prime minister, the president, the leader of the country. But if you look at the candidates, you realize the choices are very poor. Those who get to the top, get there through their party’s mechanism or the armed forces, or because they are super rich. In other words, our leaders are bureaucrats, or generals, or thieves. There are no visionaries and there are no visions. At best, our governors are managing to tighten the screws to keep our countries from falling apart altogether.
In the absence of visions, the only tools in the hands of rulers are money and arms. These are the two reins that every head of state uses today, and they are right to do so since they have no other instruments.
Regrettably, these reins will not hold for long; they have been stretched thin, and we—together with them. If a country wants stability today, it must direct its people toward solidarity. The irrevocably interconnected nature of our lives requires that we change our attitude toward life as a whole, and particularly toward people.
We seek protection from the uncertain future, but we already know that the future entails more connection and more interdependence. Therefore, our protection can only be through adapting our life’s systems and our approach to life to such a future. Instead of cultivating narcissism, which contradicts life’s stream, we should nurture mutuality, unity, or in short, the idea that together we rise; alone we fall.
If we focus on fostering these values, everything will fall into place. Take mothers, for example, how do they know what to do for their babies? Initially, they don’t. But through their love, they quickly develop the unimaginable skills required to rear a newborn baby. Likewise, if we cultivate mutual concern among us, that concern will guide us on our efforts to build systems of governance that enable us to have a good life.
All of nature is connected. Until now, humanity has been the only exception. We have been set apart from nature by our desire to control. But we have lost control of our desire to control and we have ruined everything. Now we must learn how nature works, the reciprocity that permeates all its elements, and apply it to human society. This is the science of the future.
Once we accept that good living requires good connections with other people, everything will flow smoothly. The governors of that society will be those who understand the significance of connection and do their utmost to advance it, and people will approve only of such individuals. People with divisive traits and selfish ambitions will be ashamed of their drives since society will condemn such toxic attitudes, so we will not need to worry about the wrong people coming to power. In this way, by making solidarity the topmost value, we will rid ourselves of the bureaucrats, generals, and thieves at the helm, and have the leaders that we all deserve.