The Relationship-Based Society

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

A replacement for the soulless and cruel transactional civilization.

Much of the fatal flaw of the current brutal “civilization” is soulless greed and plutocracy. The form of government — billionaire-controlled nominally representative government — and the economic system — kleptocracy — are deadly and must be ended.

But getting rid of the bad isn’t enough. If that’s all we do, it’ll soon be “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

We need to create something wonderful. Who has a positive vision nowadays? I mean a REAL one? Not just fixing the immediate crises

We do. We are The Saners—“a worldwide community, determined to use nonviolent noncooperation to fix the polycrisis, halt climate collapse, and replace this dying civilization with a sane, caring one.”

The Saners propose a revolution in values. We want to replace values and behaviors that are considered to be “pragmatic” and often described (falsely) as immutable human nature.

Our culture’s foundation is the idea that every person is an atom, a separate and complete unit that interacts with other creatures on a transactional basis. Our relationships are essentially business deals—and we want them to pay off. As for Mother Nature, She is here to be used, exploited. In our civilization, Nature has no value except insofar as it serves our needs and desires.

The same is true of people.

That’s one reason why we are empty. We expect to feel better by taking things from the outside, by getting more than the next guy, by “winning.” But this kind of winning is actually a deep and utter failure. Complete failure as a human being, and a wasted life.

You really want to figure this out before it’s over. Otherwise, you may spend your entire life chasing something worthless. Most of us do. That’s what we’ve been trained to do. We were born into an insane culture.

Live A Real Life, Save A Planet

We are not atoms. We are a social species. Rugged individualism is a myth. Even for an introvert loner like me. Yes, I need time alone to re-charge, but I’m a human who lives with and needs other humans.

Think about it. The worst punishment for prisoners isn’t beatings or torture. It’s solitary confinement.

And yet in a world of 8 billion people, most of whom are not in prison, loneliness and alienation and malaise is rampant. We are alone because we habitually relate in transactions—we have forgotten how to relate, to see other people, to understand them, to be the social creatures we were born to be.

We say we seek love, but we don’t know about love. We mistakenly confuse it with sex, or ego gratification, or status. But love is actually seeing other people, understanding how they feel, recognizing our common humanity, and CARING. Relating this way isn’t odd, except in our insane culture. We were born to care, to love. And when we replace love with transactions—I’ll do this for you IF you do that for me—we die inside.

No amount of this kind of relationship will feel right, even if we constantly “win”, because it’s an inhuman way of relating.

Our civilization is sick and it’s killing us inside. Oh, and it’s also destroying the entire biosphere because our “values” actually devalue both people and Nature.

The Necessary Response Is Unconditional Love—and Nonviolent Noncooperation

The truth is this: we are a social species with a capacity for love and a deep seated need to give love. We live on a planet and co-evolved with other species to survive on Earth as a system, not as individual atoms. Love and cooperation is our Nature.

This isn’t some abstract hyperbole. This is a necessary change for us, both inside as people and outside as a civilization. We can reject transactional values, embrace and embody love, use nonviolent noncooperation to fix our sick civilization, and LIVE instead of WASTE our short precious lives. Or we can go back to sleep and die having never really lived.

It’s the mission of The Saners to help us fix ourselves and our civilization.

Here’s a short video describing our worldview and our solution

Ok. What Does This Actually Mean?

First of all, try to do some actual living every day. Yes, you have obligations and little time for yourself. But you must commit to this.

How? Find a way that fits your situation and temperament.

I recommend starting your day focusing on perspective.

Remember that you live only for a few decades, very likely less than nine, and that it goes very fast. You must put a priority on really living as a human being, WITH other human beings. You must behave with love, not as an economic money-seeking atom.

Even if it’s only a few minutes a day, take time to relate to at least one person with love, seeing that person, understanding that others are fully human—same as you!—and get to know them, just a bit, which can be done even with brief casual small talk. THAT is real life and your paying job is nothing, is merely marking and wasting time.

Loving is living. What else is living? Self-expression. Creating music, art, storytelling and all kinds of performance. Not for money—for the human experience.

Transaction and profit devalues everything. It makes every activity and every person and every thing a mere means to a selfish end. You want to cheapen anything and everything? Convert it to money, to a for-profit activity.

Real living is love. Pet a dog. Help a stranger. Daydream while sipping tea. Spend time chatting amiably with friends. These “valueless” moment are the ones that have real value.

Nobody ever said on a deathbed “if only I’d spent more time at the office.” Don’t wait until them. Start living NOW and do some real living every day.

Don’t Forget To Fix The World

You have another important task and it’s not work. Or at least it’s not paid work. You have to fix this inhumane civilization that’s ruining lives everywhere.

We must end our cooperation and support of the stupid, greedy, dehumanizing culture into which we were born. We must replace it with a love-based civilization. Where people aren’t atoms, but live together, share experiences, and cooperate.

We have the power to change this, to fix everything. But to do it, we must be smart and careful—yet bold—both strategically and tactically.

Many millions around the world have decided to harness nonviolent noncooperation—the historically proven method that people power use to create radical positive change—in opposition to the most “powerful” and brutal of forces.

We can do this. YOU can help by signing up for GeneralStrikeUS.com. You can help by signing up for The Saners. You can help by becoming part of our storytelling project to inspire love and action: PlayfulArts.channel.

Ready?