A new paradigm for Humankind?

Graffiti Abstract: End of the World Yesterday. Longmont, Colorado, 2013

So, assuming (optimistically?) that humankind will slowly evolve for the better (very slowly, it seems)…and assuming we, as a species, manage to survive for a good time longer, what might be the next phase in our history? Beyond tribalism, feudalism and monarchies, imperialism, capitalism, socialism, and so on…what might be a possible way forward? What might be the new paradigm of existence for us lowly Human Beans?

How about this…lets have an Age of Giving. The idea would be this: the overwhelming, dominant social norm becomes one in which to always give is seen as the “right thing to do” by society. We give of everything…love…time…work…material things…knowledge…basically everything. Children would grow up learning that the highest moral plane they can aspire to is to give to others and to the world of whatever means or talent they might have.

So, instead of a world in which the moral order is based on individual’s selfish desires and wants, we have a world based on giving to others. I am not talking about a world in which folks are coerced by government or any other authority to give. I am not talking about socialism or any other such “ism”. I’m talking about a completely new social order in which giving is done voluntarily and happily–it is simply what is done, what is accepted as right, and what is expected of you.

I base this on many readings in which the common denominator is this: giving of yourself is what gives meaning to your life.

Pie in the sky ¿Tortilla en el cielo? Probably. Doesn’t hurt to dream about pies and tortillas, though.

P.S. Hmmm…Wasn’t there some guy about 2,000 years ago who talked similar nonsense?