London calling are you listening?

London calling are you listening?

I am traveling around Australia living out of a tent at the moment. I had the luxury of a few days in a cabin and caught up with the news. I tuned in to find out there are riots across the United Kingdom. Listening to the news and watching the 20 second grabs with occasional public comment you get the impression that it is like a war zone. The impression I received from the media is that young people are involved. Some people mentioning 13-14 year olds, yet some of the pictures show older people both dark skinned and white. I did note there were no fatalities, that seemed a positive aspect given the violence against property.

I am cautious as I evaluate the events in the UK, firstly I don’t have full information to know to what extent and how wide ranging the riots actually are. I don’t know who the people are who are involved, what sparked it and why it spread. However, the fact it spread indicates some resonance with the discord.

I lived in London many years ago and I found the society to be stratified into class. Apparently not as intense as 100 years ago, but nonetheless class was evident. I remember being surprised at seeing Pakistani’s running newsagents and Caribbean people driving taxi’s. Of course that is the reality in Australia today. I noted the discrimination of groups by occupation. I am never comfortable with that as it shows me there are barriers or when an ethnic group gets a breakthrough others join that occupation.

I also noticed people were quite up tight and there was a strong need to belong or be accepted. I recall going to dinner with a group of people. All the group looked at the person who invited them and didn’t talk as a group socially. I found that different from Australians who all speak together, no-one is the lead person so to speak. My partner at the time made some comments about tea for opium trade in China, probably not the most tactful of comments but nonetheless he was raising a fact, that was not received positively as the feeling of nationalism was there, in fact it was refuted. We found that interesting at the time. I found Australians far more willing to critique their country than I found in some Brits. Also at the time I was there early 90’s, there was not the intense US film presence as there had been in Australia which is notably more violent. The British film industry I have found to be more entertaining with really excellent story lines. I saw that as an advantage. However, on the flipside I saw more mental illness on the streets, it gave me the impression of a society of unexpressed needs and negativity. Moreover, the haves and have nots was evident. I worked in the wealthy Knightsbridge area, I observed from the top end to the bottom end, vast differences. I also see this in my own society, but to a lesser extent. We haven’t had enough time to develop it through a monied class.

Returning to the idea of the riots in London. My feeling led me gently to the unrest around the world. I saw this as connected. In the sense that people are dissatisfied with their societies. I also am aware of the increasing exposure of young people to violence on television and not enough education around peace, nonviolence and social skills. In my experience I find, particularly with boys, there are issues with masculinity (what it is) that their own fathers are struggling with. I see this as an increasing phenomenon and to a large extent unquestioned. Steve Biddulph, the Australian Psychologist speaks of the few boys that are close to their fathers, the majority have distant relationships or not at all. These men are the primary role models for boys. I see this as a significant issue. Interestingly, in the footage in the UK I saw a mature man talking about his area and dissatisfaction with the police, he made it clear he didn’t care what was happening elsewhere. What mattered to him was his own interests. I thought about the people smashing the windows only thinking about what they want and not about how their actions affect other people. That social awareness was missing in both cases. I saw the links there.

It comes down to a lack of social training and empathy for others and at a deeper level self love. This permeates the entire society. I noted that when working (London and Australia) that my needs were never considered. I remember sitting there typing away noting I was invisible, my potential not seen. All that was wanted was my hands to type, the rest of me just came to the job. It was there that I could see people drowning with their hopes and dreams. I wrote extensive diaries on my experience there as I was studying the society and myself. I remember trying to get market research work and the manager asking me to let him know what my experience was like in London. I wrote to him and said it was like ‘another brick in the wall’. I was quoting the title of a song on the Pink Floyd album. That is what I saw. He never responded. The society did not communicate as equals, they had definite positions for people on the basis on class, money and education. Interestingly the nouvre rich were emerging replacing the classical class interests. In a society of this type, this is what matters, your station in society, not who you are as a person. Although I did note that times are changing. I will add that I do have a deep love of the British people, and when I returned to the UK last year, I felt I was going home. So always they are in my heart, but these are the observations I have seen. Always when you evaluate a society you are giving a fraction of the truth, as no-one knows the whole society, so this blog is a series of impressions and ideas for consideration with an open mind.

We have constructed societies where people are expected to conform to the existing structure which is not flexible to the needs of people nor indeed representing those needs and interests. There are also belief systems in society whereby people are divided by race, gender, income, education and the list goes on. These divisions create social tensions and if you find yourself with what would be perceived as the ‘losers’ then frustrations build. If people are not trained in communication or problem solving then these will escalate and could overflow into violence. Violence is a call for help. Most people will not resonate with that statement, but it is true. Violence is negativity and pain and there is a social numbing that occurs through suppression of emotions and lack of good role models.

It was interesting to see the authorities respond. Many felt they had to keep control. I understand that but it is usually how society is run. We maintain order and control, and indeed this is part of the problem. People when controlled become resentful of control. What is required is more social democracy where people can create forums to express their unexpressed needs and concerns. As a society we learn to come together and address the issues and have a role in determining outcomes. This reminds me of the conflict resolution work I just did in a school, the teacher expressed a realization that children need to work out their own problems without teachers coming in all the time to sort it. I think the same applies for authority. The citizens must take more responsibility for their own society, become involved and make decisions about the type of society they want. They learn to lead by example modeling those behaviours for young people to copy. I hear many say that no-body does anything anymore, no-one comments or helps young people with codes of acceptable behaviour or ethical behaviour. The latter was mentioned in the media and I feel it is a central issue. I speak more of values rather than ethics, the former is more about internal values we share as humans e.g. empathy, love, trust, cooperation etc. the ethical standpoint is more about social codes of conduct, they tend to change in each generation given the changing social norms. So the values of society are the core issue. The issue with the Murdoch media is a case in point, but it doesn’t stop there it filters into the police corruption, the political orientation of sniffing the wind for advantage, to be seen to be rather than being who they really are. Young people cannot be expected to grow up into decent citizens if their parents are not speaking the truth, if employers are using them and underpaying them and if the media constantly spins negative stories. How does this generate hope and social cohesion?

As fear levels have risen through media spin, citizens increasingly say less to their fellow citizens for fear or reprisals. Clearly they do not know how to resolve conflict and tend to avoid it or remain silent, this does not create peace it just inflames underlying tension and often can emerge in prejudice or resentment against authority. The same issues are here in Australia and the United States and the list goes on. Instead of learning Accounting as a profitable employment option, why not teach peace studies and social skills as a profitable citizenship option. Which is more important? From my perspective peace education is the number one priority. It also has implications for the environment. Instead we focus on making people work ready to become cogs in a wheel without regard for the social and emotional intelligence. More importantly we don’t care what their purpose is, we just leave it up to them to find their way, if they can get enough time out of work to actually reflect on their lives and where they really choose to go. I would like to see more opportunity for people to find themselves then go into occupations that are more satisfying. I would like to see people working part-time at ¾ of the full time wage across the board. We would have job share (full employment) and more economic equality in wages, rather than the extremes we see and the significant advantages of the professional class. I have worked across the board myself and I am no different working as a secretary or a Market Analyst. I am the same person, yet the work I do is perceived differently. Yet I would state that I need far more intelligence to manage secretarial work (organizing) and good memory than as an analyst. Yet as an analyst I put numbers into charts and write reports. I am seen as more skilled. Yet the skills are different. My choice of occupation means I live in a nice place in a nice area or I live struggling to pay the next bill. The latter means I am treated as less than the Market Analyst, yet I am equal in truth. All because society has decided which is worth more from an economic perspective rather than a social perspective. I question that as a means of organizing society. I think it is unfair and discriminatory and causes much unhappiness. So we start to drive to the deeper issues of inequality socially and economically, beneath that self worth is the key issue. If you feel like you are nothing, you won’t care about anyone, if you feel you have value and worth you will see it in others, that is how we see ourselves in each other.

There are of course other extraneous issues that factor into violence such as parenting, separating parents, role models, employment, drugs and violent media. All these are aspects that can serve to weaken people as they are not learning respect, values, integrity and citizenship.

I wanted to start a Children’s Parliament, a non-adversarial parliament, I wrote the brief had a big meeting with NGO’s, social groups and a Federal Senator came along. Yet nothing came out of it. The idea was for young people to run this parliament but they would focus on problems solving and solutions generating. The idea was to train them in conflict resolution so that if any conflicts arose, they would use their skills to solve the problem and not hate the person. They would also use lateral thinking techniques to learn how to think creatively and collectively generate new ideas. This type of education in my view is essential if you want to create an enlightened society. Simply educating young people to be used by industry has moved us away from a society with a focus on civilization to one focused on industry needs justified by employment and social order. Industry is not interested in social/emotional intelligence as a general rule, they would only be interested in as far as productivity is affected. That is not the intention that works for a greater society, it retains business-as-usual as the only modus operandi. We have created work to fuel profit maximization which is seen to link to employment and social stability. It is a very simplistic model, yes whilst products and services have been produced efficiently, the content of society has been neglected. I tend to see this as a masculine perception, as males are very good at structure but on the social/emotional side as we all know, they don’t have the same skills as women. Although there are some men that do naturally. It is not a better than/less than concept, it is a reality of raising children and feminine skills that when balanced with structural skills create social harmony. Yet in our patriarchal society, we are not in balance and women are seen as inferior, particularly in light of structural skills that manifest the physical world. The emotional skills are downplayed and seen as motherhood (soft), this I see as a discrimination which has far reaching effects on the social fabric as a whole. Until we really look at issues in balance with equal input across society (elderly as well), we will not develop solutions that improve our civilization.

The future is changing and no longer will industry be the social stabilizer it has been perceived to be. We are at a cross roads where we will start to look at what society wants to find happiness and balance with nature. We have to learn advanced social skills and self development which resonates with the idea ‘to thyself be true’. The unhappiness that is so widespread is the addiction to an external world that can never bring happiness. Real happiness comes from connecting to being free and open enough to be yourself. Many feel lost and have no idea what the purpose of their lives is. So they go on as they always have in the same patterns. After a while they give up their dreams. This is where society slowly dies and innovation drowns in depression and despair. What is required is a new way of seeing life and how we organize society. To focus on the child at the centre of society would be the first step not the last. We have to create social fabrics (not structures) where children’s needs are met and as children they are taught to fully express their truth in a safe environment, where they are not taught to compete but to cooperate, not unlike a tribal society where everyone knows each other and see the other as family or tribe. Perhaps that translates into decentralization of cities so that we are in small communities with a greater sense of self determination (not using the word control) over our lives. Where we learn what we do to others affects us, as we are not separate. We are intimately connected as a society. For example I heard a man in the next cabin clomping around with his heavy shoes unaware that he was waking me up. I would have been aware had the roles been reversed and kept all noise down. My mother taught me this and it stayed with me all my life – to consider the needs of others. I see so many kids these days oblivious to how they impact on others, I see this in adults as well. So I would advocate more emphasis in education in raising social awareness and seeing that the way we work is about helping each other, it is not about self interest and greed. The whole economic system was designed to offer economies of scale for the whole population. It was deemed more efficient to produce in larger quantities at lower prices. The idea of comparative advantage was that countries with an advantage in a resource, commodity or product produce it, it was deemed efficient. Underlying that was social benefit. Today the social benefit is a peripheral consideration, predominantly share holders are the primary beneficiaries and keeping costs down to maximize profit. So we have lost our understanding of the purpose of society and have indeed enslaved the very people we say we are serving.

This is why there is social tension, mental illness, social isolation, depression, competitiveness and loneliness. We are losing the important social fabric which connects us and gives us a sense of belonging and real meaning to our lives. It is the love and belonging (community) which is the national security many are truly seeking. This cannot be given by the army or police forces. When you love and appreciate the world you live in you will never harm it. When you feel disconnection you will not care, only things that affect you become important. This can be seen as selfishness or self orientated behaviour. This does not serve society it is self serving. So if we want a better world we may want to start addressing self interest as distinct from social interest or what I term best interest. Making higher order decisions rather than labeling one group thugs further creating division and distrust, it is wiser to analyse the actual problem but that requires courage as we then have to look at ourselves and the structure of society we are seeking to uphold and control.

The situation in London is a calling to all societies to reassess if we are truly listening to young people, to all people and are we living the democracy we say we represent or put another way are we serving the people? To-date I would offer that we haven’t even begun to know true democracy or service of community. Yet the future will change us and we will see the true happiness that emerges from social and emotional intelligence brought forth through a real social convergence. This is the rumblings we are truly seeing beneath the surface of violence. Let’s utilize the unrest to start to re-envisage the type of world society we wish to create. I see a world of harmony where what I do to another I do to myself. Where every person has a right to exist and a right to express themselves. I see a society that works for the highest good of all in healthy, functional and adaptable ways within natural limits and as a part of the environment.

It is a time of uncertainty but within that great opportunity for change. The children are the mirrors of society. Change yourself wisely. The future it calls and awaits.