Learnings — Hive

Almost a year ago I read an article that basically changed my life. It blew up my mind because it made me observe reality from a new perspective. It said that the environmental sustainability issue should rather be seen in a positive way, as an opportunity, a collective and participatory exercise of planning and creation: designing and building the future that we want to live. The author argued, using loads of scientific facts about human psychology, that the responses and solutions that we propose when we are threatened (i.e. when we see environmental sustainability as a threat for our survival) are existing solutions and reductionist and that, instead, positivism, collective design, first order motivation, participation, autonomy, etc. enhance human skills (deep learning, system thinking, creation of integrative solutions, pro-social behaviours, etc.) that are the ones that can help to create sustainability defined as the possibility that life will flourish on Earth forever(which is not the same as reducing unsustainability).

Later on time, actually, a week ago, I was at an ecosocialist conference in my city. The topics we covered were super interesting and relevant. I listen to motivating and comprehensive speeches as well as to some others that were too complex for my current intellectual and knowledge level. Anyhow, I would like to mention two points about the conference:

Speakers put names or labels on themselves and on what they believe should be changed (capitalism, neo-liberalism) creating in this way a "us and them", a confrontation, an enemy.
They focused much more on highlighting what is wrong than on proposing ways to go or creating the system they (and I) believe in.

In between these two experiences, I read a second article (by the same author) that helped me to define my way to go. It talked about environmental sustainability but I believe the core message can be applied in other cases as well.

We, human beings, are both individuals (part) and parts of larger groups (Whole) (family, group of friends, neighbourhood,..., the world or even the universe). We are both things at the same time and whoever rejects this idea, is rejecting a part of themselves. The whole and the part have their interests and needs, and the fundamental problem in environmental issues is that there is a conflict of interests between whole and part. The usual way to go when such a conflict arises is that each of the counterparts (the one defending group interests and the other defending personal interests) gets stuck in their position or perspective and the conflict enters a blind alley (stagnation) where both counterparts believe they are right (they even feel rewarded by the feeling of being right and the other not being able of understanding what they understand) and no agreement is found. The way to solve this paralysis is as simple as to explain the base of both points of view, understand the situation and try to find an alternative that satisfies both sides. It is here where the human skills mentioned before become useful. The best point is that by doing so, we will satisfy ourselves thoroughly, for remember that we are all whole and part at the same time.

That’s my reflection, that’s all.