The (Long) Now

There is an organisation called the Long Now Foundation that is well worth people looking into. The name comes from an observation by the music innovator, Brian Eno that the term 'now' can be interpreted in different ways. He uses the example of conversations that he has had in the USA where 'now', he believes invariably means this instant. He claims that in England and elsewhere, 'now' can also mean 'in this time, era, year. In other words, there is a 'short now and a 'long now'.

Why am I blabbering on about this now? (short) Because of my concern about what is happening now (long)    Decisions taken by governments adhering to the proscribed remedies to stabilise capitalism are reacting in the way they do because of the belief that the have to do this now (short) They will worry about the longer now when? - well, not now.

At the end of World War 2, when we were in far more volatile situation, there were politicians and economists prepared to take the long view. They knew that it would take decades to get onto a firm economic and political footing. They also realised that it was vital to invest in people - in society.

I know that there were other agendas at play. There was a geopolitical conflict shaping up (when isn't there one) The fear of radical change was forcing conservative forces to implement social welfarism, but in among all of that there were serious attempts to move us in towards a 21st century that would be an advance for humanity.

And all of that came to a shuddering halt when Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Regan rode into world domination in the late 70's.

That this Irish Government, which contains a Labour Party - a Labour Party mind - can still be in awe of this short-term and anti-democratic unchecked capitalism, given all that we have witnessed in these past couple of years, is deeply worrying.

Surely we are in a period when long term thinking is more important than ever. As mainstream politics seems incapable of such thinking, the pressure will have to come from the rest of us - organised or otherwise. If that entails presenting the established order with additional headaches, then so be it.

The Greeks are holding a referendum that is causing such a headache and maybe that will force a positive rethink. That is the way we have to behave. The failure of an Irish government to pay bondholders, for example, would be a headache for the capitalist world order, but they would just have to think again. With enough pressure, eventually we might get some thinking that was beneficial to building a 21st century political and social order that just might be acceptable to the greater number of us - the 99% if you prefer. That's the theory! But its not a bad theory.

There will have to be plenty more marching, camping and campaigning to try and change all of this. It needs to happen now (short) and be happening now (long). get it?