Dream ON!

Over the years I have had a series of seemingly precognitive dreams about the future of human civilisation. Now, one could be forgiven for assuming that these may have an apocalyptic or distopian flavour, however this is not the case, and each time I receive another instalment in this dream series it refreshes my sense of hope and joy, and faith in humanity.

In this most recent episode, we live in a semi-rural landscape, where homes and offices, stores and facilities nestle among avenues of large trees. Where people consult one another and co-operatively participate in ensuring that each ones quality of life is amplified by the actions of the community, and that each ones needs are met no matter how diverse. The community has agreed to some basic principles which it upholds; sanctity of all life, kindness and helpfulness as a first response, self discipline as a responsibility to the community. In this dream-scape there are large nomadic groups of greying male elders, ex-military and ex-convicts who work together to be a force for the upholding of humanitarian values, for the genuine keeping of peace, dedicated to the welfare of their fellow men. These men have learned the hard way what it is to be victims of a violent and manipulative society, they have been victims and perpetrators and are keenly aware of the damage that can occur to human communities when these types of social and cultural imbalances prevail.

As I stand on the corner of the services sector I watch the visiting ‘greys’ go about their morning sun salutations, hundreds of them congregating in the central park-lands, silently practising their daily yoga in unison, flowing grey hair and beards waving gently in the morning breeze, dappled sunlight paying across the many-coloured plaid shirts, baggy denims and leather waistcoats. I admire their discipline as I join with others to plan the order of activities for the day.

Across the street in the yard of the Police service centre, uniformed men are also doing yoga flows to start the day, and next door to them, the local school welcomes children and young parents to breakfast. Children are nurtured for their individual talents and natural inclinations, families eat together and plan the activities of the day in order to best serve the needs of the upcoming generations. My generation, the middles, who’s children are grown or who have none of their own are responsible for provisioning the community centres, schools, hospitals, public kitchens like the ones that feed the nomads, and for keeping the townships clean and healthy to live in.

A major area of focus for elders has been tree planting, and many middles are following their time honoured tradition as arborists, weaving the forest and human communities into an integrated whole. Building design is resilient, blends with the natural world, provides shelter for humans and animals, provides food, shelter and clean air, generates rainfall, provides shade and humus for the soil. Where we use vehicles we suspend them from cables to keep the soils soft and porous, where we build, we accommodate for the growth of the trees. We take care to nurture tree types that live long and grow strong enough to support transportation and energy distribution infrastructure. Between township centres are many food growing areas, tended as commons by the community on a rotating roster and planted as permaculture forests where there is plenty for the insects, birds and abundant other wildlife to eat as well as to feed the human population.

We are still re-purposing legacy infrastructure, many legacy buildings are crumbled heaps from earthquakes and we try to re-use the materials wisely. As a whole, the human population upholds the ideal of a zero-extraction, zero-waste model of community building and respects the intrinsic right of all life forms to freely find available an abundance of materials to meet their basic needs.

I am so heartened by the continuance of this dream-scape, this landscape of possibility, this harbinger of things to come given the will of the majority to implement I feel compelled to share. Join the movement toward a thrivable future, play life as if it were a game that matters – DREAM ON!

Originally posted at: http://allisasis.com/2015/05/14/dream-on/