And up pops Prometheus!

Life can be strange at times; within hours of writing my previous blog about the Prometheus Syndrome, up popped Prometheus demonstrating how modern thinking is tied to the past by the unbreakable chains of ideology.

It happened when I was watching television on the evening of the Sunday that I posted the blog in question. The programme was Countryfile on the BBC One channel. For those not familiar with Coutryfile, this is a rural affairs magazine programme. I watch Countryfile because it is often a useful source of information and insight concerning agriculture; I am at the moment writing two books about this topic, one being a novel and the other non-fiction about the issues addressed by the novel. Several Prometheans manifest themselves in both books in the form of: a scientist, a technologist, an engineer, an economist, employees of multi-national corporations, and a government representative.

The ideology that was given an airing on this BBC programme, was macro economics, of the type found from 1776 (the year Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations was published) onwards, and most notably in the 19^th century, which basically manifested itself in this programme as an ideological attack on the new agreements for the EU Common Agricultural Policy. The mantra is a well known one; subsidies are bad, no other industry gets them (not true), and the markets should determine the prices farmers receive for their products. These are the three delusions that this particular manifestation of Prometheus was mostly concerned with.

Some facts might be useful here. Subsidies are provided to farmers by most governments across the globe. The markets for agricultural produce are often global, so any government unilaterally abandoning subsidies will place its farmers at a serious disadvantage. Removal of subsidies will result in many small farmers going out of business, which the ideologue in question felt was a good thing (no compassion here – the emotional suffering of the farmers concerned was of no interest (see how far we have come since the 19^th century!)). That most farming in Europe is undertaken in small holdings was not considered. And the result of all these small scale, inefficient farms going out of business would be the creation of large farms driven by profit, which means maximising output, and where the environment becomes a cost, and one to be minimised (this is the reality of big businesses in all sectors).

Imagine a world where washing machines, toasters, and other consumer goods where not so readily available because some of the companies that make them had gone out of business. The unavailability of a consumer good, would be inconvenient for sure, but one that most people would be able to live with. Now imagine a world where food is scarce as a result of farmers going out of business, or crop losses resulting from extreme weather conditions. Actually you do not have to image food scarcity, for it has already happened a few years back, as have the consequences (food riots).

Food is not a commercial commodity, it is a basic human right, and it cannot be treated in the same way as other products. If people do not have food, cannot afford food, then they have to be supported. Or perhaps not, surely these people should be allowed to die, and as Scrooge says in A Christmas Carol, “… and in doing so decrease the surplus population.” This, is the where Darwinian type of macro economics leads. That we do not allow this is a tribute to the extent that we have made some progress, yet we still tolerate the ideology that starts us down the track that leads to …

One could go on listing these counter-arguments, and pointing out the stupidity inherent to this outdated macro economic dogma. I will not though continue; the matters linked to it, and the alternative macro economics perspectives, will be explored in the two books that I am writing, which alas will not appear until 2015 at the earliest.

I conclude by observing that, here in this macro economic dogma, one begins to see why the world is in such a mess. Take this ideology and combine it with all the others that have been let loose on the modern world, and one has a recipe for the disaster that is unfolding before our eyes, but which most seem to think cannot be prevented. This is not true of course, and if people in the developed nations started using their votes, their wallets, and their life styles, we could ensure that all these Prometheans (ideological lunatics and their followers) are isolated and marginalised, and that humanity begins to walk a different path.

What is the Prometheus Syndrome?

In a previous blog I mentioned something that I call the Prometheus Syndrome. What exactly is this? For those not so familiar with the mythology of the Ancient Greeks, I will briefly recount here the story of Prometheus, the Titan, who, in this mythology, created human beings.

Prometheus favoured his creation and feeling sorry for them, advised them badly, by showing them a trick which transformed humans into what I call self-deluded tricksters. What was this trick? It was but a simple deception. Not wanting Zeus to take the best parts of a sacrificed bull, Prometheus told humans to take the bones and to dress and hide them with a few bits of good meat so that they appeared to be the best, and to hide most of what was best, with entrails and the like. And Zeus fell for this trick, picking what looked to be the best, only to discover that it was not, which angered him much, and by way of punishment he denied men the fire that they could have used to cook the meat and to make for themselves a better life.

Yet again Prometheus foolishly acted in humankind’s favour, by stealing fire from the gods, and thus with the ability to make fire, the road to the development of human civilisation had been started. But this was too much for Zeus, and as punishment, Prometheus was bound to a rock with unbreakable chains, and an eagle was commanded to rip out his liver. Prometheus though, being an immortal, could not die, and at night his liver regenerated, thus the agony was repeated the next day, and the next, and so on for a countless age. And there he would have remained, caught in an eternal loop, if Zeus had not allowed Hercules to rescue Prometheus.

Here is the essence of the Prometheus Syndrome, a condition which involves people eternally reinventing themselves, their societies, their civilisations, in exactly the same form as in the past. This is exactly what is happening in Europe at the moment, and one can see it ever where, and it is at the core of Europe’s slow decline.

Here I can imagine many people thinking that this is not true. What about all this wonderful new technology? “So Paul, you are wrong!”  To which I could make many responses, but the one that I would stress at the moment, is “Do you mean all this wonderful technology that is destroying the world by causing a serious and worrying decline in finite resources, that is contributing to the destruction of the biodiversity upon which human life depends for its existence, that is being used by governments to monitor what you are doing, that is making warfare even more destructive, that is creating powerful multinational companies that only act in their own selfish interests, that in its manufacture is polluting the world, that is turning our oceans into a sea of floating discarded plastic bottles and containers, that is allowing humankind to fish the world’s fish stocks to the point of extinction, etc. etc. etc.”  Wake-up, you dreamers, and see the mess that your precious technology is creating, and most often, in the name of profit. This is exactly what I mean by the Prometheus Syndrome, this is how technology has always been, and will continue to be, until those unbreakable chains that tie the minds of scientists, engineers and technologists to the rock of the past, are smashed. This is a theme that I explore in my forthcoming novel entitled Moments in Time.

What I have briefly touched upon above are matters which, more than ever, need to be discussed, because sustainability fundamentally means developing a different type of technology, which in itself is a problem, for most of those who are engaged in technology development are, at core, Social Darwinists, who believe that there is only one best technology. But, the truth is that this one best technology is in fact mostly just bones dressed up with a little good meat. And now is the time to change this circumstance.

So who will break the chains, for it seems that there is no Hercules here to rescue these people from the eternal loop in which their fragmented minds are caught. And so the destruction continues, as does the delusion that we are making progress.

How to stop this is actually conceptually very easy: it involves changes in beliefs, values and behaviour, which is why also it is difficult to achieve, as people are not inclined towards making such changes, for this involves self-questioning, self-development, and the like, something which increasingly has no place in the modern world.

Putting aside the people who think that the only alternative to what we have is to go backwards, the implication of seeking out a different technology has profound implications, which will, in due course, receive attention in my writings; in the blog, on my web site, and in my books.

See also my later entry: The Prometheus Syndrome Explained.

New Narratives for Europe

President Barroso, the President of the European Commission, has initiated a new project called New Narratives for Europe. He feels that, given the social and economic problems that Europe now faces, and also because of the indifference, and even hostility towards the European Union, that is evident across Europe, it is necessary to set a new vision for Europe that will inspire young people. And to this end he is looking to culture to deliver these new narratives, by which I suppose he means the arts, literature, architecture and so forth, including also science, for that too is also part of culture.

He is right of course, for most certainly Europe does need a new vision and also to rediscover idealism. Back in the mid 1980s when I first became involved with European Commission research programmes, there was a sense that we were engaged in a project to build Europe as place where people understand one another, and where disparate cultures learn to peacefully co-exist and to respect that which often is quite different. And there were matters of economy too, in the sense of making firms more competitive in world markets. Now however it is economy, economy and economy. The idealism has gone, as has the vision.

What concerns me however is that these new narratives will not be new at all, just more of the thinking that has led humanity to its present predicament. The reason for my worries lies in what I call the Prometheus Syndrome, which I observe everywhere I go in Europe. The future it seems is just the past projected into the future, but with slightly more advanced technology. Fundamental mind-sets however, remain unchanged, and we continue to walk the path that will ultimately lead to a disaster. And why do I call this the Prometheus Syndrome? The answer is that, it is becoming evident that thought in Europe is bound to the rock of the past with unbreakable chains, and that all that is happening is that Europe is regenerating in exactly the same form that it has always been, and so is condemned to be for ever picked at by those for whom a world without a free thinking and prosperous Europe would be a good thing.

So yes let us have some new narratives for Europe, but please, let them be new! I hope that in my publications, that is to say in my books, both fiction and non-fiction, in my web site, and also in this blog, people will find the beginnings for such new narratives, not just for Europe but for the whole world.

This is the journey ...

This is the journey … I am a writer, and writing not only defines what I do but who I am. And back in 2001 when I began to develop my writing career in the direction of fiction I immediately began to ask myself why I write. I did not find an answer to this question until December 2011, when I wrote a short story entitled Encounter with a Wise Man, which is the third and final tale in a book that I published in 2012 that goes by the title Father Christmas Adventures: Unexpected Tales of Christmas Magic. I knew then that I had found my muse, which, put succinctly, is the madness of the modern world, and its inevitable outcome if we as a species do not begin to walk a different path. And my aim is quite simple: to show people that taking a new road is possible, as well as how and where to start.

I am new to the world of blogging, so I will take some time to develop the design of my blog and also think about what to post. On my web site, ultimately, there will be a lot of information for people who want to start building a different world. So my message is please be patient; I will be back with regular blogs.

Through power of words the climate of thought can change. This is the journey …