Thread by @distribconsc

The world as you experience it through your senses is not an accurate rendition of the world, but a subjective representation of reality – a *hallucination* – filtered and constructed by your brain.

This hallucination, and the way that your brain constructs it, is optimized for survival in a very specific environment – the African savanna, tens of thousands of years ago. It is not optimized for the modern human living in a modern environment.

Since the environment has changed so much, your brain isn't always very useful anymore. It's like a stone-age tool in the modern world. And this makes your brain very susceptible to manipulation, exploitation, and hacking.

Especially now, at a time where we have the technology to transmit and share our thoughts around the world at the speed of light.

The Internet is not a bunch of computers connected to each other, but a bunch of human minds connected to each other.

It is an incredible technology, but technology is not neutral.

Right now, the biggest tech companies are making some of the most important connections in our society — connecting people with products and services, connecting advertisers to users, and connecting voters to candidates.

But as we make these connections, we need to be more active in how they're made. We need a public debate about the values that should shape how we build our technologies.

These tech giants have immense power over our economy, society, and democracy, but they claim the mantle of neutrality. They say that they are simply platforms that connect other parties, and it's up to those parties to decide what connections get made, not them.

The decisions that tech companies make can shape society for good or ill. Their decisions & algorithms determine what people see in their News Feeds; they determine what people find when they go online to look for something ...what people believe, shaping their views of the world

We should use technological innovation to make government more transparent, accountable, and responsive; not to replace it with private mechanisms that do not answer to the public.

It should use its power to protect users against unfair, deceptive, abusive, and unsustainable practices by private companies. And it should use its funds to support the development of technologies that are more equal, inclusive, accountable, and sustainable.

This is by no means an easy agenda. The tech industry has enormous momentum, and resistance will be fierce. But without this pushback, our society will become less reflective of the values it claims to cherish — and less equitable for everyone.

So there are many battles to be fought.
Do we want social networks that are engineered to be addictive? Or do we want them to promote healthy patterns of online communication?

Do we want digital marketplaces that are equitable and fair to everyone, or do we want ones where the biggest and most privileged players get special advantages?

The choices we make about these questions will shape how billions of people connect with one another and with society at large. And it's about time we started talking about them. The question is, how we can do this?

We are given the opportunity to be present to the conditions of life, and to act in ways that catalyze transformation. We can awaken our senses, celebrate the moments that bring us together, and learn to live without fear of change.

How do we find the time to act in ways that catalyze transformation in this world of ours where people are dying of thirst;
where children are robbed of their childhoods;
where violence is sanctioned by powers that be;

where hunger is pandemic;
where there is a growing gulf between the rich and the poor;
where fresh rivers are turned into toxic waste;

where forests disappear overnight;
where species go extinct at an alarming rate.
How can we find time to act?

We are the ones we've been waiting for. This is our time to act. There's no more time to waste.

We need to create new forms of wealth.
We need to build new relationships, and transform old relations of domination.
We must heal our bodies, restore our communities, and challenge those who are damaging the planet and its inhabitants.

We need to celebrate life in all its diversity and complexity.
We need to build new communities, create local economies, and promote sustainable and ecologically friendly businesses.

We need to tell different stories. Stories of possibilities. Stories of hope.
We need to cultivate new ways of being, so that we can be present in the world as it is.
We need to find the time to act, now more than ever.

We need to establish new rituals, algorithms for the body and mind. Rituals that help us shift perspectives, and reach states of mind that were otherwise unattainable. Rituals that help us build new alliances. Rituals that bridge the body and mind, the self and others.

We are at a critical moment in Earth's history. Like it or not, we are all participants in this epic transformation, and there's no time to waste.
How can we find the time to act?

We need a new economy. One that is based on values of justice & sustainability, so that all beings have access to the basic necessities of life. It needs to be based on cooperation & collaboration, rather than competition & domination; to give priority to meeting the needs of ...

It needs to be based on economies of scale that are local, regional, global, even universal; that integrate populations into systems of flow that distribute the surpluses generated; that ensure access to resources for all; where people can meet their needs through their own ...

where new forms of exchange are based on principles of reciprocity, redistribution, & reconfiguration of the commons;
where value is created by the commons, rather than extracted from it;
where value is redistributed to all living beings that contribute to regeneration of life;

where governance is transparent and participatory;
where people can hold each other accountable;
where there is no place for domination, exploitation, or oppression.

This economy will be based on principles of sufficiency, rather than excess; of quality, not quantity; of self-sufficiency, rather than dependence. On the sharing of resources within the boundaries of bioregions; on the sharing of information, knowledge, and technology.

It will be based on forms of governance & social organization that focus on the commons, rather than private property & ownership. Where resources are held in common & shared as much as possible; where people can participate in shaping their lives, & where they can engage with...

It will be based on an economy that is embedded in nature; that is in harmony with the cosmos.

The current paradigm has led us into this crisis, but it's not too late to change course. We may not be able to stop the destruction from happening, but we can mitigate its impact on our lives and on the lives of future generations.
It is time to act.
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