The Power of Dreams: UN-aligned

To have a dream is not enough... 

A voice, crying out in the desert... Cassandra rambling on, unheeded... UN-aligned was launched last Friday. What has changed? It was like planting a seed in the ground. Some seeds sprout and grow, others rot or wither before they even start to grace the earth with beauty. One can but try. Yes, but success depends on many factors: vision, luck, skill, support... 

Today I would like to write about vision. If I had to speak to you about a near perfect world, you would most likely be delighted with its representation: peace, harmony, justice, mutual support, beauty... However, the minute I started talking about how to make that world a reality, most people would switch off. Some will start shooting down concrete suggestions with taunts of "idealism!" 

Planning the journey

The issue is not that people are unable to live with dignity in an orderly and pleasant world. Of course they can. The problem is that we are blinkered by "short-termism" and a certain fatalism. People rarely question how to get from A to B, when A is the society we now live in and B is a more Utopic one. 

UN-aligned has a vision of a better world and proposes the steps needed to attain it. No doubt, it will need to adapt and develop. What are its chances of success? I am uncertain. What is certain, however, is that it exists. Without a plan to reach a specific destination, the chances of getting there are nigh on impossible. That is the crux of the matter. This seed will not rot in the earth. Its first enemy will be apathy, its second will be direct confrontation. Meeting these challenges are part of that planning for the journey form A to B.

Three types of people

So, broadly speaking, there are three types of people. The first kind plod along absorbed in short-term or self-centred goals. The second type project a better world and suggest how to achieve it. While the third, acknowledge the potential of this better world, but are too busy shooting down "idealistic" proposals, to offer alternative or improved trajectories. What sort of person are you?

Join UN-aligned and help us usher in a better world...