Empty Parks

I often imagine a world where there are no humans. I don’t yearn for that kind of a world – I mean there are plenty of worlds where humans do not exist so it’s not hard to come by. But, I think that humans need a blank canvas to create anew what we lack today. All of the tumult and torment that humans have put each other and other species through in this world gives me a constant bitter taste at the back of my throat. I have an unforgivable resentment towards past and present humans in general, but I always have hope for the future. Although I do think that it would be nice to just have humans go on holiday for a few years from Earth so that it can recuperate from our parasitic ways.

In regards to the blank canvas; I say that in terms of possessions and perhaps emotions. I think it would be unwise for humans to forget absolutely everything that we have been through in the last few millennia. History is important for a reason, we just need to find more solutions to fix problems and resolve these issues instead of setting them at bay for the time being and having to deal with them again and again in some slightly altered version of the original. But what happens when people have everything taken from them and are forced by nature to start fresh just like everyone else? We would probably just end up back to our current societies. Is greed the culprit to blame? Or is greed just a more evolved version of our primitive ways to display who holds the power in our society? Is greed necessary to maintain some sort of balance in how we function as a species?

Here’s my all time favourite question to ask people: Can you imagine a world where there is absolutely no form of currency at all?

Most of the people I ask are too established in jobs and lifestyles to be able to think of any alternatives to the way they live now, so they often fall short with answers and then justify why we need money and why barter systems would not work and then how self sufficiency needs to start somewhere and you can’t just start it without supplies etc etc. But here’s my problem with those answers: barter systems are still forms of currency because you are putting value in goods and trading them to get other goods; self sufficiency does not mean that we have to go backwards in time to the horse and buggy – we have the knowledge to do things better than we did in the past. We just need to be creative and innovative in order to figure out how to do all of this without money. If we can develop the internet, which is an infinitely (as far as I know) vast world in its own, surely we can come up with worlds that we can physically live in too! I plan to ask my future students this question and I am intrigued to see what worlds they can create with their not-as-corrupt minds.

But then, on my walk to work this morning I saw the park that has been having an event every night this week and is usually packed full of people – but it was empty aside from all of the debris left behind from the festivities. The tables, the chairs, the tents, the bare stage, the haphazard signs, the obvious human footprint placed on that park hit me in a strange way. I felt sad; though I talk big talk about how much I dislike humans, it made me gloomy to see such a lively place so lackluster. Maybe we don’t need to change all that much. Maybe, in all of my passion and rage I neglect to notice the fun and the excitement humans can create for one another too. I forget that we have all worked really hard to get where we are today, and that we are trying to improve every day we’re on this Earth. Maybe I just need to allow myself more freedom to experience the positive occasions in life. Maybe that bitter spot in the back of my throat can be sweetened with a little more human compassion. Maybe my resentment is forgivable.

So, instead of clearing the canvas for humans to start anew and asking questions of complete alternative ways of living, maybe I should ask people if they can imagine one thing that we can do in order to make this world a little better. I really don’t think that there is one wrong answer to that. So, tell me, what would you do to make this world a little better?

Until next time,

Dillon