We used to walk everywhere.

Traditions are a strange thing. They are what used to be. That doesn't necessarily mean they indicate what will be or what should be. What they do do, in my view, is keep things as they are. And as we've seen recently with art and culture clashing with politics and history/traditions, culture is light years ahead of the slowly turning tradition of our outdated politics. It always has been - public society and culture lead, politics follows. 

The Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire in 1969 - and at other times - https://tinyl.co/3S1e. Water, was on fire. How mad is that? Due to industrial pollution caused by weak to invisible regulation because the desire for profits rose above all else. It wasn't until this was reported and people saw first hand, the impacts of pollution and it's impacts on the environment, that things started to change. Governance and politics until that point (and many would argue still is) had been focused on economics and profits, not people and planet. After the public outcry, politics, and thence legislation, shifted. A slow, tortuous process that was reactive not proactive. Culture led, politics followed.

Getting back to other traditions now, for a moment. Humans used to walk everywhere. So, that's a tradition right? Then we rode horses - another tradition. Horse and carts, boats and bicycles. All things from the "old days" so, traditions right? Do humans still walk everywhere? Does everyone still ride a horse to work or to the supermarket? Not where I live they don't. Most people use a motorised form of transport. Electric or fossil fuelled. So why does society summon tradition so fervently? If some of these traditions are largely now sidelined, why are some traditions still held as the best indicator of a civil society? If traditions are so great, why aren't we all still walking or waiting at the Horse and Cart stop for ride to work? 

Some traditions that I think are unhelpful for a civil, innovative and developed society, but, which our so-called leaders seem unable to divorce from, include these. The first one will probably upset some but, I suppose I better just jump right on in. That's why I'm here. 

• Celebrating war every November. I choose the word celebrate carefully. This perpetuates the mindset of war. The fear of war. The nationalism of war. What it doesn't do, is bring togetherness. Cohesion. A society that rallies and has dynamism to move forward. I think a better use of the day, if it has to exist, might be to say that everyone who wants to note the day, does some community service. Imagine all the armed services personnel, all those boy and girl scouts and their parents and anyone else who feels this day, doing something to change their community. Fixing broken landscapes and environments, visiting the sick, homeless and lonely, supporting healthcare, education. Positive, human interaction. Cohesion. Futuristically focused, people powered development that moves us away from the negativity of what humans can do to each other - kill, maim, traumatise - and towards a better version of ourselves and our world. I like that idea. But it doesn't sell bombs. I'm sure those who fought, suffered and died, would want to have done so for a better future, not one that retraces those terrible steps and relives them. Time and time again.
• The focus on the same forms of motorised transport. A quote, often attribute to our Maggie, sums this up perfectly "anyone on a bus over the age of 25, is a failure". The failure is with individualised, mass produced transportation that hasn't really evolved in one hundred years. Yes, it's more comfortable. It has seat belts now. It has radio and phone connectivity and electric windows and air con but, it's still based on fossils (including the manufacturers), has (mostly) four wheels, is not public and delivers vast incomes for a select few whilst leaving huge negative externalities for the rest of us. And, it and it's externalities are subsidised by us. At our expense. The European Federation for Transport and Environment reported in 2024 that in just 5 EU nations, the level of subsidies given by tax payers to car manufacturers was 42 Billion Euros - https://tinyl.co/3S0d . 42 Billion. 42 Billion! That's a lot of cash that's given to polluting industries that have largely refused to modernise except when legislation, reluctantly leads the way. What could our societies do with that money? How could we improve healthcare, education, innovation and redress environmental harms?
  War itself. Ghengis Khan did it - https://tinyl.co/3S0t. The Romans did it. Neanderthals no doubt did it. The UK did it. The U.S. continues support it alongside Russia and Israel - amongst others. Some sources say that Genghis killed around 40 million people. https://tinyl.co/3S0s With a global population of around 360 million in 1200, that means his actions were responsible for the deaths of 1 in every 9 people alive at the time. Crazy. So, it's a tradition right? War? Killing. Destroying. Erasing. Is it? Is that a tradition we want to hold onto? If you say yes to that, why? Vision of Humanity notes that the global cost of war and violence each year is $14.4 Trillon - https://tinyl.co/3S0u . According to Statista, the total global economic value in 2020 was nearly $86 Trillion. Approximately 1/6th of global value, is spent each year on death and destruction. Again, just imagine what we could do with that? The positive benefits the world could take from that kind of money? They say there's no money for environmental protections, equality, benefits, healthcare, education or innovation but, I think there is. There's lots. And that's before we get onto taxation and corporate fiduciary duty. The war tradition however is good for business. If it's not to plunder a nation under a falsified guise and steal oil or other reserves, then it's for contracts for arms and rebuilding once the destruction is complete. Following the Iraq war which was not really fought for WMD, lets be honest, U.S. corporations benefitted to the tune of many, many billions of dollars - https://tinyl.co/3S2O . So, who does this tradition benefit? Hopefully, I've already answered that. The Creedence Clearwater Revival song - Fortunate Son, describes how some are protected from war, some are not. Where is the equality? Well, it seems equality can do one, as long as power and profits are maintained.
  

I really do wish, and I hope, that people very soon observe this and feel suitably angry by it, because I am. And I fear that unless there is mass civil disobedience, rather than mass civil acquiescence, the people that thrive on these irrelevant and destructive traditions, will take what they want. Including ultimately, us, and our home.

As the French Philosopher, Anthropologist and Sociologist Bruno Latour noted - "We have never been modern". He meant it in a slightly different context, but the phraseology, is relatable to the words above. A truly developed, modern, civilised society, wouldn't behave in this way. It wouldn't hold onto destructive traditions. It would value itself, its home and its future and would work towards bettering all of these three things.

More next time.........