Our Purple FutureI have a dream. That the increasing possibility for and advantages of remote work will trigger a remarkable shift in human living patterns. Leaving crowded, expensive, and cramped quarters in the big cities, young families will now move to smaller and more affordable towns, bringing with them renewed energy and new ideas. That these once languishing rural outposts experience a rekindling of their past vigor and find new purpose. That these small towns also have the wisdom to enact laws that prevent gentrification and displacement and instead encourage cross-fertilization between new and old citizens. I have a dream! I have a dream. That the newly reinvigorated towns dotting our landscape evolve in a remarkably wholesome way. Their local governments will now be composed of engaged people who bring new thoughts and old ideas together, merging big-city blue and small-town red into vibrant purple. The creativity and future-minded energy of the newcomers will blend with the experience, neighborliness, and grounded qualities of the old-timers. Wisdom from the region's indigenous beginnings is sought out and welcomed too. I have a dream! I have a dream. That the exodus from the big cities will bring to these once-frenetic citadels a calming of energy and pace. Their now diminished populations will enable service and support workers to once again live close to their jobs and in an affordable way. The new proliferation of electric self-driving cars will have a calming influence on pollution and tension as well. Shared public transport will be increasingly used. And weekend visits to the newly vibrant nearby towns will become a joyful diversion, which will also further invigorate them. I have a dream! I have a dream. That the spreading out and localization of life on Earth changes the way we grow food and what we eat. All of us now have more room for home gardens. Local farms are able to serve the capacity of their region. Pesticide-free, renegerative agricultural practices become the norm and mitigate climate change. Waterways and the air are cleaner. Food is once again nutritious. The need for artificial medicines now lessens and local natural healers are able to handle most problems and become the norm. I have a dream! I have a dream. That the localization of life also brings with it a lowered tendency towards global power and control. While we are definitely more interconnected globally, our local environments are more unique and creative. Although many jobs have become automated, it is handiwork and creativity -- the personal touch -- that is now most valued. The arts flourish. Each person becomes freer to follow their personal gifts and inclinations. I have a dream! I have a dream. That this vision of our purple future is taking place worldwide. That we all look back on 2020 as the beginning of this change. That we know with certainty and trust that everything has happened for a reason -- a reason that we couldn't have understood or foreseen at the time. That our new human experience of life on Earth is unlike anything from the past and that, finally, we can say: humanity has reached a golden age. It is an age that we now know was fostered and nurtured by the force we call Gaia -- the consciousness of our planet. I have a dream! |
