What would life be like if society weren’t self-centered and superficial? Can we develop a vision for the future that recognizes what is best in human nature? Can we present this in a way that is not political or divisive?
A soulful city provides places for meaningful association with strangers. It has vibrant and beautiful public spaces. It is walkable and has good public transportation. It provides places for debate, and for lifelong learning. It supports community, protects the poor and the marginalized, and promotes democracy, justice, happiness. It is designed for celebrating our common humanity.
Livable cities nourish the full range of functions, including learning, entertainment, diversity and choice, conversation and dialogue, adventure and excitement, money-making, safety and comfort, spiritual inspiration, anonymity and privacy, transportation, justice, culture and art.
You’ve probably seen people with their backs permanently bent, walking with their faces close to the ground. Encrusted habits press on us like an anvil. We become accustomed to small and large evils. Now we see security guards at libraries and supermarkets. Scam artists call the elderly on Medicare scams. So-called non-profit hospitals openly take advantage of sick people. Homeless encampments dominate city streets. Sexual abuse of children is no longer unthinkable.
And yet in spite of everything we are still free. Let us look afresh at the broken world around us and pierce the aura of its inevitability. In every area of life we can begin anew. An unexpected resolution to a political issue or social problem can appear at any time, if we approach it with goodwill and stamina. Each is the culmination of a quest to uncover the very root, and a fresh way of organizing ourselves. Of managing conflict and our violent nature. Of controlling immense wealth. Of supporting businesses that are healthy and humane. Of fostering exquisite sensitivity to the
Static institutions can wake up. We can have better convenience stores and movies. We can have idiosyncratic shops that express a dream. New kinds of common spaces, art and learning everywhere. Maybe it won’t be as efficient or comfortable, but it will have soul.
Let’s tackle each area one by one. Eventually we will have enough insights to put all together as a platform for a new society, not a political but a visionary platform. We can then offer this to the public. As a way that teaches how to respond to political issues non-politically. A way that sensitive, thoughtful people anywhere can embrace.
How to solve the problems of the world? The only thing we really need to do is stop causing harm. To end corruption, ignorance, resentment, agression.
It’s not hard to come up with examples. They rise up effortlessly when we look afresh. But how can we do that? We can’t just fund operas or build monuments. How can we envision a world in which anyone can flower? We have to know what it means to flower as a human being. We need humility, insight and courage. We need insight, beauty and soul. Where could that come from? It is born in the course of our life, by everything we do, especially the way we react to challenges and dark experiences.
Even if we can’t figure out what to do, at least we can have a little more diversity and beauty. Comfortable benches, small shops. Not necessarily the most efficient or profitable. Maybe a little dirty and idiosyncratic, expressing a dream of the owner. It doesn’t have to be a cathedral.
The real change is efforvescence of spirit. Start from what you know best and care about most. We all have a complaint and a vision. Enter into this with the full force of your being. Have confidence that the old verities – beauty, love, truth – still exist. What is the opposite of sclerosis? Insight, courage, humility and wisdom. Now, straighten your back, and step ahead.