The last correct pattern

What we see as harmony in nature is a high school of advocacy. Each tree in the forest strives to outgrow the other, while supporting its relatives and keeping alive its offspring waiting in the shade. When one dies, it feeds a multitude of living things and its decomposing matter is recycled back into newer trees. A true forest, free from human influence, is the best example of the balancing of individual interests. This same wonderful harmony, which is in fact a constant struggle, is not the case in today's societies, where the masses have given up some of their rights because they have come to believe, in a world that has become more complicated, that there are people who know better and are capable of making decisions that are in the best interests of the community. I use one of my favourite English words for this, bullshit. It is a basic law of existence that all living things look out for their own best interests first. It is no different for politicians. Yet modern man, in making his decisions, and this applies not only to the politician but also to me and to you, my dear reader, has to consider and balance three interests: individual, community and nature.

Another fundamental mistake is to assume that as adults we are capable of self-restraint. Unfortunately this is not true, if we do not encounter resistance based on self-interest we want everything for ourselves. And no one is an exception to this, not me, not you my dear reader and not our politicians. So society makes a fundamental mistake when people say en masse that I have already made my choice, one is no better than the other, they know what to do, I will retreat into my own little bubble, do my job as a good person, etc. This is a bad strategy, it is practically a flooring, and another cliché follows, whoever is on the floor gets kicked in, willy-nilly. Another analogy to illustrate how dangerous this is: no living creature in nature does this, because it will be devoured in a short time.

This picture is included as an illustration because of the title: they don't feel it's a problem. I was thinking of littering when I gave the title, but the above passage makes it a perfect choice.
One of the reasons for the malaise is the insecurity, the vulnerable situation that society has put itself in by its own choice. If the three interests are not asserted, the self-interest will expropriate and consume everything. These are clear things, not abstract isms designed to obfuscate in the formulation. Anyway, we are in an era of re-talk, when the purpose of communication is to confuse, to increase uncertainty, to give credibility to the image of the politician, the strong man. Meanwhile... oh, let's stop posturing. Another fact, I've looked in the mirror enough, we are all weak and feeble. No one is without flaws. I could write quite a long list of my own screw-ups.

I titled this picture "total destruction". That's all that's left of 117B. (True, under the Forest Act it has already been seeded with acorns.)
Before I fall into some sort of ism idea, I'll be damned, because I don't care about either. I'm more down to earth than that. Again, remember, (apparent) harmony requires the full pursuit of three interests: individual, community, natural. Incredible as it may seem, it can be done. Don't tell me you can't, because that's just your own selfishness talking. But that is also perfectly normal. I have no illusions about the inexorability of natural forces acting on living beings. But the long-term survival of our species is at stake. We are all affected by climate change and the senseless use of natural resources. Not just the small village covered by the avalanche of rocks and mud from the treeless hillsides. We are in danger because we have given up on asserting our interests. When one doesn't want to be political, one honestly doesn't want to live. I was trying to have a conversation with a zombie. It is depressing to see too many walking corpses who have given up on a full life at an early age.

We die standing. We are consumed by stress because we have given up the struggle and fallen into the trap of passivity. I have anger, sadness and resignation all at once. The latter is because, as an observer, I am aware of the limitations of living beings, the oppressive forces and the inertia of society and the nature of the system we have now. It is a dangerous limitation to applaud an exploitative system. Of course, no one politician is better than another. But their bungling can be recovered by a society that looks after its interests. It is not for nothing that we free observers stress the importance of checks and balances. It is bad enough to have a party-loyal attorney-general and president of a republic (there is no republic any more, it was the state party that changed the name of the country), just as it is more than a little despicable to have a clique on the neck of education, to curtail the powers of local authorities, to centralise control, etc. I just shake my head at how people can be so evil. Surely you are too, because you tolerate obvious arbitrariness and think you can get away with it. You don't get away with it. We're all shitting on the upset balance.

A true forest is a community of different species of trees of different ages, in which many other species of plants and animals also find their habitat. The temperate forest is the richest community on our continent. It is the right pattern, which has existed for thousands of years, and which we should take into account in our own best interests when organising our society. So don't settle for empty rhetoric, don't fall for sham measures, don't think that the better times for the global economy are the work of the state party and will last forever. Be active, yes be political, choose a party, build community and slap the hand of anyone who grabs too much of the commons. Otherwise we will all be cruelly screwed. The past is there for us to learn from. There was enough awfulness in the 20th century. Let us not repeat the horrors! Our choices or lack of choices in the present shape our future. What kind of life do you want? If you have children, what future do you want for them?