12 Invitations to Ourselves
To bring about change,
you must not be afraid to take the first step.
We will fail when we fail to try.
Rosa Parks
The following 12 points should invite and encourage us citizens of a civil society to question our attitudes ever more consciously with regard to the way we consume, eat, and travel, and the many ways in which we are connected to the world in both positive and destructive ways. They primarily concern our actions and omissions in everyday life, and suggest ways to support a life in service to more life. These invitations are not about moral obligations or catering to any feelings of guilt. They do not concern accusing others from a position of supposed moral superiority or dictating how they should live their lives. Rather, they address personal responsibility and the conscientious choice to leave behind conventional and pervasive status quo pressures in order to optimize our lives. They concern universal values of living together as a minimal consensus that we can refer to as a society and to whose implementation we can unite loosely, but clearly and firmly. These 12 points form an ideal to which we can orient ourselves and whose practical implementation we can begin immediately and together.
1.
MOBILITY
We seek out ways to travel in a more climate-friendly manner.
Even if this point will make many people cry right at the start: We are freeing ourselves as far as possible from energy-intensive forms of mobility. This has much less to do with renunciation than with the decency to thoroughly question some of our habitual privileges.
2.
TOLERANCE
We see ourselves as part of a colorful, cosmopolitan and tolerant society.
Despite that it should be assumed as right: We actively and patiently stand up against direct and subtle forms of prejudice, racism, misogyny and homophobia – including that perpetrated amongst ourselves.
3.
COMMUNITY
We actively network, get to know one another, and support each other.
It can be exhausting but also enriching to experience yourself as part of a community, whether at work, in a partnership, as a family, as part of a self-chosen community or in a neighborhood. It is important to practice living together more and more and to develop a cohesion in which we feel comfortable and in which we can develop.
4.
CREATIVITY
We educate ourselves poetically, artistically, and spiritually.
Painting a picture, reading a book or writing a poem are relevant methods to counter the multiple crises of our time. This creates inner balance, self-efficacy, happiness and a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world in wich we live.
5.
CONSUMPTION
We buy second-hand, repair, share, swap, and make things ourselves.
We have far too much of everything. Whether fast fashion, fast food or planned obsolescence, through our consumer behavior, we ensure that as few new consumer goods as possible are produced to meet our needs. We organize regional services and neighbourly help. Creating de-commercialized spaces at the local level is a subversive and highly socially active action.
6.
ENGAGEMENT
We are politically, activistically, and socially engaged.
We oppose human rights violations around the world that are committed because of the power interests of a few. We are radically committed to justice, peace, and diplomacy in society. Be outraged, get involved, and organize yourselves as a local, democratic community.
7.
FOOD
We garden and eat a plant-based diet as much as we are able.
The way we eat makes a huge difference. That’s why we buy more organic and regional food as consistently as possible and are conscious about our choices. If we create the opportunity to grow and process some of our own food, we take a huge step forward both personally and in terms of civilization.
8.
PLAY
We sing and play together and alone.
People are fully human only when they play. Consuming less and not merely defining ourselves by our careers, we will have much more time to play and experiment. We can explore the world in all its facets artistically, musically, and scientifically, get to know ourselves and the world better and make a “career” in a broader sense.
9.
HEALTH
We keep ourselves mentally and physically healthy.
Our mental and physical health is our greatest asset. Not only physical exercise and positive thinking, but also meditative practice, such as yoga & tai chi provide a good basis for connecting with the unseen strata of life.
10.
BEAUTY
We are poeticizing ourselves and the world.
When we are less preoccupied with gainful employment and consumption, we have more time for the beauty of the world that surrounds and permeates us everywhere. We can find it if we take the time to look for it. We question what is comfortable and practical, seeking instead what is impractical and preferring what is beautiful.
11.
TECHNOLOGY
We use digital resources carefully.
The belief in more technology as a solution to our civilization´s problems prevents us from changing our attitude towards the world. The digital world is not only becoming increasingly resource-intensive, it is also collecting our data in order to send us and our children more tailored advertising in our living rooms with the help of its algorithms. We are making a fundamental effort to merge less rather than more with our cell phones and to be more mindful of our digital consumption.
12.
RESILIENCE
We question our conventions and emerge stronger from crisis.
We understand the multiple crises that we are increasingly facing as an invitation to ourselves to change culturally in a very fundamental way. We will try to understand these crises not quickly, but thoroughly; we balance contradictions within ourselves. This also involves critically questioning our conventional concepts of activism, progress, solution-oriented thinking and hope.
This concept of invitations to ourselves is inspired by many different perspectives and ideas. In particular from the concept of the terrestrial, as developed by Bruno Latour; the ideas of a post-growth society, as explained to me by Niko Paech – and the image of a social sculpture, as developed by Joseph Beuys, incorporating the idea of a tripartition of the social organism. It is also inspired by the ideas of the cultural philosopher Charles Eisenstein; and those of postactivism, as described by Bayo Akomolafe. Finally, the refreshingly radical “66 Punkte an die Letzte Generation” should be mentioned as an inspiration, with the help in which Helge Peukert manages the feat of reconciling contradictions, because these 66 points seem so wonderfully utopian and yet tie in quite conventionally with real political tradition.
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