The X-Journey
Chapter 1: The Context
THE URGENCY
If we do not transform our systems, institutions, ideologies, and the way we live in the next 9 years we are heading towards the unleashing of climatic feedback loops which will lead to mass extinction, unprecedented loss of biodiversity, extreme weather events, higher temperature, higher sea level, increase in climate refugees and migrants which might put pressure on and eventually lead to the collapse of our:
- Agriculture system
- Healthcare system
- Energy system
- Social security system
- Financial system
- Industrial system
- Transportation system
- Nation-state governments
- Bilateral and multilateral international organizations (UN, WHO, etc.)
THE LIMITATIONS OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM
Human beings are fundamentally good (generous, kind, empathetic, collaborative, loving).
The prevalent ideologies, systems and institution (that are responsible and contributing to the systems-collapse above) are built on the premise that human beings are fundamentally bad (greedy, selfish, insensible, unaesthetic) (Example: traditional rational economics, for example, assumes people will always try to maximize their individual well-being, even if at the expense of others and the community, and accumulate as much resources as possible).
These premises and what is built upon them are taken as absolute truth and therefore projected into the world by us, manifesting themselves as self-fulfilling assumptions.
We need to break this cycle of projection of values (“the trance”) into new generations that end up perpetuating the systems, ideologies and institutions that are destroying the vitality of our planet and our future livelihoods.
To break free from “the trance”, the traditional tools for reformative systems change that we have, politics and businesses, will not be:
1) Transformative enough, because they are built on the very foundation we are trying to refute
2) Fast enough because they are reformative, not revolutionary
3) Powerful enough, because they have a limited participation of civil society
4) Wide enough, because they are restricted by nation-state boundaries and jurisdictions while the problems we face are truly global.
THE POWER OF PLAY
To play is to construct imagined realities and to inhabit them while interacting in novel ways and personifying fantastic roles that are not bound by the limitations of reality. Play is, literally a “playground” for new skills and actions, ways of interaction and communication, that can be tested out and practiced. It also is absorbent, it fascinates the players and pulls them into to the play-reality which they literally inhabit for the duration of the play itself.
Play, therefore, is the perfect candidate for a viable path to break free from our collective trance because:
1) It signifies literally the creation, the projection and the inhabiting of new imagined realities, thus being a natural way to transcend from the limitations of the current systems and ideologies.
2) It can be incredibly engaging, and just how teens are absorbed into video-game for hours on end they (and we) can also be absorbed in any other game as long as it is designed well enough.
THE POWER OF CHILDREN
Children and teenagers (up to 17yo) are still in their process of socialization and of making sense of reality, therefore they are less indoctrinated and impacted by the projected values and world-views of the current system.
What can be labeled as their “innocence” or “naïveté” when they are talking about the world and the future could also be judged as lucidity in that they are not yet (fully) in the trance of the presumed to be hard truths about humanity and the world that limit and blind adults from seeing alternative future realities.
The relationships between children and their family and extended community, is extremely powerful given the bonds of attachment and the instinctive sense of protection, guidance and support that these adults feel toward their youngling. This has two major implications:
1) Most adults will go out of their way to support their children in their endeavors and activities that further development
2) Most adults will also immerse themselves in the world of play created by their offspring or by the children in their close community given the bonds of attachment to them
CONNECTING THE DOTS
If we are to have a shot at transforming our systems and the ways we live before it is too late to reverse the feedback loops and climatic catastrophes that ensue, we must seek alternative ways beyond the traditional mainstream tools of change (UN SDGs, Impact Investing, etc.) that address the issues at the foundational level of the premises on which most of these common-place approaches are still based upon.
To do that we propose an epic, massive, global, fantastic game. A game that engages all types of children, all across the world and that helps them to self-organize, practice systems-change skills, build confidence, escape “the trance”, and actually bring in their families, friends, neighbors and entire communities into the game as well through their bonds of affection. Together, the children and the adults create new shared realities and practice what it might look like to interact in a reality based on different premises, with different ways to communicate, to create and exchange value, to produce, to discard, to interact with nature, to exist…
This game is the X Journey.
Chapter 2: The Story (or The Invitation)
Earth, April 2021
A mysterious psychogenic illness has emerged on Earth. Across the world, many children and some adults started to develop a set of strange psychological symptoms. They suddenly feel demotivated and disengaged with their work or studies and seem to enter a sort of delirious marvelling at the natural world and at the most ordinary things and situations. They seek to spend more and more time outdoors immersed in nature. They are also compelled to perform random acts of kindness and love, offering help to strangers and offering hugs to people, animals and trees. Most shockingly, they all report auditory hallucinations with exactly the same words: “You’re invited…”. They all report as well having visual hallucinations, but the adults seem to have visions of otherworldly landscapes, cities and human-like entities, while the children report seeing what seem to be high-tech instruments and mechanical parts such as gears, robotic arms, engine-like structures…
Earth, May 2021
A joint statement from NASA, the European Space Agency, and China National Space Administration announces that there has been the discovery of intelligent life outside of Earth. An interstellar message was received that contains 4 parts. The first are the astronomical coordinates for a planet previously unknown to scientists only 1.3 light-years away that was named Planet-X. The second is a vast set of advanced scientific knowledge that experts say will catapult human technological development centuries into the future. The third is a visual model of what appears to be some sort of spaceship. And the fourth, and most shocking of all, was a simple sentence written in the 12 most spoken languages on Earth. In English it read: “You’re all invited, but only some of you know the key to getting to the party…”
Earth, June 2021
(Some of) the adults that have been taken by the hallucinations gather to discuss the matter at hand. They share their visions and realize they are seeing different locations of the same place… Planet-X. By talking to each other they realize they not only see landscapes and buildings, but that through their conversations they somehow “know” or “remember” things about Planet-X: it’s people, it’s stories, it’s institutions, it’s life. They also understand that the children’s hallucinations are in fact the blueprint for the spaceship that can lead us to Planet-X…
But what’s “the key” to getting there?
They realize the Key is both their vision and the children’s vision…
The blade of the key needs the bow, and the bow needs the blade…
And then they understand their mission, their calling…
To support the children in materializing the vision of the spaceship and bringing it to life… To invite and coordinate the whole world in supporting the children… And they must share their vision of Planet-X because the ship must be built in the same way things are done there…
Are you up for the challenge?
The Journey to Planet-X
Chapter 3: The Tools
Our shared agreemets:
Transparency of flow of resources
“No one is afraid of having others find out how much resource they control”
Clarity on individual and collective needs
“frequent rituals of self-awareness and of asking other’s needs to feel safe”
Create conditions that facilitate self-organization
Gift culture and being in service of
Restoring and fostering the spirit of play
“When someone gets frustrated, someone brings them an ice cream. When someone gets tired, they rest.”
“Every concern gets a caring response”
Clarity on shared purpose
Decisions get made through the kids’ perspective
Sharing information
“No one capitalizes on information (data) at the expense of anyone else”
What we ask ourselves and each other to stay atuned to the vision:
What do you know/see? Here’s what I know/see.
What are our collective needs and priorities?
What do you need to feel safe?
What are you acting in service of?
How is this making you feel? Are you having fun/enjoying it?
Are you proud to present this to the kids?
Chapter 4: The Proposal
(to be continued?)
