Regarding language, for a variety of reasons, Esperanto is a promising universal language.  Imagine being able to land anywhere in the world and converse in Esperanto with the local people.  It should be taught in schools; and people should talk in Esperanto in addition to their native tongue.  I grew up with two mother tongues (French and Arabic) and had no difficulties with that.

Regarding religion, let’s remember the common denominator: there is only one God, not only for us, but for the whole universe.  Having said that, we should always remember to respect those of us who do not believe in God.  The gift of free will encompass the privilege of not believing in the existence of a Creator.

One philosophy?  Forget about that for now.  Let’s not get too ambitious!

On the environmental front, we have raped this planet and have been doing so for the last 100 years.  The waterways, the soil, the air we breathe, nothing has been spared.  The strange thing is that the worse the situation became, the more we polluted!  More than ever, we buy endless -and often unnecessary- goods and services.  We are the polluters, yet we look to our leaders and scientists to wave a magic wand and solve the problem.  They can’t, not without our cooperation.

The future?  I am not optimistic.  Human nature on this planet is such that only when our pants are on fire do we begin to act!  By then will it be too late?  I believe so.  Future (and hopefully smarter) generations will spend a long time repairing the damage.

We are very poorly governed.  Our leaders from where I stand (and I concede that I am standing far away from the corridors of power) are either indecisive or take quick and foolish decisions.  They seem to be overwhelmed by the complex world we live in.  There is still a lot of corruption in government, even in advanced Western countries.  Politicians are mainly preoccupied with winning the next election.  The moves that endear them to the electorate are made whether they are good for the nation or not.  Of all the leaders of large nations that I have seen during the last 25 years, there is only one that impressed me and came across as knowing what he was doing:  Bill Clinton.

So what is the solution?  Democracy is the only fair system of government that we know.  But it is far from being ideal.  The Urantia Book refer to an ideal way of governing, but they don’t tell us what it is.  They are not authorized.  It is up to us to find out.  So let’s do just that.  Brilliant minds should get together and make suggestions.  Even your average Joe and Jane can contribute.  Women should share in the power.  That’s what my book, Equal Partners is all about.  Once we have what we think is an ideal system of government, we should try it on a small and willing nation (or province).  If it works, we can move to bigger nations.  If it doesn’t, then it’s back to the drawing board.

I find that the inhabitants of this planet (I am not excluding myself here) are easily influenced and confused by those who pull the strings.

We are often made to buy things we don’t need and can’t afford.  We are still very much influenced by advertising.

During election times, political parties run ads to influence the electorate.  In the 21st century, with all our education, is it possible that we can be persuaded by an ad telling us :  “Is this the leader you want to have for the next four years?”  Sometimes it’s a new untested leader, so how the hell can we know if he is the leader we want?  Another approach is to list the negatives of the party in power.  Are we naive enough to believe that the party now seeking power is any better?  Apparently, in many cases we are!

The solution?  We should teach our children at school and at home the power of advertising.  We should take apart promotional techniques and show our children (and ourselves) their shallowness.  Of course there is a lot of good in advertising; that should also be pointed out.

Confusion?  Let me give you a close-to-home example.  Last fall we had a municipal election.  Three candidates were running for mayor:  two had a lot of experience in municipal affairs, the third was a successful businessman.  The slogan of the businessman was that he will run the city like a business.  Guess who won?  If you guessed the businessman, then you’re well acquainted with human nature.  A city is not a business and never will be.  If you have a plumbing problem you don’t call an electrician!  The businessman can yet learn to be a good mayor.  But he is learning on the job and doing so using your hard-earned tax money.

When I learned the results of the election, one thought crossed my mind:  No wonder we were told so many times in the Urantia Book that we are still a very confused planet.

Perhaps I ought to try hard and find some reasons for optimism.  Do I see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel?  I can actually see three, but they are very faint.

   1.  Present Progress

   There has been a lot of social and technological progress.  The internet alone has the power to change our society and do so for the better.  Of course it has also created problems.  The primitive and backward aspects of our nature come through the internet.  But we are learning to fight back and we will eventually prevail.

Most Western countries have free medical care for their residents.

The death penalty has been abolished in most of the Western world.

   2.  Future Progress

The inhabitants of any given planet are programmed to advance.  Look where we were 50 years ago and where we are today.

   3.  The Urantia Book

The Revelators have placed great hope on these revelations.  Presently, only a handful of people are acquainted with, and follow the teachings of this Book.  The rest of the planet is still light-years away.  Some humans (the pioneers as it were) have embraced the Book; the rest are not ready.  When will it happen?  Nobody knows. 50 years?  I doubt it.  One or two centuries?  I hope so, for when it will happen, spirituality will flower and the Infinite Spirit Personalities will be able to work with us and further the progress of all humankind.

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