Sh*t Happens

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

What if the revolution doesn't need a name? Or leaders? Or a formal agenda? Or a meme?

The most wonderful thought could be this: shit happens. Perhaps this is a uniquely Australian idiom, perhaps not - and I don't wish to offend with profanity, we Australians swear a lot, and this phrase has even been used by a Parliamentarian in a memorable impromptu television interview. 

What this useful quip boils down to is that whether we want it to or not, something will ultimately happen, and it will probably not be what we expect. The phrase can also be used to provide a conclusive and strangely satisfying explanation for the inexplicable, or the unexpected. The utility of the phrase is that it does not assume a causal basis for the event or events so described. In fact 'shit happens' laconically implies that any reason or cause you might put forward for an event is probably, on balance, not going to be accurate or true, so why bother trying? Let's go surfing or have a beer instead.

Hmmmm. Perhaps. What is certain is that if change is truly revolutionary you can bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow's post-revolutionary winners and losers will be different to today's pre-revolutionary winners and losers. Radically different. Generally when the post-revolutionary world is imagined we tend to shuffle the haves and have-nots into different relationships. What we should really do is imagine that having and not-having will mean different things, and the rules will completely change.

Right now I am sitting here in front of my flat screen television typing this on my 13" Macbook. I am connected to the world through a wireless internet connection funnelling data to and fro at broadband speeds. I will be eating a $45/kilogram steak for dinner, with a salad dressed by aged balsamic vinegar from Modena, and garnished with slices of Gran Padano parmesan, also flown here to the southern hemisphere from Italy. I have access to all of these luxuries on the basis of a comfortable income, and no independent wealth. In fact my net worth is nothing special, and characterised by as much debt and assets - good and bad - as many Australians.

You want a revolution? So do I. Political, technological, social, intellectual, emotional - anything might do. But we have to face the facts: on the other side of the revolutionary wave, I might not be a winner, for I am surely one right now. If you are reading this on your own computer, chances are you too are as wealthy, in historical terms, as I am. And make no mistake, we are both exceedingly wealthy individuals by such a comparison.

When the revolutionary wave spills it might take our technology, our skill with silicon and steel and plastic, our fossil fuels and our waste with it. It might take our children or our pets, our jobs or our homes. It might take our language, our skills or our love. It might take our lives.

At any rate, it is 100% guaranteed that the internet, where you are reading this, won't last forever. In fact if revolutionary change is truly profound, our future might not have digital data at all. On the contrary, it might be a place where ploughshares are beaten into spears, compounds are fortified and animals skinned by you and me for warmth and food.

Do we really expect this kind of change to require, or respond to, an agenda? Perhaps what we need are leaders who keep on doing exactly what they are doing right now. When it comes to unsustainability and the pandemic and the unfolding global crises, it seems implausible to think that widespread behavioural change will occur before critical infrastructure failures. Food and water supplies are becoming increasingly scarce, and great numbers of people have died in the current pandemic. Perhaps that will continue to happen whatever we do from this point.

But despite all that, we must still make choices, and I choose to be ready to ride the wave when it breaks. What that means in practice, I have no idea. I also choose to enjoy donuts, my dog and cat, and the Simpsons. I choose to love my friends and family, and I choose to be fascinated by the potential of the digital and natural world. I like cars, I vote, I like books and yet parties make me anxious. Being the host of a party makes me even more anxious.

Will these things I value survive throughout my lifetime? i don't know. What do I know?

Shit happens. 

Might as well enjoy it, do good, be useful and be happy while we still can.