The world is changing at an accelerating pace and people are becoming more and more disoriented and frightened. In many cases, we desperately try to hold on to what we know, fearing that any change can only lead to something worse. The media discourse is toxic with cuts to journalism budgets leading to the quality of information we receive through the mainstream media being reduced to the level of cut-and-paste from Wikipedia, not forgetting the fact that any news that doesn’t fit the interests of the media corporations at the service of the military-industrial complex is simply ignored.

Advances in technology and the increasingly ubiquitous nature of the internet should in theory help to counteract this tendency; but in today’s world where wealth concentrates every year into fewer and fewer hands, and people have less and less money and time, who has the energy to search for better information?

In this context, and as a way to counteract the media negativity that leads to nihilism, despair and suicide in increasing numbers of people, Pressenza is proud to invite you to a day-long seminar on arguable some of the most important issues facing our civilization and our future as a human race: Women, weapons and welfare.

Perspectives from Utopia

Utopia: that mythical future we all aspire to in which life is easier and more dignified, fairer and more enjoyable; a place where human rights may be enjoyed by everyone regardless of economic circumstance; a world without wars; without violence. By some it has been called the Universal Human Nation1. But what will it look like in practical terms? Because although we can imagine what it may feel like to be in such a place, we have to paint a picture of it so that we can start to see it, because without a clear picture in our minds, our bodies will never be able to move in that direction.

In our seminar we will focus on three important aspects: Women – namely the #MeToo movement and women’s rights around the world: Weapons – namely nuclear weapons and how to get rid of them so eliminate one of the greatest threats to humanity’s survival, and: Welfare – namely the concept of the Universal Basic Income which will be a necessary economic measure if we are to avoid a violent dystopian future.

#MeToo without Borders

The arrest and shaming of powerful men in the worlds of entertainment, sport and politics, among others, represents a mainstream awakening in which the perpetrators are no longer seen as invincible, and the victims are no longer made to feel invisible. For campaigners, the justice starting to be experienced by survivors of sexual violence has been a long-time coming, but it is clear that something in our collective consciousness has changed forever.

Last year, millions in the US and elsewhere joined together to produce the phenomenal Women’s March; Ireland and Argentina voted decisively to repeal abortion bans, sweeping aside generations of conservative patriarchy; and, legal fights against domestic violence and public outrage at gang rape have caught the public imagination in India – where the women’s movement is stronger than ever – and all over the world.

In this segment of the seminar we will be looking at women’s rights movements around the globe and what we can learn from them from other fields of social activism.

Divesting from Nuclear Weapons

The threats from climate change and nuclear weapons are increasingly seen as issues that could lead to the extinction of human civilization as we know it, not to mention countless other lifeforms on the planet. Nuclear weapons are incompatible with Utopia, this much is clear, but how do we get rid of them?

ICAN won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to pressure governments to negotiate the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and since then the issue has been getting more and more coverage in the media. Yet this coverage tends to portray nuclear weapons campaigners at best as naïve and at worst as collaborators with the enemy, and in all cases we are told that it’s impossible. We disagree.

One of the keys to the existence of nuclear weapons is that there are financial institutions still willing to invest in them but if we would stop dealing with these financial institutions, nuclear weapons would be financially unviable.

Divestment is a tool that has been effective since the days of Nelson Mandela and a growing movement to divest from nuclear weapons is achieving startling results. In New York, a campaign is underway to have the city’s pension funds divested from banks and corporations that profit from nuclear weapon production.

But how can such a campaign be repeated all over the world? Our presenters will show us how.

Universal Basic Income

Ask yourself this: what kind of world will we live in when robots and computers can do the vast majority of the labor? What will happen to the hordes of unemployed? Will the 1% simply use all the tools of violence under their control to subdue populations to live like vermin? Or will we wake up and realize that the current economic model based on markets and usury is unsustainable and will, by necessity, have to be replaced with something that actually works for everyone?

One such concept finding increasing acceptance within academic and political circles as a result of pilot studies that show the benefits is the Universal and unconditional basic income: a monetary allowance that every human being would receive just because they were born.

Its proponents support it from several directions: UBI would eliminate poverty and it would create a more equitable society for all; but more importantly it would lead the population to embrace and welcome technological advances in order to free up human beings to do what they really want to do. In a world with a UBI, human beings could be assured of a dignified life while also able to look after their loved ones; while being able to continue their education and training to do more exciting and better remunerated work; while being able to dedicate themselves to their art and creativity; while being able to dedicate their time to voluntary work with no other purpose than to help other people and the community they live in. Women would be free to escape from violent and exploitative relationships; and interestingly UBI would free up time so that every human being could truly develop their spiritual aspect and ask themselves the profound questions: “Who am I?” and “Where am I going?”

But in order to make a UBI a reality, we will have to overturn a whole host of misconceptions about the meaning and value of paid work and our roles in society…

The time has come…

… to overcome a nihilist vision of the present historical moment; new proposals are needed and Pressenza is doing its part. This violent system will continue on this road of destruction and misery until our beliefs and aspirations change. How can we humanize the world that has been given to us? That is the underlying question behind this day of sharing, friendship, discovery, and questioning. We are not at the end of history but at the beginning of a new civilization that is being born: the first planetary civilization in human history.