A New Normal

Smog, rising temperature, plastic in the ocean, plastic in the fish, plastic in our food, caste, gender, class discrimination, apathetic citizens, corrupt politicians, profit- mongers, bigotry, fascism, poor services, no jobs, more connectivity less communication, wars, trafficked children, refugees, extremism- This is our Normal.

Read it again, and add as many things as you can see around yourself, in as many realms as you can find. I bet, things would look and sound bleaker and bleaker. Not to say that there aren’t positives in the world, but the systems we have created are failing us, our environment and our future generation.

As a student of Systems Thinking, I have been taught, that “Every System is perfectly designed to produce the outcomes it is presently doing.”

“Every System is perfectly designed to produce the outcomes it is presently doing.”

Let that settle in. We’ve designed our world to produce exactly these outcomes. To be able to change these outcomes the system has to shift and adjust to a new normal. Going over this thought over and over in my head, I changed the question I was asking myself and started thinking on- What would a new normal look like? What would we design? Out came my pencil and I started doodling the new normal that I wish to see.

Here is a sneak peek into my amazing drawing skills:

Let’s begin to unfold this new normal and see what it would entail:

1. Every household, every housing society, every community will be run on Clean Energy- Solar Power, Hydro-Power, Wind-Energy or a combination of them.

2. There will be a community compost-pit in every residential society, village, every market and every institution.

3. All such institutions, where the geographical conditions permit, will also have a rain water harvesting unit.

4. Near all residential areas, there will be a common park with a community garden, kennels and shelter spaces for stray animals.

5. Every stray animal will be registered and treated with utmost dignity.

6. The go-to mode of transport for ALL will be a public transport, also majorly running on clean energy- Metros, Trams, Buses, Shuttles, Trains.

7. There will be an increase in people choosing to walk or bike.

8. In a household with 5 members, there will only be 1 car permitted, run on a clean fuel.

9. Every community will have access to quality learning institutions- not just Schools and Colleges, but Community Centers, Libraries, Maker Spaces, Sports centers, Museums and so on.

10. All Natural Resources will be recognized as Citizens and protected- all forests, lakes, rivers, ponds, mountains and hills.

11. Every human will have access to Quality Public Health Care including mental health care, with all institutions equipped to give top-class care.

12. Every country will have a just and equitable State, with accountable political representatives and efficient bureaucracy.

13. All citizens will actively exercise their citizenship.

14. All industries and factories will be up held to strictest code of conduct in regards to their impact on Environment, Livelihood of people and society by law and by public.

15. Our villages and small towns will be at par with all our cities with all villages and towns with a capability to generate employment for all their residents and every resident will be treated with dignity.

These are only some of the outcomes I would like to see in a new normal. But how would we achieve it? A large systemic shift is needed. Things need to change and they need to change fast. And one thing that we need to start doing is Imagine. Because imagination means we care, imagination mean we are no longer indifferent to what’s around us, that we are not dwelling in apathy, that we want to change and we are ready to act.