Dreams of Antarctica stirred with Brexit?

The Now

Every day is different out here, just like you guys back there, even though you may not think so! You’re spared a picture from ‘The Porthole’ today!

To be honest I haven’t ‘worked’ as hard as this for a number of years! But the whole environment is ‘perfect’ for what I’m doing!  Quite strange, but that’s the way it feels in this supposed prison!

Today knowing ‘That bridge’ below is 1790 nm (3300km) and just five days off even caused a bit of angst within: Do I really want to get there and off the ship and all its routine freedom, maybe a few more days would be good!!

We have just passed the closest we will be to Hawaii. The group of islands are some 1200nm directly north west of us. We are currently at 11 degrees North and they sit at 19 degrees N, and San Francisco is way up there at 37 degrees N.  We have moved the clock forward twice, an hour each since my last ‘Now’ post. We are now working on Alaska time zone, having passed Anchorage’s 148 W longitude line half a day ago.

Three degrees into the northern hemisphere with me still patiently waiting for Neptune or ‘his Mermaid Fiona’, the weather changed and we had no wind, oppressive heat, grey cloud and on off rain. The Doldrums became a reality. Not very wide, after about 10 hours we were in clearer sky and for the first time a tail wind.

This is all how our amazing planet works hey. It really is all bloody amazing to just see it and feel it all here. Predictable, but not so predictable that we humans can (yet!) entertain building one ourselves! There we go that’s the solution the Mensa, rational optimists, without a spiritual sinew in their bodies are thinking is the solution to wire around the One Point Zero Challenge.  With echoes of Jean Paul, I hear them saying:  “Just relax Howard, you go have fun, live your life, we have the solution and nothing needs to change: In a few years we will know how to build a new planet. And now cleverer than Nature we will make it much bigger and with a turbo regenerative system not this out dated one!”  Ha-ha, man if only ‘they’ knew what fun this all is and SERIOUS fun too!

Yesterday was laundry day: Yeah, life ain’t luxury here.  I did my sheets pillow cases, clothes and towels. Great washing machine and drier, and like most boys would do, but also driven by One Point Zero desires, I did it all in one wash and one dry.  There we go, the white came out whiter and the colours stayed as colours! Magic machine!

More and more of the crew talking about San Francisco now, and Eric (my fellow passenger) and I had a bottle of wine together last night. He is excited and ready to get going on his motorcycle. One of the officers is hoping his San Francisco based girlfriend is as keen to see him as he is to see her.

I’ll be staying with the ship for the trip down to LA and Long Beach, and not thinking much about terra firma yet!

Pacific Inspirations from Antarctica on ‘Brexit Day’

The Brexit news delivered by a ‘passing tern’ wasn’t the news I wanted to hear…But that’s democracy for you hey!

Forty seven plus percentage of the people have got what they didn’t want, but will just have to accept it! Maybe this should have been done the slow ‘African way’ a decision by consensus or the fast unilaterally route: decision by ‘The Chief’!  Ha-ha just reflecting on how such an important decision was made.

The ‘next’ big one coming up soon:  To be ‘Clinton-ed or ‘Trump-ed’?

Once again, two quite different consequences, and seemingly another large ‘sub group’ having to accept what it didn’t want? Maybe almost the ‘whole 100%’ don’t want either of the consequences, but there is no other choice? Maybe there should be? How do those imprisoned in virtual democracies exercise their right to stop the process in an orderly way and demand better choice?

Anyway lots more fun on this coming up once I’m back on terra firma travelling in ‘the big place’ where all this is happening…

Having for twelve years now, not been a resident of any country in the world, I am truly ‘just’ a resident of the planet: I have been liberated in my minimal ties or needs from any country, and I identified this perspective as a key and mission critical asset for the One Point Zero Challenge.

As I talk to people I see how this perspective is very different from many who are in some shape or form vested in their primary nation’s interests. At a global leadership level, the inability to confront global truths that compromise national, or coalition group interest, is a huge challenge for a One Point Zero world.

The UN, World Bank, etc are supposed have leadership put The World first but they are all essentially non-executive / advisory organisations that I sense are heavily vested in one nation, or group of nations, or are merely compromised cogs in the machinery of those with the National executive power.  Maybe there is some inspiration from a little known, but huge part of our planet.

In 2009 I was intimately exposed to the workings of the least known continent in the world, the largest wilderness in the world, the largest area of the planet that doesn’t work on an anthropocentric value system. Finally a place that is not a democracy but one that almost exclusively relies on consensus decision making: An amazing place called Antarctica and I wanted to intensely experience this remote and huge part of our Planet.

In pursuit of this dream I applied for ‘a job’ as a Base Leader for one of Australia’s three Antarctic Research bases. A twelve month assignment that involves six months of 24 hour daylight and six months of 24 hours darkness.

A tough selection process from more than a hundred applications I made it through the hurdles down to the final seven for three bases. The final ‘shoot out’ involved five intensive, ‘Big Brother type living’ days in a ‘remote place’ outside Hobart, Tasmania. Suffice to say, my expertise in solo exploits and my ‘Romantic Dinners for One’ qualifications got me into trouble, so I didn’t get ‘The job’! The experience was absolutely amazing, and I give full marks to The Australian Antarctic Organisation for their professional and effective process. The Base Manager has extensive and legally onerous Government enforcing responsibilities. Part of the preparation required me to be fully versed in the Antarctic Treaty, and how vast Antarctica operates as an orderly yet ‘nationless’ entity, with written examinations to prove my knowledge and understanding. I saw that this is only piece of our planet like this, a significant piece too, and run successfully for more than 60 years now.

I returned in 2011 and did my solo ski trip and in the many hours of its expansive solitude I used to ponder the lessons and useful applications it may have for the rest of our fragmented, self-interest driven anthropocentric world.  This still provides inspiration for my personal work on the design of a New World, part of My One Point Zero Challenge, and with today being Brexit news day, I thought it appropriate I’d share some of my personal work thoughts with you…

I know ‘all of us’ will be wondering what this new Brexit change in the world will mean for The World? Maybe like I have done, use it as an opportunity to further your One Point Zero thinking!

Can you imagine a World Referendum vote on: “Do we go for One Point Zero or Not?”

Man what I struggle with here, is that it should get a close to 100% ‘Yes’ vote, but in the anonymity of the voting process I sense it would turn out a huge majority, ‘No’ vote?

Maybe I’m wrong?

What would the 20% in the graph above vote? And the 60%..? What would you vote? Would it be easier if it was just about ‘Your Nation’? Maybe that makes it easier to vote ‘No’? “What’s the point of just ‘us’ doing it’, when nobody else does it?” Hmmm…

What would it take to get ‘The World’ to agree to a referendum? Would the United Nations be involved? Would they rig the vote?

In Antarctica it would be easy, because ‘The Place’ clearly belongs to ‘the voters’, and the voters have clear and primary responsibility for ‘The Place’.

Wow, now this is all very interesting and thought provoking? Maybe ‘we’ should start a referendum?

Ha-ha, my prison and its wee porthole is either working its magic, or making me crazy, but it certainly feels like the former!

If Antarctica was our ‘whole planet’ I sense ‘The Facts’ would be very pleasant reading, inspiring and witness to real Humanity Success. No Crowd Success, No Consumption Success, No Anthropocentrism, wow: I know it’s not as simple as that, but imagine how ‘we’ would feel reading ‘The Facts’ we are all proud of and that we know  inspire the future generations to just follow our recipe and continue ‘our Good Work’? I sense we don’t have that recipe, and maybe in learning about Antarctica we will get closer to one?

The usefulness of the Antarctic comparison will be criticized by its inappropriate, inhospitable ice desert status, minimal human existence, and virtual zero bio capacity comparison?

However in its success and extensive uniqueness, I look beyond these issues to a multinational consensus success that has worked without any ‘Brexits’ for decades. In fact exactly opposite; From the original twelve (?) nations who formed the initial agreement, more and more joined where today I think more than 95% of the world’s Nations are joint signatories.

Also in its success, it is free of greed, war, exploitation, TV, consumer advertising, mobile phones and ATM’s!  The real estate industry doesn’t exist, because it’s the only place on this planet where NOBODY, not even Governments can own the land!  ‘Anyone’ who happens to be there can build an igloo, but there is no water, power or sewerage infrastructure, and the deal is EVERYTHING you bring in, you takeout. That includes your poo and pee! So don’t expect to make a quick buck on property development, and make sure you have a deal with a ship to take ‘your stuff’ back out!!

It’s also a place where the United Nations are redundant, humanitarian aid not needed, and as there was has never been a tie, that deciding penalty shootout is irrelevant: The Planet comes first and Humans second. So in Antarctica maybe we have a laboratory for an Anthropocentric New World?

Best of all there never has been a Trump, Clinton, Putin, and etc. ‘King of Rock’ in charge. Nor an exorbitant wasteful media effort for wannabee rock stars to step on stage and try and personally destroy the other for that short term status as ‘King of Rock’ (or now Queen!!).

With Antarctica, human ego has been managed, and aspiring rock stars would soon die of loneliness in their crowd-less concerts! Switzerland is an example I know well where ‘Success’ has come without the presence of rock stars… I bet very few of you know who the ‘Top Person is what ‘their title’ is, because they are there to serve rather than become famous!  Being a ‘way over’ One Point Zero-er, I think their success goal is wrong, but the point here is that National Success does not need Rock Stars!

That type of Fun aside: Somehow with Antarctica there is an acceptance of our insignificance, and respect for a more spiritual belonging to this part of our planet. There is no need for an elected temporary ‘King of Rock’. Nature is the eternal visionary, setter of values, and it’s just up to ‘ordinary humans’ to agree on interpretation of the unchanging, ‘instructions’.  We aren’t competing with Nature, and have seemingly accepted our insignificance, yet also found a new form of globally unified power, and resultant success formula that isn’t evidence elsewhere on the planet.

This is exciting and the basis for hope, hope, and more hope!

I have shared more than I planned but maybe never will there be another ‘Brexit day’ and its appropriateness to The One Point Zero cause.

Quote for today:

“Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.”

Thomas A. Edison