Wants

You don’t need me to enumerate all the sad and disempowering things happening in the world right now. Even if you’re not a big reader of news, it’s probably possible for you to think, off the top of your head, of a good half-dozen things that make you want to just go back to bed and stay there, or things that make you very angry. Maybe both. I’m trying to spend this late-summer period hanging on to some feelings of optimism, before the persistent rain begins and the cynicism comes knocking along with it.

Today in particular, I want to keep things short and proactive. It’s far too easy to fall into the trap of reactivity, taking time to think about what isn’t good or desirable in the state of the world, without considering what would be desirable instead. For that reason, today I present to you, instead of an essay, a list of wants. They aren’t particularly ordered, and they don’t have much of a hierarchy. I’m posting them here, as if they’re a Monday essay, because I don’t personally see enough of this kind of thing in my regular reading. I see a lot of doom, I see a lot of controversy, and in counterpoint, I see a lot of self-conscious attempts to keep spirits up through distraction. Those all have their place.

Here, instead of all that, is a list of things I’d like. I want these things, and I hope that some or many of them are achievable. More important than my own list of wants, or first on the list, I suppose, I want to see more attempts to dream desired dreams and imagine desired imaginaries. Here's me having a go at doing that.

• I want the world to be less shit.
• I want wealth to be less consolidated.
• I want daily life to be less resource-intensive.
• I want human labour to be seen and valued.
• I want everyone to intrinsically be valued.
• I don’t want technical developments to happen solely in service of capital.
• I want complexity to be beautiful, not debilitating.
• I want nuance.
• I want to be able to live my values.
• I want to feel ownership over my life and choices.
• I don’t want to feel trapped in the systems of others.
• I want to understand how humanity can scale its needs back.
• I want to believe that we’re not just chasing destruction.
• I want computers to be fun again.
• I want people to make art.
• I want people to have the time and space to do what they’re good at.
• I want more nature.
• I want governments to govern for people first.
• I want people to be considered before companies.
• I want reasons to be hopeful instead of angry.
• I want to avoid ecological collapse.
• I want hope back.