In A Theory of Architecture (2013), Nikos Salingaros speaks of memes as “freely propagating clusters of information” which can be beneficial or harmful. He contrasts memes to patterns and true knowledge, characterizing memes as “greatly simplified versions of patterns” and as “unreasoned matching to some visual or mnemonic prototype“. Salingaros emphasizes that memes can be transmitted because of their own communicative properties, and that “the simpler they are, the faster they can proliferate“, and that the most successful memes “come with a great psychological appeal”.
There is a beloved 30 second advertising jingle that is recognized to be one of the most popular in the world. Even the seasonal and anniversary spin-offs are popular. It was an advert first sung on TV in 1971 by a multicultural collection of young people on top of a hill, portraying a positive message of hope and love. It was popular because it emphasized a meme using a catchy tune coupled with a powerful narrative that appealed to so many. It was so popular at the time that it was recorded in two versions by two different groups and became a hit record in the US and the UK.
Even though it is dated, and if you can ignore the crass advertising, you will note that at its core, the song’s message was what captured a global ethos. The fact that this advert was re-released several times over the next few decades to fit different holidays and anniversaries emphases just how powerful and persistent is this meme. And it did so because it was simple and had ‘great psychological appeal’ – a world of harmony and Love.
Now as you read what I just said, you are probably thinking, yea, it sounds wonderful, but …… and I’m sure you have a multitude of reasons for why it must be a pipe dream. And therein lies the greatest problem we have in trying to create a sustainable revolution. We are so trapped in the social conditioning of life as it currently exists that despite a great desire to live in a world of harmony and Love, we find reasons to negate actions to making it become a reality. We usually attribute this to using ‘common sense’ but that is the tyranny of common sense – the belief that ‘it can’t be done any other way.’
The dreamers of the world are not so easily assuaged by this tyranny and assert their individuality in thinking differently. Common sense appeals to facts and logic and if used with hard driving rhetoric can be highly persuasive. At the start of the American Revolution in 1776, Thomas Paine used it to persuade the American Colonists to rebel against British rule. Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense “convinced reluctant Americans to abandon the goal of reconciliation with Britain and accept that separation from Britain — independence — as the only option for preserving their liberty?” Look at Painw’s arguments below and see if they resonate with today.
Paine divided Common Sense into four interesting sections in order to convince people of the problems of complacency and loyalty to a tyrannical system: “Introduction: The ideas I present here are so new that many people will reject them. Readers must clear their minds of long-held notions, apply common sense, and adopt the cause of America as the “cause of all mankind.” How we respond to tyranny today will matter for all time. Section One: The English government you worship? It’s a sham. Man may need government to protect him from his flawed nature, but that doesn’t mean he must suffocate under brute tyranny. Just as you would cut ties with abusive parents, you must break from Britain. Section Two: The monarchy you revere? It’s not our protector; it’s our enemy. It doesn’t care about us; it cares about Britain’s wealth. It has brought misery to people all over the world. And the very idea of monarchy is absurd. Why should someone rule over us simply because he (or she) is someone’s child? So evil is monarchy by its very nature that God condemns it in the Bible. Section Three: Our crisis today? It’s folly to think we should maintain loyalty to a distant tyrant. It’s self-sabotage to pursue reconciliation. For us, right here, right now, reconciliation means ruin. America must separate from Britain. We can’t go back to the cozy days before the Stamp Act. You know that’s true; it’s time to admit it. For heaven’s sake, we’re already at war!” Section Four: Can we win this war? Absolutely! Ignore the naysayers who tremble at the thought of British might. Let’s build a Continental Navy as we have built our Continental Army. Let us declare independence. If we delay, it will be that much harder to win. I know the prospect is daunting, but the prospect of inaction is terrifying.”
At that time of course they were not bombarded by the endless stream of conditioning we suffer today, but the same arguments hold true against the global tyranny of the hierarchy. While a violent approach was that times option for freeing itself from the oppressive rule of Britain, our path at this time can be a peaceful one. We simply reject the hierarchy’s global system and start living a way that we want. And it is here that we are confronted by the tyranny of common sense.
We exist in a time when memes can go viral in literally hours and persist through continuous playing across multiple media platforms. The mainstream media are highly organized and funded by the system. There are alternative media that we enlightened and discerning one’s use, but our task is to spread enlightened memes about sustainability that appeal to everyone, and to make them plausible and inevitable as a future option for living. We already have memes that we know connect people to this idea as evidenced by the popularity of the Coa Cola ad over half a century.
Our memes for the Sustainability Revolution are quite simple as well. Change is good and focused on a world of Harmony and Love characterized by collaboration, creativity, fairness, wisdom, compassion and Love, where everyone pursues their talents, happiness and joy with deep heart passion. All these ideas inspire people and are what we all truly desire and will empower us to be sovereign people. The sustainability revolution isn’t a violent one but it is a face-off of memes. The positive ones I just mentioned versus those of the dog-eat-dog world pushed by the hyper-consumer materialistic ones of separation, harsh competition, hedonism, fear of lack, and the most disempowering one that the current global system of government and economics is the only one for humans.
Think about it. The sustainability meme pushed by the hierarchy is touted as a consumer-material based world with high tech renewable systems that must be run by the global corporate elites in order to function. Where is compassion, harmony and Love in the consumer-world meres? I am talking about a sustainable revolution where we move away from conditional love (the romantic movie kind that doesn’t include others and the natural world), a more spiritual life that releases judgments of others and a beginning of unconditional Love for ourselves and all life (and consciously responding instead of unconsciously reacting). Imagine a world where we see ourselves in each other and being fully connected instead of fighting to get what we need.
Let’s spread positive memes that promote a peaceful sustainable revolution and focus on the coming changes as positive when we control them and not as changes we have to accept to keep some highly flawed status quo we don’t like anyway. Think of the best of today with the better of tomorrow. Listen to the ‘I’d like to …..’ song if you need to remind yourself of what we all want, bearing in mind ‘the real thing’ is Love and harmony, not some sugary drink.
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