kestrel

Prompt 014: Mystical Watchmaker

14. A mystical watchmaker has given you an opportunity to change a key aspect of present-day society. What part of the present would you change and why? How would this change affect your daily routine?

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Mystical watchmaker, eh? Okay. Let's go big.

If you could pull it off, I'd like to see a greater emphasis on native cultures. All across the world, there would be less of a dominant Euro-centric, colonialist vibe to all political discourse. If this were the case, I think present-day society would be altered thusly:
- greater emphasis on preserving the natural world and what's considered "resources"
- cleaner water and air
- more abundant, diverse wildlife
- more vegetarians, fewer omnivores and carnivores
- more women in charge of politics and social operations
- fewer automobiles, fewer auto wrecks, fewer pedestrians and cyclists murdered by auto drivers
- smaller cities, but more cities in general and/or higher populations in what would be considered rural areas
- less globalization, bringing with it less exploitation of the poor, the uneducated, and the working class and the working poor
- greater emphasis on and care for the elderly
- less Christianity
- less consumerism
- less military presence and less military conflict in general
- for military veterans, adequate aftercare

My daily routine would be drastically different, of course. I likely would work less, and be idle more. I might actually want to start a family, and at my current age I would have already started one. That's drastic enough of a change, I think. But let me go a little deeper.

I'd likely know the identity of my neighbours (right now, here in the suburbs, I know only a couple and those not well at all). I'd likely grow food in our own plot of land. I say "our" because I could see myself as part of a family structure, and would even consider breeding and raising children. Either that, or the community in which I reside would emphasize a communal raising of young people, as well as care of the elderly, sick, and infirm. I wonder if I would even be in North America, let alone the United States.

Generally speaking, there would be less economic activity or financial pursuit, and more leisure time. This is not the same as distraction, but there would be time set aside for meaningful play, creative pursuits, and cultivation of aesthetics, beauty, and culture. All that consumerism and capitalism has stripped away from modern life would be restored: community, compassion, mindfulness, meaning.

If anyone ever asks me what it would look like if I "remade the world in my image," I think I have my answer.