The ideal world

I sometimes think about the ideal world.

You know the kind I'm talking about. A world full of life. Where water flows clean and clear. Where trees bear fruit without question. Where animals roam freely, and every corner you turn offers something beautiful to look at.

The ideal world is also simple in other ways.

Healthcare that doesn't bankrupt you. Education that doesn't put you in debt for decades. Jobs that are accessible and pay fairly. Communities where people support each other's dreams rather than tear them down. Neighbours who check in on each other. Strangers who don't scare you. A world without borders where everyone is welcome. A world where hatred hasn't found a home, where differences are celebrated rather than feared.

It's easy to imagine. Sometimes I close my eyes and picture it so clearly that it feels real. Like, we're just one collective decision away from making it happen.

But then I open my eyes, and all I see is a nightmare about to happen.

What confuses me most isn't that we're far from this ideal world. It seems that the people with the most power to create it are working in the opposite direction.

What do they dream about at night, these so-called world leaders and billionaires?

Because from where I'm standing, their dreams look like nightmares. They dream of cutting down forests to build resorts that nobody asked for. They invest billions into AI, but not into the air we breathe. They built companies and machines to generate more money even though they already have more money than entire countries, enough wealth to last generations, yet somehow it's never enough.

What else could they possibly need?

But the thing that I will never be able to understand is their dream of running away from planet Earth.

Why do we need to colonise Mars? Why is that the dream? Why isn't the dream about preservation? About restoration? About building technologies that heal this planet instead of abandoning it?

We have one Earth. One planet. And instead of protecting it, the people with the resources to make a real difference are planning their exit strategy.

It doesn't make sense to me.

Maybe I'm naive. Maybe there's something I don't understand about power, about wealth, about how the world really works at those levels.

But I don't think understanding should be this hard.

An ideal world isn't complicated. It's actually quite simple. Take care of the planet. Take care of each other. Use resources to improve lives, not destroy them.

Yet somehow, the people in charge can't seem to dream this dream.

My dream of an ideal world is about staying. About fixing. About building something worth keeping.

Their dreams are about leaving.

And that tells you everything you need to know.

I hope you find this insightful. Remember:

It's not going to be easy,
But it's not impossible.

Your friend,
Brian.