There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew. Marshall McLuhan
I love the idea of Spaceship Earth – the whole idea of work and movement, progress, exploration.
And I love the idea that we are all the crew. But exactly what does that mean?
These days we talk a lot about rights.
The corollary to rights is responsibility.
Everything from American Independence to the female suffrage movement has pointed out the injustice of having responsibilities without rights. And they were telling the truth – it is unjust to have responsibilities without rights.
But what about responsibilities? Is it also unjust to have rights without responsibilities?
And here are some more questions –
When we speak about rights are we as concerned with the rights of other as with our own rights?
And when we speak about responsibilities do we mean our responsibilities or the responsibilities of others?
What might Spaceship Earth be like if we concentrated more on our own responsibilities and the rights of others?
Might be an interesting experiment to try…
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Related articles
- The Ballad of Marshall McLuhan (pdalbury.wordpress.com)
- Why Bother with Marshall McLuhan? ” The New Atlantis (stoweboyd.com)
Summed up beautifully:
What might Spaceship Earth be like if we concentrated more on our own responsibilities and the rights of others?
Glad you liked it, Nancy. Thanks for the comment.
A super post I feel very strongly about. I think (and I could be wrong, it wouldn’t be the first time) that these responsibilities (duties) are simpler to enforce than rights. (I may have the right to life but sadly disease or accident can deny me that right and little can realistically be done)
I think you are right – responsibilities are definitely easier to enforce – thanks for the comment.