French students block schools to protest choice between Macron and Le Pen- The power of citizens

So here we are at the unique moment that we described in our book “At the Dawn of humanity, Enterprise a better world” : a citizen revolution as the ‘sine qua non’ condition for producing a new society; a world that is more united, more democratic, and socially happier, where ‘trust prevails over fear’ .

As mentioned in the book, in a world of destructive change a new way of thinking has to emerge, a new societal contract must arise towards a new way of “being human” and a “citizen entrepreneur”.

So why young people condemn the “fake choice” between Macron and Le Pen? The answer may arise from the French society ‘s incapacity to act and answer the question of‘WHY’ we are here and ‘HOW’ we, as citizens should act.

By acting I do refer in terms of lay out a possible future, one where imbalance of power is addressed and common, long-term strategies are defined that can save the planet. Active interculturalism, sustainable strategy and Entrepreneurialism forming the backbone of this activism.

First, through a universal public plan, via social and public action with a humanist set of values we can reinvent society and answer deep questions like “why are we here?”

Second, Change, can occur through the social organism transcending its current mind state and with the collective knowledge of wise people and elected citizens, this way we can have the best of humanity providing solutions to global issues and respond to a new, sustainable future.

This future has the potential to deliver a society based on common good and takes us away from fear, greed and ultimately an untimely death. This future may be the solution that this younger generation hopes for, but this comes under a condition : rejecting is not the right option, only acting can represent a viable alternative.

Let me clear the term acting: acting as in terms of civil society root-based proposal, with true measurable indicators & programs, a global happiness society vector, a new societal eco-contract etc. Yes, it is not easy to act, as it demands both collective and individual responsibility, a global vision, and a transformative thinking. But Politicians cannot do everything. Politics can.

It is up to us, individuals, citizens to create politics that matter, to create an active citizenship, a kind of citizenship that fosters a cohesive society. Under these proposals, political heroes may no longer come from the political class. What may emerge is a different kind of hero — the citizen. A kind of hero that provides the resilient dynamism the world urgently needs, the one who has the power to strengthen the common good.

Let us not forget that Sheila Jasanoff defines a citizen not only as a bearer of legal rights but also ‘as a figure understood to be capable of epistemic as well as moral reason, a member of a polity that finds virtue in good knowledge because it is needed for the purposes of good governing’.

This calls to question ourselves on what we no longer want, in order to move away from a society of overconsumption, manipulation, collective fears, as to obtain both individual and collective fulfilment.

When we are part of a community, we can influence it, participate, and contribute to its well-being and development. In this context, citizenship is also understood as a practice — the practice of playing an active role in our society.

The notion of active citizenship implies therefore, working towards the betterment of one’s community through participation to improve life for all members of the community.

Remember ‘that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one. You cannot make any useful contribution in life unless you do this.’ The world of the future is in our making.

Even small actions when taken together can create a big impact. As Sylvia Earle says, ‘many of us ask what can I, as one person, do, but history shows us that everything good and bad starts because somebody does something or does not do something’.

Remember that even though these efforts are minuscule compared with the magnitude of the challenges we are facing, they play a vital role, and they significantly contribute to redirecting our path towards a better humanity and a better world.

Remember that individuals have a growing potential to act as agents of transformation. This power can be backed up by the integration of interest groups in collectives, in order to achieve improvements more quickly and to have a greater impact.

If we accept that collaboration is one of the keys for finding answers to new problems, then individuals must be intensively involved in their realities. Therefore, we cannot expect problems to solve themselves.

To overcome rejection and achieve a cohesive societal project, our duty is to lay the foundations of a participatory, deliberative, and truly active democracy. It is up to us citizens, to build a better humanity as to elevate ‘Man’ (as in human being) and ‘Society’, toward a desirable future.

We are all participants in shaping the future, whether we passively accept the old and unsustainable or embrace change by implementing new models of brighter futures for our society.

And you? What will be your manifesto for a better humanity? How would you act? Hurry the future of Humanity awaits! Tomorrow is already now.

PS for the interested persons my manifesto is here below:

1. Build new life principles in order to achieve a more fraternal, united, responsible and cohesive society. Work on our collective emotional intelligence based on constructive dialogue and a true representative democracy.

2. Develop intercultural dialogue and strong, open, non-conflictual hybrid identities. Emphasise the will to create bridges, instead of walls.

3. Shift from work perspective to activity one. Create a Universal Basic Income and a common, universal citizenship.

4. Drastically reduce working hours to 20 hours per week. Introduce 4 hours of dedicated activities per week, with strong social added value, benefiting to all and strengthening the common good.

5. Engage citizens and create a new open, citizen diplomacy: public action active involvement, voting, contribution to projects, assisting in tackling issues such as keeping the environment clean, raising money for charities, conserving electricity, water, and natural resources, etc.

6. Develop societal, responsible and citizen entrepreneurship via global projects with positive societal impact, bearers of responsibility and sustainability. Therefore, use project, stakeholders and transformations management methodology based on collective intelligence.

7. Create cooperative ecosystems of citizens and societal political innovation in order to foster mutual aid and solidarity, collective intelligence, activation of local, national and transnational networks.

8. Create a genuine supranational citizen democracy — establish a global (world) parliament elected by direct universal suffrage in order to develop transnational thinking and a global citizen consciousness (positive societal impact, fostering cohesion and international cooperation).

9. Anticipate, prevent, and manage global crises at the supranational level with multi-local coordination through local implementation bodies.

10. Set up a wise supranational governance, regulating and allowing to think globally and democratically acting as legal mediator. Set up the evaluation of public action based on an index of global happiness.

The link towards the book & the project around the book: https://www.be-one-humanity.com/

The link towards my postive impact & projects: https://laurapetrache.mystrikingly.com/

The link towards the news article that inspired this article on medium: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20220414-french-students-block-schools-to-protest-choice-between-macron-and-le-pen