When Alexander the Great arrived in Gordium in 333 BC, he faced the challenge of untying an intricate knot to prove he was the gods’ chosen ruler. He drew his sword and slashed the knotted rope apart.
And the rest is history, as they say.
There may be a lesson in this story. When problems become so complex that it seems impossible to sort them out, the solution might be as simple as a single stroke.
I wonder if a group called Adbusters has come up with such a solution for the world’s seemingly insoluble mess.
According to Wikipedia:
Adbusters is “a Canadian-based not-for-profit, anti-consumerist, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. The foundation describes itself as “a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age.”
Here’s the group’s proposal:
On October 29, on the eve of the G20 Leaders Summit in France, let the people of the world rise up and demand that our G20 leaders immediately impose a 1 percent ROBINHOOD tax on all financial transactions and currency trades. Let’s send them a clear message: We want you to slow down some of that $1.3-trillion easy money that’s sloshing around the global casino each day – enough cash to fund every social program and environmental initiative in the world.
One lousy percent. The elite that’s plundering the world’s resources, causing such unspeakable pain and misery, certainly wouldn’t miss it. yet think of the good it could do!
Now, as John Lennon said, you might think I’m a dreamer.
But dreams have been known to come true.
Can we dare to dream that the small seed sown by the Occupy Wall Street movement could lead to dramatic change in the world?
I certainly have no idea.
But I know this:
Things cannot continue the way they are now. The injustice and oppression throughout the world has become unbearable; the financial system on which the global economy is based has become unsustainable.
Something’s gotta give.
Photo above shows demonstrators dressed as Robin Hood making their way downtown via the Chicago River to join a protest outside a meeting of the Futures Industry Association and the American Mortgage Bankers Association on October 10 in Chicago, Illinois. Several thousand people participated in the protest which was organized by a coalition of community and labor groups. About twenty people were arrested at the protest during an act of civil disobedience. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)