As our forbearers became more efficient at providing sustenance for the tribe time was freed up for artistic pursuits which helped lay the foundations of the vibrant civilization we enjoy today.  “Spare” time is the gift of technology – a gift horse we are failing to ride into what could be a very rosy future.

The loss of manual labor and manufacturing jobs to advancing technology is met with much societal hand-wringing.  Our ancestors took advantage of similar changes as an opportunity to paint beautiful pictures on their stone walls. We now have so many more tools to enrich our existence; instead our society seems to punish those who struggle to find a way to put food on the table.

To redirect our labors from often soul crushing manual jobs to enriching our community with exciting creative endeavors will require levels of compassion and societal generosity many might believe are beyond our capacity to provide.  Most any mathematical model you use shows there are enough resources to go around if we simply share throughout our global neighborhood.

Societal ills are telling us in stark terms we must open our hearts – and pocketbooks – to raise everyone to a place where they can enjoy a vibrant life.  We share a base instinct to sustain ourselves and our families. An individual will do anything – including fighting and killing – to put food in the family pot.

Other societal ills – opioid addiction, alcoholism, suicide and a myriad of other methods of self -destruction are tearing the fabric of our civilization apart.  This darkness is borne from a lack of self-respect. Low self-esteem is often based on an individual’s inability find a way to keep themselves and their family whole.

Our advanced society has created pathways to utilize more than enough resources to allow every human on the planet to lead a comfortable life.  Our imperfect economic system attempts to distribute funds by allocating shares based on work. We arrive back at the conundrum; there are too few traditional jobs for too many people.      

Answers to this riddle vary from a guaranteed minimum income to allocating fewer hours (at a higher rate of pay) in a work week to a re-definition of what work-product really is.  We arrive back at the concept of sending some tribe members out with paints to find other ways to enhance their and our lives.

I’ve made a life in the Fraser Valley for 40 plus years because I believe in the importance of life enhancement through participation in seemingly pointless sports.  Remember Yuppies? We are Puppies; poor under-paid participants in extreme sports. We make a living by providing relatively obscure recreation resources for our guests.  Traveling is a key growth industry in a new universal economic system. A wayfarer’s eyes are opened to possibilities unimagined from the confines of home.

The nascent Fraser Arts Committee seeks to light up our town to provide one more way visitors and residents can enhance our shared mountain experience.  The planned Fraser Arts Center will become the center of this effort.

There are real indications our tribe’s size will finally plateau at 10 billion souls on this green and blue orb by mid-century.  If we open ourselves to the goal of ensuring every one of us finds a self- sustaining role in the human-whole we will survive as a species.  Our choice is to spread our message by sharing resources or dropping bombs. From this precipice we will either fly or fall.

Andy Miller knows his compatriots share a firm commitment to a woman’s right to choose and a knowledge no one we know is in favor of doing any harm to our wee-ones.