In loving memory of John Harris. May we succeed in his work, never forgotten.

“Society is collapsing because we are living in a system which is not designed to suit the human spirit” - Russell Brand 2019.

Whenever I think of India, I can’t help but marvel at it’s great freedom. From small shanty stalls selling everything from chai to souvenirs, to folk pitching up communities on barren waste lands: - people just seem to be able to get on with life, hassle and bureaucracy free… And in my opinion, there is no greater expression of this freedom, than that of the open road.

5000 miles away and back home in England, fading memories of colour and chaos have left deep impressions on my mind. In stark contrast, here lies a land of law and order, where there lurks a camera on each corner, helping keep our faithful allegiance to the book. But far from feelings of gratitude, safe in the knowledge of being kept out of harms way. These constraints, seem only to have added to the nuisance and mundainity to the everyday experiences of life... Just imagine the struggle, to buy a simple cup of hot coffee – for corporate fear of the customer injuring themselves, and it’s no joke. In England, ‘The Nanny State’; where common sense has been replaced by rule and regulation, it begs the question... How did control get so out of control.

The problem lies in exploitation for profit. An ongoing symptom of our capitalist consumerist society, that has been raging forwards for centuries. It is here, where the Health and Safety industry, vying for a claim in their share of the profits, long turned away from their once noble beginnings. Forging themselves a simple strategy with government, in securing the continual passing of legislation through the system, and down into the bank accounts of those forced to pay. But aside from the financial gains, the restriction of decision making and even the suppression of our instinctive and intuitive compass (an ultimate authority that once guided us through life), brings with it a hidden benefit. Born of twice the despair and priceless in nature: The tragic modern day culture of complacency and acceptance.

The security industry too, has operated a similarly symbiotic process; successfully assimilating one of the most powerful economic strategies of all time. The instillation of fear. Caught in the grip of this vice, this primeval emotion has taken control, paralysing reason, and rendering us powerless to argue. Whether it’s the next state of the art home security, or data theft prevention system, there is little choice but to consume our way out.

There has been no better form of control throughout history than the engagement of the fear reaction. Historically, leading figures and religious groups have successfully misused this powerful emotion in capturing and controlling their congregations. But in modern times, as people have fallen out of favour with the idea of God, governments have contrived yet another net to capture our compliance... By taking on role as our ultimate protector, we have been unwittingly rendered into a state of dependence, enslaved in the forgotten promise of safety, security and well-being, born of this ‘dangerous world’.

For many, this age of ‘mass cultivation of fear’, has become a way of life. Only increasing in strength and experience throughout our lives. And as love and tolerance slowly fade, there is a global contraction of consciousness, as we fail to recognise that fears never dies until we surrender in trust.

Returning from India, I have often wondered why life in the West has left me feeling incomplete and empty. Why cultures of warm and welcoming vs passivity and distrust, live on in time but continents apart.

As I zoomed through India in little more than a tin can on wheels, not once did I feel unsafe. Quite the opposite, it was incredible and I felt free. I did not see the parents of India loving their children any less for not investing in a child car seat and it is not that people were happily dicing with death every time they got into an unbelted vehicle. But in allowing people the freedom to live, is to allow them to live in love.

So throw away the rule book and experience the freedom to trust, because trust is our gateway to love and freedom, is trust is love.