Accept What Is Broken. Build What Is Next.
If you turn on the news or scroll through social media, it’s easy to feel like the world is broken. Politics feels like a circus. The economy feels rigged. The "system" seems to be grinding people down. Only a few seem to benefit from the way the world is structured.
The natural reaction is anger. We want to fight back. We want to protest and tear the whole thing down. Some people even dream of a "revolution" that will wipe the slate clean so we can start over.
But there is a problem with trying to fight a giant system, though. The system usually wins. And even if you manage to burn it down, you are often left standing in the ashes with no place to sleep or food to eat. Instead of an Evil Empire, you're left with a void.
There is a better way. It isn't about giving up. It is about being smarter.
The "New Model" Strategy
R. Buckminster Fuller was a brilliant inventor who spent his life thinking about how to save humanity. He had a famous rule for solving big problems:
Think about the horse and buggy. When the car was invented, people didn't have to launch a war against horses. They didn't pass laws banning carriages. The car was simply better and people switched as the car became more refined. The "Horse Model" wasn't fought; it was just made obsolete (unnecessary).
This is how we should look at capitalism, politics, or any system we don't like. Don't waste your energy trying to destroy the old machine. Build a better machine next to it.
Focus on Your Circle (The Stoic Way)
This idea isn’t new. Thousands of years ago, the Stoics (ancient philosophers in Greece and Rome) figured this out.
They believed in the Dichotomy of Control. This is a fancy way of saying there are two baskets in life:
- Things you control: Your thoughts, your actions, your skills, your kindness, and how you interact with the world.
- Things you don’t control: The economy, what politicians do, the weather, other people’s opinions, the existence of “the system” as it is.
When we scream at the TV or rage against "the system," we are pouring our energy into the basket we cannot control. It’s like yelling at the rain to stop falling. You just get tired and the rain comes down just like it always does. You still get wet.
The Stoic approach—and the approach of No Future—is to accept that the rain is falling (accept the reality of the system) and focus on building a sturdy roof and a possibly a way to harvest the rain for future use (what you can control).
Why "Revolution" is a Trap
The idea of tearing everything down is often romanticized. But history shows us that violent revolutions usually lead to chaos. When you create a power vacuum (an empty space where the government used to be), the people who rush in to fill it are rarely the nice guys.
Tearing down a house because the roof leaks is a bad idea. It could even be argued the idea of violent revolution is encouraged by the system that will inevitably suppress it. Why? Because it's demoralizing to be overpowered.
Be Like Water
There is another ancient philosophy called Taoism that teaches us to be like water.
When water flows down a hill and hits a giant rock, it doesn't stop and fight the rock. It doesn't try to smash it. It simply flows around it. It finds the cracks. It keeps moving. Eventually, over enough time, the water actually wears the rock down—without ever "fighting" it.
Using the Tools of the Old System
If our goal is to build a new model, we face a practical problem: The old system (which we’ll call "The Giant") owns most of the best tools.
The Giant runs the power grid, the internet, and most of the powerful new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI).
This raises a question: Is it okay to use AI, social media, or other powerful tools that were built by The Giant?
The answer, following the wisdom of Fuller and the Stoics, is a definite Yes.
Don't Reject the Ladder
The systems you dislike are often complex structures built over decades. They contain materials and tools that are incredibly useful. Refusing to use them just because they came from the old system is like saying, "I won't use this perfectly good hammer because the previous owner was rude."
Your goal isn't purity; your goal is obsolescence.
The wise strategy is adaptability. It’s the water principle applied to technology:
- Water does not fight the dam; it uses the dam's power to spin the turbine.
- You don't fight the internet; you use its speed to connect your local, parallel community.
💡 The AI Example
AI is a perfect example of a powerful tool developed by big institutions. If you use it to write code for your neighborhood's new resource-sharing app, you are not supporting the old system. You are extracting value from the tool and redirecting that value toward building your solution.
When you use an existing tool to create something the old system could never create (like a free, open-source solution that benefits a community instead of shareholders), you are not serving the old system—you are looting it for parts to build your better future.
This is not selling out. This is strategic engineering. Embrace the best tools available, regardless of where they came from, and put them to work building the next thing.
How to Build Your "New Model"
So, if we accept that capitalism and politics are messy, what do we actually do? We build parallel systems. We create our own little worlds of sanity.
- Don't like the food system? Don't protest the grocery stores or the complex global food system. Start a community garden or buy directly from a local farmer.
- Don't like the banking system? Learn about decentralized finance or trade skills with your neighbors without using cash. Freely share spare resources and ideas with your local community.
- Don't like the school system? Teach your kids critical thinking at home or form a learning pod with friends.
- Don't like the culture? Create art, write, or build a community that values the things you value.
If you still like the idea of a revolution, we have full control of our thoughts. Think of your actions as undermining the system. Slowly weakening the massive pillars that hold up the injustices of the world. Be like water and rebel quietly, slowly, persistently to achieve what you want.
The Takeaway
Fighting the "existing reality" is exhausting. It drains your battery and rarely changes the channel.
Instead, look at the mess of the world, shrug your shoulders, and say, "Okay, that’s the reality." Then, turn your back on it and start building something beautiful right in front of you.
If what you build is good enough, eventually, everyone else will want to join you there. That is how you win.
There is No Future without today and we get to choose what we do today. Choose wisely.
