When Winning is Losing

Written by: Hayley Stevens

Western European civilisation is built upon a win/lose game.  A game which has been exported around the world.  In truth it is the lose/lose game. In the long run we never win when we play this game – with our children, our partners, colleagues, friends, neighbours, community… and with the planet.  When one side wins, and the other loses… the winning is just the start of losing all over again. This is what history shows us.  This is what is playing out around the world right now.   


The history of humanity might fill us with pessimism and despair about our ability to change this game.   But there is evidence that it has not always been this way.  The values and beliefs that underpin this game are only 2,000-3,000 years old - a mere fraction of time that humanity has existed on this planet. That’s 26-39 generations* or 800+ generations dependent upon which calculation you use!


There is hope.


It was hope that I felt listening to Laura Shannon’s talk at a conference in Cheltenham in the summer.  It was this hope that lead me to invite her to ‘the big room' in Macclesfield.  

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