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This man of the forest is often found driving around in his iconic green van with a feather in his cap and soil under his fingernails.
Alcindo Pinto - sculptor, landscaper and all-round green man – has spent many years getting up close and personal with Jersey’s natural environment. But what would he change if he was in charge of the whole nine-by-five miles?
He shared his ideas with Express...
Five things to change... Well, to start I must add a pre-condition as I am firmly of the belief that at this stage in the development of this world all nations are irrelevant and detrimental to our survival. Although they could possibly be retained for sport for the good of all.
Pictured: The green man and his green van. (Alcindo Pinto/Susie Filofax)
This planet should be run as one entity not as a collection of separate states with conflicting and opposing aims and objectives, so any changes mentioned here should be applied world-wide as well as in Jersey. Oh, so actually that should be change one: make Jersey a guinea pig to test world-saving policies and strategies.
...should be changed so that at least a quarter of it is spent teaching us how our body works, organ-by-organ and as a whole organism. How food, work and exercise affect it and what we can do to stop it getting sick and make it work better. Another quarter of our time could be spent exploring communication - verbal and otherwise - and interpersonal relationships (these two things, you will realise, are where most of our f***ups begin and end so some basic training will be invaluable in later life).
Pictured: When it comes to education, Alcindo says the only walls we should be building are ones made out of willow.
The rest would be filled with basics like maths and writing reading and would end at the age of ten when all pupils would get the chance to try working in different situations for the next five years - after which time they would be able to choose a specialisation (academic, technical, artistic or humanity-based) or just carry on with whatever work they like…
I would replace the police with a non-militarised network of 'Specially Useful People'. Trained in counselling, first aid, crisis resolution, self-defence, etc., who would be the people you went to for help if you thought you might be in danger of committing a crime or of having one committed against you.
Pictured: Alcindo is a sculptor, gardener and landscaper who would change a lot about Jersey and the world if he was given the chance. (Sheena Brockie)
This is what we all lack; a safe and confidential place to go and discuss/explore our brain-demons before they are able to escape and wreak havoc on the world. It’s one of those things that is fundamentally missing, a wise and non-judgemental space based on understanding rather than authority.
I would introduce a sliding scale for the payment of everything. This would mean that anything you pay for would have a price set as a percentage of your annual income so if you earn less you will pay less and everybody will pay the same percentage.
Pictured: Alcindo wants to see a new, more proportional way to pay.
To accommodate this, prices would be set on the average worldwide income of everybody and profits would be restricted to a pre-set rate which would take into account sustainability of the planet, availability of materials, and usefulness.
Manufacturing of products would be highly regulated by a committee of humans and restricted by necessity, durability, effect on the planet, availability of materials and pre-planned sustainable disposal and reuse of materials used on defunct products.
Pictured: Alcindo calls for more regulation of the manufacture of products to reduce the harmful impact of certain materials on the planet (Alcindo Pinto/Nicola Lucas)
So basically - according to physics - there is a finite amount of everything on this planet, nothing is created or destroyed only transformed into other things by the action of the planet or interference by planetary organisms. So, production of anything would be limited to necessities, and luxuries would have to be made by anybody who wants them for themselves only.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and not of Bailiwick Express.
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