GEN

A former publication from Medium about politics, power, and culture. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

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Do No Harm

7 min readOct 28, 2021

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Háifoss — an Edenic waterfall in Iceland © Anthony Fieldman 2018

Sometimes, I dream of a world in which the worst of human behaviors don’t exist. In those moments, I envision crisp, fresh air; lush, cacophonous forests; crystal-clear lakes and rivers; teeming oceans; and snow-capped mountains, all gloriously free of industrial machinery. I dream of a world in which the machines that do exist emit nothing but light, air, or vapor — the very same things that power them; where strangers smile softly at one another openly, as if greeting an old friend; where curiosity, empathy, optimism, and ethics are the cardinal points of our behavior; where lawyers and their enforcers, politicians, and militaries don’t exist, because there is no need for such things; and where everyone speaks to truth, acting in accordance with a singular, foundational tenet governing human conduct:

“Do no harm.”

What a world that would be. If we measured everything we do — everything — by this metric, the world that we know wouldn’t exist. Energy…

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GEN
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Published in GEN

A former publication from Medium about politics, power, and culture. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Anthony Fieldman
Anthony Fieldman

Written by Anthony Fieldman

Architect | Photographer | Writer | Philosopher | Polyglot | Windmill Jouster | Nomade Civilisée

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