I recently rewatched All Quiet on the Western Front, maybe through some subconscious understanding of the time of year. You can’t watch any film about World War 1 and not be jolted by the sheer scale of destruction and pointless loss of life. The film drives home that the level of destruction was only possible because it was THE singular goal of much of an entire continent. It’s impossible to understand how humanity drove itself to such levels of horror and destruction, and the only way I’m able to cope is to dream about what we could achieve if we could unite humanity around a positive goal. 

During the War there was unprecedented economic and societal changes, encapsulated in one short scene where there is a factory of women working away to create uniforms for the men going to the front. Fighting the war was what the county did, and everyone contributed, and the need to mobilise the entire population drove forward women’s suffrage in Britain and Germany. The War was the raison d’etre for Germany, Britain or France.  

After the war the countries had to rebuild, and the goal or meaning of the country changed, as it has continued to evolve ever since. After the rebuild, the countries became war machines again, then after the Second World War there was the birth of the welfare state era. Across Europe countries introduced social security and welfare state policies, creating a safety net for all. It was as if that was one of the goals for a state and its economy in that period (admittedly alongside cold war competition and focus on economic growth). 

Since then, what has been the purpose? Countries continue to push for full employment (everyone, full time), maximising our output and growth – but to what goal? Has this actually become The Goal – running everything at 100% to produce more, so that we consume more? Are we now simply a continent of consumers? 

World War 1 provided the countries with a singular focus, often achieved through propaganda and coercion, that led to a total transformation in their economies. 

Can we now reimagine this, is there a singular goal that the country can unite around without coercion? What examples do we draw from – public health campaigns, the space race, or the birth of the welfare state? And how would we get the universal approval for making this our singular goal? 

What would the country and world look like if our singular goal was creating a safety net for the planet? For example, would full employment be part of the solution – maybe we should be working, and consuming, less?  

For me remembrance isnt just about reflecting on the horrors of war, but using it as motivation to make the changes we need to get ourselves onto a path of planetary regeneration. And I think we owe it to the people who were thoughtlessly tossed into the WW1 death machine to make that our singular focus.