At different times in history, and under different circumstances, the word “collaborator” has connoted something negative. To be dubbed a collaborator meant you were a bad person, you had sold out your “people”, your comrades.

Those Black people and leaders who collaborated with the Apartheid regime in South Africa, who chose to “work within the system” were reviled because they were used as an instrument of oppression, they were used to spread the lie that there was Black self-government, they were used to institutionalise the homeland or Bantustan system.

In Europe, collaborators worked with the Nazi occupiers to oppress and repress their citizens. They helped to out members of the resistance, and to point out those who were hiding Jews. There are countless other similar instances throughout history and in different parts of the world.

In science, in tech, in business, however, collaboration is a good thing. To be a collaborator shows maturity and intelligence, especially emotional intelligence. Numerous inventions, numerous endeavours, would not have been possible, or they would have been difficult, to achieve without collaboration. Frequently many projects are only possible through collaboration. The race to build the atomic bomb in America was a collaboration of a number of eminent scientists. The International Space Station was and is a collaboration of a number of nations, including political, military and security rivals (or enemies?) Russia and the United States. In fact, for many years until late 2020, the US didn’t even have the capability to send astronauts to the ISS and had to rely on the collaboration and cooperation of Russia. The United Nations system, the World Bank and the IMF, etc., all are a result of cooperation and collaboration. The latest example are the several COVID-19 vaccine initiatives, both on the side of Big Pharma and researchers, and on the side of nations.

Developing a healthy regard towards collaboration is key to success and progress. While competition is also good, after all it too does drive success, it is foolhardy to disdain collaboration. We require more, not less, collaboration. We need to grow more collaborators. In science, in tech, in business, to be dubbed a collaborator is a badge of honour. 

War is an anachronism. So are those beating war drums from time to time.

Nation states are an anachronism. Which is why moves toward greater integration, like the European Union, are a big step forward. That is, until they themselves become instruments of exclusion: huge trade barriers against non-member states; exclusion of African and other migrants, etc.

Amassing vast amounts of personal wealth, ‘billionairism,’ is an anachronism if done at the expense of other fellow humans, or if it insulates the owners to the human suffering around them.

Methods of production that are harmful to the environment are an anachronism. Especially when there are proven technologies that can achieve the same goals without harmful emissions or resource waste.

Fossil fuels are an anachronism.

Political parties are an anachronism, especially if they are merely an instrument to acquire state power in order to control the national resources. They are an anachronism if they perpetuate nation states, create or exacerbate divisions nationally, regionally and internationally.

Marriage is an anachronism. Whatever the initial societal reasons, the high rate of divorce, spousal abuse and choices now available for both men and women render the whole marriage construct questionable.

Customs and traditions and superstitions are an anachronism, especially those that lead to abuses towards sections of the population, or those that perpetuate backwardness and unscientific beliefs and actions.

Is religion also not an anachronism?

Advances in science, knowledge systems, and technology render many or all of these human constructs unnecessary. When are societal organisation going to catch up?