In 0.007% of the entire history of our planet humans have managed to: grow their own food; create a method of exchange for goods and services; form societies with governing systems; build cultures around shared art, music, theology and philosophy; harness the power of electricity; mass produce life-saving medicine; walk on another celestial body; and invent a new creature: computers. We are a force of nature when we consider the progress we have made as a collective race. Our wildest dreams became reality when we strove to solve our issues rather than accept and live under their limitations.

Despite our achievements and advancements, we still have pressing issues such as war, lack of basic provisions (food, clean water and affordable housing), inequality of opportunity and income, climate change, loss of habitat, inadequate access to healthcare, precarious freedoms, and rampant political polarisation.

Although concerning, we have already demonstrated our ability to overcome our problems, but our journey ahead will be made even harder if we're not organised to take on these obstacles, which I believe is the wider issue.

To innovate and solve our problems it is imperative we have fair, sustainable, effective, and inclusive systems in place to organise ourselves, procure resources, and develop strategies. We do not currently have such systems. Free markets lack ethics. Democracies are slow and open to corruption. Authoritarian states take away inherent freedoms. International-union-governments are fragmented, underfunded, and non-inclusive.

Through the advent of the internet and international travel we have reached far beyond the confines of our borders and have the unique opportunity to evolve again and become a unified species with a shared mission.

As a possible avenue to this, I want to share with the world an idea I call Endeavour. An organisation where everyone can join and work together, with a mission to solve issues.

To create more peaceful and prosperous future for all, we must unite, share our issues, care, and collaborate to solve them. Endeavour will embody this by being an organisation where all of us are entitled to become members, to share our issues, and collectively innovate to solve them. Each member will have one vote each which can be casted to elect leaders, choose how we use our resources, and direct our vision.

Whilst it will involve us all, we should take great care not to erode our individuality as people, communities, and states. Our freedom to be and represent who we are must be protected to the utmost degree, but we must collaborate better, as free people, to inspire further progress.

Rather than profit, our mission and measurement of success will be how effectively and efficiently we can solve issues and create positive change. To commit to this mission, Endeavour will have leaders and employees researching and solving issues through the creation of physical or digital products and services, aided by the involvement of members, all whilst being transparent and open to full public scrutiny.

For us to afford this work, we will welcome un-conditional donations from all individuals and organisations. However due to the unreliability of this, we will also charge for some of the products and services we create allowing us to generate a more sustainable revenue stream. 

In some cases, Endeavour may create companies which could sell shares, but Endeavour would remain the majority shareholder. We would first sell shares to our members, to involve those within the organisation and so shareholders are primarily driven by the cause rather than the financial incentive. 

Endeavour itself will categorically be unable to sell any part of itself as it will wholly belong to its members forever.

Any one organisation will not be able to solve all the world's issues, this is why Endeavour will never intend to replace but to inspire and elevate people, organisations, and governments, to improve their capability and better integrate with one another so we can better resolve our issues and move forward.

Endeavour has vast ambitions, but we must focus on the short term and plan how we are going to begin our journey. Although frustrating, with knowing what Endeavour could be, we must ensure the organisation is built upon strong foundations that serve as the launch pad for growth.

To begin, I will incorporate the organisation as a Charitable Incorporated Company in the UK and head the initial phase. My tenure will last until we reach an appropriate level of members and have a system in place that is capable of conducting fair elections.

Due to limited resources and awareness at first, our work will be focused on two counties that I know well: Lincolnshire and Greater Manchester. By starting in these two areas, it will provide insight to how issues might be different in the countryside in comparison to a city, or how the process is different between a Conservative or a Labour area. Some of our research and work might have a national reach, but our focus will be with these areas until we can afford the ability to expand our scope.

Even though this is the case, everyone in the UK will be able to become a supporter, entitling them to partake in meetings and cast their opinions and concerns. Whilst not binding Endeavour at this stage, it will be my policy and responsibility to listen, take opinions onboard and keep supporters informed on why decisions are made the way they are. This will allow us to grow our awareness and build membership within one country at first, then understand whether and how we can expand, if we gain public attention.

Finding and understanding the issues that are in front of us will be challenging, therefore we will begin to create our public online database which will collate existing research and allow supporters to self-report issues they see and experience. Having this approach will allow us to gain the insight produced by professional researchers whilst also removing the barrier for individuals allowing their voices to be heard.

With this research, Endeavour will start to create digital and physical solutions, known as Projects, to address issues in our focused communities. Our Projects, either commercial or charitable, must serve a higher purpose which is why we always state the issue we are intending to solve when starting one, for example, we will create Isaac's Project which will aim to help the integration of non-verbal adults into the wider community whilst also making it easier for disabled adults to find the key services they require. To do this, we will aim to raise public awareness of, and education in, British Sign Language (BSL), which is only known by 0.2% of the UK population, and create software which facilitates the process of finding social housing and services for disabled adults.

Endeavour will be transparent from the start, allowing everyone to view the research, ideas, and work that we create and see where every penny of our funding goes. We aim for all this information and activity to be accessed through our website, keeping information documented in an accessible historic record.

Although far from the ideal of a worldwide direct democracy at the beginning, it will be my primary role to ensure Endeavour embodies integrity, fairness, and inclusivity to show our commitment to everyone and earn their trust in order to prove Endeavour can work so it can expand to solve more issues.

Although humans are social creatures that have survived and prospered through the formation of tribes, it seems we have never been fully united in a singular cause. Individuality is valuable, but I believe there should also be a common thread that weaves in between us all. Rather than a shared enemy, we should have a shared mission.

I would argue it is the responsibility of national governments and the UN to bring us all together, but do they? The talents of people are drastically underutilised when it comes to solving our issues. For example, the UN has a key policy of 17 social development goals designed to achieve a more peaceful and prosperous future, but only 7.8% of the population of France, Germany, UK and US are aware of what the goals are. We aren't being actively included, or even encouraged, in the implementation of positive change, so therefore the progress is left to our representatives.

Representative Democracy is used by practically all democratic states: the process where the general population elect representatives to serve their interests in government; but there is a flaw in this system, it surrenders the inherent power that we are given: our voice.

When we elect a representative, they are intended to represent and vote on behalf of us, but what if their political party tells them to vote a certain way? What if you vote for someone because of the party they are associated with rather than the content of their character? What if your representative intends to make a career move rather than serve your best interests? We shouldn't have to protest and risk arrest in order to have our opinion heard, but what organisation is there to represent and voice the opinions of everyone other than government? Despite the theoretical flaw in representative democracy, it is also shown to have practical issues: concentration of power, cronyism, corruption and abuses of rights and freedoms.

Then, we put these democratic representatives alongside unacceptable authoritarian leaders in the UN, tasked with protecting global peace and creating prosperity. How is this meant to be achieved with a clear shortfall of funding, amounting to 0.15% of the world's defence budget, and a lack of co-operation amongst the worlds 'super-powers'?

If we have this struggling apparatus to solve our present issues, what do we do when more arrive? The global population is getting older and sicker, meaning there is going to be a greater burden on younger generations. Couple this with the looming spectre of climate change causing more unpredictable weather patterns, increasing migration, risks of pandemics, and the uncertainty around AI as to whether it poses a risk to our economy, or even humanity as a whole. We are ill-equipped to take on these challenges at present, but we are not doomed. What we need to do is come together.

Endeavour, ultimately, is a choice as to whether to accept things as they are or do something about them.

Will we just swing from issue-to-issue, with non-committal actions to prepare for our future struggles, and await a fragmented government system to attempt to resolve it for us? 

Endeavour will create a sustainable addition to our global system: one that is truly representative, includes us all, uses its resources to improve all our lives, empowers us to tackle issues, and uplifts our current systems to operate better.

The best way to predict the future is to create it. 

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

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Written by Hakim Khan (Director of Our Endeavour CIC)