Let’s greet the New Year by thinking up a world of ‘us’
As 2018 draws to a close, there is much to be thankful for. Unlike the 20th century, barring upheavals brought through regime changes, ethnic cleansing and fundamentalist campaigns, the 21st century is free from the threat of mass-scale war.
On the other hand, the present day is beset by some very problematic phenomena. Democracy has come full circle, even in a country like the US, which built itself on the principles of freedom, democratic ways of living and respect for ethical values.
The greatest threat in the 21st century comes from the materialistic mindset of mankind. Those on the side of scientific values will argue that the world has advanced. So it has. But to what point? Global climate change fuelled by irresponsible use of fossil fuels, environmental degradation egged on by material aggrandisement, and consumerist values of the haves and have-nots do not point to a fairytale ending. We do not need to be decimated by a world war, we are decimating ourselves by debunking our values for Mother Nature and by insensitive exploitation of natural resources. So, what will it take to stop mankind from becoming extinct?
All religions and attendant ethics and justice systems now face the double-edged sword of the digitised “smart” world of ubiquitous knowledge systems, which – capacitated by Big Data – take over rationalisation. We are all faced with impending crises arising from mass migrations, climate change and the scourge of the digital age, which pit the enlightened against the unenlightened. Social malaise such as myopia, self-delusion, depression, suicides and social killings fill our news bulletins.
Quo vadis? We need to take a real hard look at our realities, understand the limitations of the human life and correspondingly moderate our living. While crying that all may be lost, we cannot allow the waves of despondency to overwhelm us. We need to arouse within ourselves a new spiritualism, not of the present models, but of the neo-humanistic type: We will have to live and let live. Thus is the enticement of the time approaching us. Thus are the opportunities that will shape us. We need a new world of the Us, and not the I, Me and Myself.
Glen Chatelier
