Humanity has evolved into a globally interdependent and interconnected human network. In this global system our previous and present self-centered, egoistic attitude and the socioeconomic system it is based on is causing an unsolvable paradox, tension between humanity and its natural existential conditions.
The simple, stark choice ahead of us is getting clearer each day.
Why Economic Isolation Is Not A Choice In The 21st Century
In a global economic crisis, each country tends to think, “How good would it be if we could separate ourselves from the rest of the world, have all our needs for the sustenance of our citizens provided by ourselves, and be completely self-sufficient just as we were a hundred years ago or so? Why don’t we turn back the wheel, set up high tariffs to impede import, trade with other countries only where we are totally incapable of providing for ourselves, and freeze all business partnerships with overseas companies? Yes, the standard of living may drop, but we would be less dependent on others.”
We don’t understand that there is no way back from globalization. We can no longer separate ourselves from the rest of the world. Globalization and interdependence are here to stay. Cutting ourselves off would be like cutting an organ from a living organism in order to be saved from an illness that has afflicted the rest of the organism. If you cut off a finger, would it survive without the body from which it came?
What Everybody Ought To Know About The Futility Of War In An Interconnected World
At first glance, mutual guarantee may seem utopian, too naïve a concept to work in our self-centered world. But in fact, life is now compelling us to adopt it!
Throughout history we have progressed by acting on the drives that arose within us. We constantly felt a need to do something, to change the status quo. We waged wars, fought in revolutions, and rebelled. We have advanced and grown through conflicts and struggles, but the price we paid was destruction.
Today, when we are interdependent, wars and struggles will not solve our problems. Brute force cannot mend the world. A connected world cannot be run with an egoistic mindset propagated by oppression and forced governance. The rule is simple: If we are interdependent, then whatever one person does to others returns like a boomerang, and just as sharply and powerfully. If we understand that all connected systems operate this way, we will succeed.
Why Humanity Must Unite Or Face A World War In The 21st Century
The multiple crises facing humanity indicate that we need to take an inclusive approach to solving them. In an interconnected world, there is no such thing as a local problem. The need for solutions that favor all of humanity will call for consistent deliberation among representatives of all countries as equals. Each side would present the problems it considers urgent, and then every problem would be weighed to see in which order it should be addressed. Only by deliberating in the spirit of our connection in a global web will we find the right way to solve these problems.
The alternative to deliberation is far less appealing—war.
Many experts already understand that it is impossible for any country to overcome the global crisis on its own. However, Nature’s course of evolution raises another point: cooperation and collaboration must be undertaken not only because no country can solve the crisis alone, but because this is the course of the whole of evolution. This global crisis is an opportunity for us to discover it and unite into a single organism, just as the whole of Nature does naturally.
Ahead of us is the most important choice humanity has ever faced: do we adapt to the conditions evolution has placed in front of us in a pro-active, conscious way, or we are going to be forced to it by unprecedented blows and suffering?
Written by Michael Laitman
Michael Laitman is a global thinker dedicated to generating a transformational shift in society through a new global education, which he views as the key to solving the most pressing issues of our time. He is the Founder of the ARI Institute, Professor of Ontology & Theory of Knowledge, PhD in Philosophy, MS in Medical Cybernetics. You can find him on Google+, YouTube and Twitter