Reason Wounded, Hope Denied: World Leadership Response in Difficult Times. “Greed, Corruption and the Urge for Dominance”
The most important and unprecedented aspect of the world in recent decades has been that for the first time there are human made factors that threaten the basic life-nurturing conditions of the entire planet. These life-nurturing conditions are threatened mainly due to two factors.
Firstly we have accumulation of weapons of mass destruction, application of AI to them, steps towards space warfare and related issues.
Secondly, there are a number of various serious environmental problems, about a dozen, which taken together and with various inter-relationships, constitute a very serious survival crisis.
There can be controversies on the details of this situation, on which aspect of these factors are a bigger threat, or on other issues, but the overall reality of earth’s life-nurturing conditions being threatened by these two factors is well-established and cannot be denied.
While this is the most important reality and the biggest issue of our times, of course this cannot be considered in isolation from other very important issues. Firstly, there is large-scale injustice, inequality and conflict due to which a large number of people are denied their basic needs. Secondly, democracy and human rights face many threats and appear to be in retreat in many parts of the world.
Once this basic reality is recognized, the most essential task before humanity can be defined very clearly—this is to protect the basic life-nurturing conditions of our planet within a framework of justice, peace, democracy and improved social relationships. Increasing international cooperation of various countries is needed for this, as well as increasing mobilization of people everywhere on an agenda of peace, justice and environment protection. This is best achieved in conditions of peace. Large-scale mobilization of people with enthusiasm for contributing to such an agenda is possible if justice based policies for people are promoted, while strength for this can come from improved social relations at the level of family, community, workplace etc.
All this is not a burdensome task; in fact people absorbed in this can lead very happy and creative life, all the time having the satisfaction of contributing to a better and safer world for the entire humanity and for future generations.
Hence it is a very important responsibility of world leadership to create the essential conditions in which people of the world have the motivation, the capacity and the conducive conditions for making these contributions.
Unfortunately, the world leadership has completely failed to create such conditions and to implement such an agenda. The result is that the most serious problems are in most contexts worsening further while most people remain largely involved in their personal or in other narrow pursuits. What is more, very powerful business and related political and military interests are all the time distorting the real issues and tasks before humanity to serve their very narrow interests which are generally harmful for most other people, or for the justice and peace based agenda mentioned above.
While many world leaders share the blame for this state of affairs, the biggest share of the blame goes to those who have been the most powerful in recent decades, namely the leaders of the USA and close allies who are more responsible than anyone else for the various highly destructive wars unleashed one after another and due to which the basic conditions of peace and international cooperation essential for implementing the protective agenda mentioned above could not be available. These wars in turn are linked to the military-industrial –politician-expert complex, to greed and corruption, and to the overpowering urge for dominance, to be always the dominant number one power.
It is amazing and extremely unfortunate that the most powerful decision-makers of world are (mis)guided by such distorted thinking and vision, when the overwhelming need is for an entirely different and protective approach. Never was the gulf between what was needed and what was actually happening more acute at world level than it has been in recent decades. The 21st century dawned amidst the greatest urgency for protective policies; it was received by world leaders with the most destructive ones. Even in terms of advancing their own stated priorities—like fighting or curbing terrorism– they have proceeded in highly suspect ways that cannot withstand independent scrutiny, and which have increased destruction instead of reducing it.
We and future generations can be rescued from this highly dangerous situation only by a great upsurge of people for justice, peace and environment protection, led by the young but helped in terms of experience-based guidance by the elderly. This must be an entirely peaceful movement of people worldwide, but must have a particularly important and strong presence in leading western countries.
Many experienced, respected statesman and scholars known for their commitment to peace and justice must get together to issue appeals for this, providing their valuable guidance on the way forward.
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Bharat Dogra, a peace activist, is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent Books include Planet in Peril, Protecting Earth for Children, Earth without Borders and A Day in 2071. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
Featured image: “Peace Dove” by Jose Trujillo
