Another Brick Out The Wall
Human society is disintegrating. Why? What can we do?
A Human Society?
Wikipedia: “A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations.”
Do the 8 billion human beings living on this planet constitute a single society? The answer appears to be no. While we do share the same gene pool and the same planet Earth with its (limited) natural resources, it is unclear what else we have in common. An external observer of human behavior might note that we are exhibiting differences, separation and competition much more than unity, connection and collaboration.
Some statistics: there are 195 countries in the world today. A recent Harvard study lists more than 650 ethnic groups. Price’s Atlas of Ethnographic Societies records over 3,814 distinct cultures having been described by anthropologists, certainly a major underestimate. It is estimated there are 4,300 religions in the world. The Ethnologue recognizes 7,117 spoken languages in 2020. There are numerous political parties and movements, see e.g. list of more than 100 political parties with more than 50 million members.
With such diversity, what can we possibly agree on, moreover unite around?
Still, until recently we did maintain a façade, perhaps an illusion, of shared human history, values and destiny. Following the horrors of World War 2 we established international institutions such as the United Nations “as an international peacekeeping organization and a forum for resolving conflicts between nations.” It didn’t take long for the UN to be revealed as both too weak and (especially in the case of the UN Security Council) too political and corrupt to carry out its mission of leading the governments and citizens of its constituent countries on a common path towards world peace and prosperity.
Smaller forums such as the G6, which later became the G7 and then G8, were formed to allow the dominant superpowers of the US, Russia and China (and also the UK, Germany, France, Japan and Canada) to “close deals” between then more effectively¹. Similarly the European Union and the Euro currency were established to help the large nations of Europe compete (as opposed to collaborate) economically with the superpowers. If anything, these international forums exposed how such artificial forms of “cooperation” are based purely on the interests of the big and strong players, at the expense of the small and weak ones.
In 2020 we are witnessing our external physical environment being exhausted and overheating, like an old car pushed to drag a heavy payload. At the same time our social fabric, that delicate web of inner connections between us, is tearing apart. International friction, distrust and hostility are reaching new heights, and even a 3rd World War no longer seems as an impossible scenario. We can’t ignore these life threatening signals. They are calling upon us to act. What should we do?
Covid-19: all men are created equal?
Notably the corona virus doesn’t seem to care so much about the differences between us, geographical, social, demographic, cultural, religious or any others. It infected 100s of millions² in the most developed countries and metropolises around the world, but also reached members of the indigenous “arrow people” tribes deep in the in the Amazon jungles and the Great Andamanese tribe living on isolated islands in the Indian ocean (though no one really knows how). It touched masses but also world leaders, celebrities and top athletes. It relates to all people with complete equality. Maybe we should learn from it?
Perspective
Planet earth was not a safe neighborhood before Covid-19 arrived at the scene. In fact humanity was headed towards a titanic clash with nature (not with an iceberg though, none will be left soon). Clearly we needed to stop and reevaluate. Unfortunately we were all too busy to seriously think about it, all the more so change course.
Until Covid-19 came along. Suddenly we have time, urgency, and even a common enemy. In April 2020 the UN chief held a press conference calling for ‘solidarity, unity and hope’ in battling the Covid-19 pandemic. Never before in modern history has humanity’s fate and the critical need for all of us to work together been more evident.
Covid-19 is not the illness, it is a symptom. If we pay attention to what it is telling us, it may save us. From ourselves.
So: what can we possibly agree on, moreover unite around?
That we cannot survive alone, let alone prosper. Egoistic behavior is not only short sighted, it is suicidal. We must connect and collaborate above all differences. Planet earth truly is a global village. We need to establish a single “super-community”, and educate everyone about the importance of an integrated human society, and the means to achieve it. Possible? Yes. Challenging? Yes. Do we have other options? No. Is there a great reward awaiting us if we succeed? Yes!
In the long history of humanity we have overcome many obstacles. Indeed we developed though a sequence of crises. We are now facing our greatest crisis, and our greatest opportunity. We can conquer it. Together.
May the force be with us!
Notes
[1] Russia was suspended from the G8 following its annexation of Crimea, and in response announced in 2017 that it is permanently leaving the G8.
[2] The official number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide at the time of this writing is 36 million, however the head of emergencies at the World Health Organization recently estimated the actual number to be far greater, and that 10% of the world population (i.e. more than 750 million) may have been infected already.
