We All Live in the Developing World
We all live in the developing world.
We currently speak of the developed and the developing world, as if the first world nations have already reached the end of history, and all they need to do is to wait for the rest of the world to catch up.
This is a disastrous idea. If all that happens over the next fifty years is that the “developing world” comes to more closely resemble the “developed world”, then we are heading for ecological, political, and economic catastrophe. It would take four Earths to support 7 billion people living like an average North American — and we’re a bit short on Earths right now.
At this crucial moment in our history, the false dichotomy of developed and developing disempowers the very people we need the most. It suggests that the smartest and most creative talent in the “developing” nations should spend their energy simply imitating what has already been done. And it suggests that the smartest and most creative talent in the “developed” nations has nothing significant left to do, no significant problems left to solve, other than to find the shortest path to profitability.
Earlier this year, I delivered a TEDx talk on this subject. I believe it is crucial that we as a civilization move beyond the conceptual blockade that suggests the future will pretty much be like the past, and that innovation only comes from one place.
Instead, we all need to work to develop new, transformative ways of living, as individuals and as societies. That development needs to emerge from all parts of the globe, as people organically address the unique concerns their communities face, and transform the world around them.
It is no longer sufficient for the “developed world” to stay where they are, nor for the “developing world” to simply adopt the ideas of their first world neighbors. We all need to move forward, and that starts by recognizing that we all live in the developing world.
Watch the talk, and if it makes sense, spread the idea. Let me know your thoughts below.
