The intensity of ‘our world’s’ problems

The intensity of ‘our world’s’ problems

Ashley Mwanza and Fareedah Abbas

THREADING together some thoughts that have been on my (Ashley) mind lately, I wanted to bring something different to you for consideration. We were then inspired in part by a conversation we (Ashley and Fareedah) had, the topic of intensity sprung up, it got us thinking just how much our lives are filled with so much and the intensity of our world’s problems. In life as we focus on the intensity of our own problems we ignore the greater intensity that which the world faces and, we’re not really looking at things we could be doing to make a difference. Albert Einstein put well when he said that, “the problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.” We ought to change our way of thinking to progress.

We can feel the immensity of the problems and challenges in our world today. The economy, health, environmental and social conditions, all of these continue to change in ways that affect humanity. The world evidently consists of various kinds of phenomena, the study of whose characteristics has given birth to specialized fields.

Moreover, despite the expansion in different spheres of knowledge and the vast number of wonderful and valuable discoveries made in various disciplines, there still remain, in our immediate surroundings and on this very planet, many things unresolved, the effort to solve whose mystery has occupied our inquisitive minds, but yet to be solved. The need to find correct and convincing answers to such problems is a pressing demand of our inner most conscience.

As the world is metamorphosing we can thus ask and a debate ensues over what values should define our world, these values encompass our own little worlds and the world at large. The first step in confronting a challenge is to understand what it is. So, we ask, what's behind conflicting world views, and how can they be responded to? The answer to both these questions lies in the same source; us.

There is no denying that we've reached a moment of transition, both in the development of the economic crisis in the world, and in the evolution of tackling world poverty. For global elites, it is a debate about how to rule the world. As a result, the stage is now set for a critical new debate about the global economy or are we beyond it already? We believe it’s a work in progress.

Are we saying that there is hope? Yes of course. But we are also saying that the problem is much more knotty and intractable that any well meaning citizens of the world imagined. What does the foregoing suggest? Only the destruction of a society by replacing its institutions, retraining its citizens starting with the young, either over educating (massive amounts of information or rather misinformation) or under-educating (denial of a basic education) them. This is preventing the existence of the very pattern that would define a balanced society over the period of the average lifespan of a citizen.

Confronting the challenges of conflicting world views is, perhaps, one of the challenges many of us had to face as infants: the sometimes conflicting world views of mother and father and of their families: different aims and ambitions in life, different ways to conceive progress or face problems, different attitudes towards nature, people, money, different religions, or attitudes towards the same faith, different styles, different rhythms, different tastes. With that in mind we need to have a critical understanding of the limits of modern structures and in addition the means of moving beyond them.

Global poverty and hunger are increasing with great intensity each year instead of decreasing. In part, admittedly, the problems of the world are a function to increasing population and decreasing resources, but we must see that the global expansion of large aggregations of capital is also a factor. Global inequalities in income and living standards have reached grotesque proportions. Almost half the world over 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (approx. 567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen. 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). Approximately 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).

The intensity of food aid (when not for emergency relief) can actually be very destructive on the economy of the recipient nation and contribute to more hunger and poverty in the long term. Free, subsidized, or cheap food, below market prices undercuts local farmers, who cannot compete and are driven out of jobs and into poverty, further slanting the market share of the larger producers such as those from the US and Europe. Many poor nations are dependent on farming, and so such food aid amounts to food dumping. Why not support the farmer?

We need to outgrow the dangerous and costly structures of thinking that are our legacy from modernity. Instead of endless debates, we need dialogue and negotiations, not just in Cyprus, East Timor, Burma, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Middle East etc., but in the United Nations about the natural resources, power concentrations, poverty, human rights of the populations of the world etc.

The reason why we are fraught with such intense situations in our lifetime seems to be our proactive levels, we are more of a reactive society and the complexity of our civilization overwhelms us. The immensity of the problems of today's world has lessened the opportunity of the average man to play a part in it. Overwhelmed by anxieties, he has apathetically handed over his problems to the professional in order to be relieved from a responsibility he can no longer endure. Hence, man has become unable to confront the steadily widening periphery of his dilemma and to react to it as an individual. Our media of communication, unprecedented in scope and intensity, spread manufactured, ready-made opinion, conditioning man to an “outer-directed” mass-product. But we must take the opposite stance in this battle.

This strategy (opposite stance in this battle) according to Shrii Prabhat R Sarkar, which wise persons recommend, is equally applicable to all spheres of life. One should always remember this golden principle because life means struggle, without struggle there can be no life. Those who think that they will advance with firm and rapid steps avoiding struggle or even the least scratch on their bodies, are surely mistaken. In fact, even in the smallest affair one will have to move ahead through struggle. We face intense battles in our world but we are all called to action. When people start walking on the surface of the earth, the ground tries to arrest their movement. As long as they are capable of struggling against the opposition of inertia, they will be able to move; but the moment they lose this capacity, they immediately fall down, thus why many are suffering because we have allowed ourselves to fall. Hence the very essence of life is struggle. Life without struggle means death. Since we have to live through struggle, we must understand this important principle of taking the opposite stance in struggle. Let us face the world’s problems head on.

We need effective approaches in overcoming any challenge. We need to critically analyse the source of our problems. Why do they occur in the first place? In addressing any challenge, we need to work out long term measures, and not to provide temporary solutions. When we understand and we act fairly, we will not blame others for our challenges and difficulties. We realise that most of our problems are of our own doing. Let us also try to understand the problem and challenge before us, and plan to overcome it wisely and with the appropriate knowledge.

It so happens that the correct solution of the aforementioned problems is of fundamental importance in giving meaning and value to human existence, and directing man's activities into proper channels. But we need to accelerate our pace before we perish.