What If It’s All Connected? Humanity and the Global Crisis
By Joe Brewer
The 21st Century is a time of great converging challenges—we need to think, feel and act systemically like never before in our history. In reality the threats are all connected, yet we continue to deal with them separately in a piecemeal fashion. This simply will not be good enough.
Climate change cannot be addressed in isolation from the wealth-hoarding of capitalism that has made the world so unequal that a mere 62 individuals have the same aggregate wealth as 3.7 billion. Terrorism cannot be tackled in the absence of deep inquiries about what happens when money is treated as more sacred than life or spiritual tradition. Political corruption cannot be wrangled in without taking account of the commercialization of elections that treats each candidate like yet-another-product to be bought and sold in the marketplace of ideas.
And so on and so forth…
Mystics throughout the ages have told us that separation is an illusion. Western science has come to the same conclusion with the discoveries in quantum mechanics showing how the great diversity of distinct objects we perceive are, deep down, interwoven patterns of energy that cannot be fundamentally divided into pieces. Similarly, the findings of Darwinian evolution tell us that all life is connected in a woven tapestry of mothers birthing daughters in an unbroken thread for 3.6 billion years that gives us a web of life on Earth. Psychologists and sociologists remind us that there is no monolithic self (the Buddha was right!) as we observe how social norms shape and influence our behavior in profound and powerful ways. We are social networks functioning as tribal groups.
These truths—whether garnered from spiritual practice or the empiricism of scientific inquiry—are a reminder that all apparent differences arise from a prior unity that often remains hidden from view. Everything IS connected. And we must hold this truth in mind as we go about the business of transitioning our civilization away from its runaway growth curve of mass consumption. The Earth is finite and there are boundaries which we must not cross if we want to continue to be part of the cosmic dance that is life on this beautiful planet.
More specifically, the local struggles in different places around the world are also connected. Peasant farmers kicked off their land in India share a common plight with sex workers trafficked into the Netherlands alongside illicit flows of money, drugs, and guns. Rising food prices in Mexico are linked to the explosion of student loan debt in the United States. The Syrian refugee crisis in Europe is linked to chronic droughts in the Middle East over the last few decades which were shaped and influenced by factory pollution during Western industrialization. And these patterns of human displacement are meshed together with the empire-building of the United States in its unquenchable thirst for control of the world’s oil supply.
We could easily let this massive clockwork of complexity overwhelm us. If it’s all connected, where and how shall I intervene? Isn’t it all too big for me to do anything about? Again, this is the beauty of interdependence. Tug at the right piece of frayed string and the whole rug will unravel before you. In the case of the global economy, there happens to be a singular string that ties it all together—the central logic of growth at all costs that says the only measure of progress is rising GDP (Gross Domestic Product, the aggregate price of all goods bought and sold during a given period of time).
We have been told that the only way to end poverty is to grow our way out of it. That all boats will be lifted with the rising tide of consumer purchases. Yet this half-truth deceives in at least two ways—having to do with dots that are not connected by their arguments—the first being that many valuable human activities do not involve the exchange of money (mothering, for example). The second is the biological fact that some kinds of growth are good for an organism while others are not. Growing up to be healthy and strong is good. Runaway cancer in the bowels will probably kill you.
Humanity needs to think systemically. We need to act from a place of holistic insight. And we need to do so collectively, as the singular humanity of 7.4 billion souls living together with the rest of our biological kin here in Earth. A good place to start is by acknowledging prior unity and then immediately going about dismantling the logic of economic growth. Tug on this narrative string and the rest of the story gets weaker. Pull enough of it out and you can begin threading it into a different story, one that recognizes our common plight and holds up life as the sacred principle at the heart of it all.
But to do so, we’ll have to connect the dots.
Onward, fellow humans.
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Joe Brewer, a colleague of George Lakoff, is Co-Founder of Culture2Inc, Culture Editor for The Evolution Institute, and a Change Strategist for The Rules.
I would like more meat on the bones of this aspiration to effectively challenge the mantra of Growth. Also just a point about GDP. It also includes the monetary value of all services provided, such as health care, cleaning up oil spills and insuring us against flooding, etc.
We need details that have worked in the past in order to become active in this process. And I am not an academic nor do I make assumptions about the best way to act.
Thank you for the provocative introduction to this issue.
Dear Dr. Mead,
You might enjoy this wonderful essay by the human ecologist, William Rees. He goes into a great deal of detail about the differences between ecological and environmental economics to tease out some of the fundamental issues with a growth-based economy.
http://www.greattransition.org/publication/economics-vs-the-economy
When looking for things that have worked in the past, I am often drawn to the history of religious movements, the rise of corporate capitalism, rise and fall of empires, and other broad-stroked patterns of human social development. There is much to learn from the past that can guide us moving forward. This is a huge topic that warrants more than a comment, of course!
Best,
Joe
Thank you for this thought-provoking essay. I especially appreciate the short video. It reminded me of the slogan of the 60’s, “turn on, tune in, and drop out.” Connecting dots includes ourselves as one of the dots, and affirms our power to alter entire systems of culture and belief by realizing our personal connection to the background tapestry of prior unity. My experience with that journey has taught me that not only is this possible, it also requires constant reinforcement within a community of like-minded seekers and a surrender of selfish interests to the common good. That simple step is often the most difficult until an existential crisis tips our willingness to risk a commitment for which we have had almost no preparation. What is accelerating the evolution of our species now is the exponential increase in the numbers of people willing to take that risk.
Dear David H.,
Thank you for bringing up this vitally important point. Change always starts within — and the interconnections include our own beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, and emotions. I especially enjoyed this essay by Bayo Akomolafe about remembering the dot on our foreheads when we “connect the dots” of the global crisis:
http://bayoakomolafe.net/project/the-dot-on-my-forehead-how-we-understand-the-crisis-is-part-of-the-crisis/
I agree with you, but that is just a first step. We desperately need to go to zero population growth and shift the way we think and act. We also need to go back to sustainable lifestyles. We are all guilty.
YES!! So right!
The Global crisis we are experiencing is purely because of overpopulation. We have organized religion to partially thank for it and also the large corporations who want to create more slaves, particularly children. For those who still need convincing, I would very much advise them to read the book ” The Population Bomb ” by Paul Erhlich 1968. Just feeding that many people causes havoc with the animals and the land and all results of overpopulation. In fact our little planet should not have more than 500 million human animals. We are destroying our wildlife with our stupidity, ignorance and cupidity. We are by far the most dangerous and destructive animals on this Planet!
The things the common man has today would marvel even the greatest of kings, pharaohs, and emperors of the past. Capitalism has fueled many advances in society. One must take the bad with the good.
As population grows so must the economy to ensure food,clothes ,housing,healthcare etc for everyone.Continued GDP growth is inextricably linked to growing population and increased welfare of existing population it is not an unnecessary folly. Also childcare (mothering) is never free ,money may not be exchanged but someone has to do it and be supported by someone else while doing it.
Interesting article. However…
“There will be some nine billion people on earth before the midpoint of this century. Animal species are going extinct at a precipitously accelerated rate. The demand for dwindling natural resources is skyrocketing. Clean water is harder and harder to come by. By any biological gauge, our species has exceeded our sustainable numbers.
If we want more available clean water per capita, we need fewer people on earth. If we want to decrease vehicle emissions, we need fewer drivers. If we want the oceans to replenish their fish, we need fewer people eating fish!
We are on the brink of the end of humanity, and our world leaders are sitting in boardrooms commissioning studies on solar power, recycling, and hybrid automobiles.
Ozone depletion, lack of water, and pollution are not the disease – they are the symptoms. The disease is overpopulation. And unless we face world population head-on, we are doing nothing more than sticking a Band-Aid on a fast-growing cancerous tumor.”
D.B.
Clean water is harder to come by because industry wants it that way. We do not need fewer people that is just so missing the point to be ridiculous. It’s not the lack of resources that it is the problem, it’s the intentional mis management. The intentional polluting, The intentional war waging. The disease is not overpopulation There are vast swathes of space that are empty on planet earth. Your over population argument is an argument for more controls and abuses. People are not separate to the planet we are not separate from Nature. We are nature. Calling humanity Cancerous, is a perfect example of the attitudes that are clueless as to the issues and the solutions.
“If it’s all connected, where and how shall I intervene? Isn’t it all too big for me to do anything about? ” The answer to this question is a resounding “NO.” The best thing ALL of us can do is to stop breeding like cockroaches. Limit your selfish selves to one, no more than two, children. You’ll be doing humanity, the planet, and everything on it the biggest solid possible. Ever hear of birth control?
The world dynamics grow as man living in it also grow! Everything is changed by man! Only a stone cant be changed by man to be a bread; like Jesus did!
As the global economy becomes more interconnected and full of risk and economic uncertainties, nations continuously are confronted with interwoven global effects. The search for practical solutions to address these interwoven problems become more of a problem as economic solution frameworks are soaked up in crisis.
The big question here is , how do we solve interwoven global economic problems?
This is where EM/389 comes in as a newly designed solution framework to help answer this big question.
First, it says to solve interwoven economic problems, we must understand the rationale behind the increasing interconnection of the global economic structure which depicts the natural formation and functional pattern of the global economy.—– The global economy shares one global human, natural/mineral resources demarcated by geographical boundaries—these resources steer up aggregate economic activities that defines the state of the economy( either national or global). In the case of demarcation, nations alter the natural flow of resources as they tend to direct and manage their separate resources and as such bridge the force of economic compatibility and comparative advantage that holds the global economic structure to balance the wide gap of inequality as it drives on the path of sustainability over time periods.
The increasing interconnection despite forces of disconnection of the global economy is due to the simple fact that at every point in time nature must take its course. To lay straight the fact that the global economy shares one global human, natural/mineral resources(which is the bedrock for aggregate economic activities)—– Human beings find their way to move from one nation to another despite restrictions(immigration/emigration) same as goods and services from one place of comparative advantage to another and so on and so forth(that we see in imports/exports. where there is restriction we see smuggling etc) All these movements occur to naturally strike at that missing balance found at the hub of the global economic structure thereby increasing interconnection of the global economy.
How do we address interwoven global economic problems?—- Subject: “Global Economy”—- It sounds intangible—we can’t lay our hands on the Global economy just as a bicycle to fix it when it gets bad. so how do we fix the global economy because it is bad?
EM/389 says to understand the exact formation and functional pattern of the global economy we have construct the global economy. Under construction, EM/389 takes the global economy as a 360 degree economic wheel plying the path of sustainability under a time axis of 8760hrs/pa.( Analogy of a bicycle wheel ) The wheel which is made of a frame(Global platform), various spokes(economies of nations) and a hub( center of connectivity where capital flows and trade intersects). In various spokes are economic components nations hold in common which are Y = Funds, A = Human Resources, B = Natural, Min. Resources and X = State of the economy. These economic components are bedrock of economic activities which defines the state of each economy(or its movement on the path of sustainability)
N/B: The effective structuring of the wheel determines its movement strength to ply on the path of sustainability with respect to time periods.(past, present and future).
Attachments area
This is a lovely insightful piece of writing. Jan Christian Smuts pointed the way in his ground-breaking book, ‘Holism and Evolution’ (1926), and his seminal centenary address to the British Association for the Advancement Science, ‘The Scientific World Picture of Today’ (1931). I am in the final stages of writing a little book recapturing his insights in the language of and for the 21st century.
You are a little light on the middle east and Syria, but I get your point. However, I believe you really need to call out the Industrial Military Complex, which you skip over here, big time. That is my opinion. Of course we are all connected. Labels are what separate us and divide us, and the labelling of people as black white, Jew Muslim christian atheist man woman, gay straight, plays into their hands.