We live the global threat every day and we hear theories about the end of humans and the world. But the real threat lives beyond every eschatology and the controversial predictions of the Maya. The real threat is humans themselves, or, to be exact, those humans who influence directly the making of history with their decisions and actions. The real threat is also modern civilization, mainly technology and economy.
What causes the global threat?
1. The continued deterioration of the Earth’s climate which can cause uncontrollable situations in vast areas of the planet. Our natural environment has been damaged by reckless human interventions, and it emits death to humans and to everything alive in nature. In addition, major earthquakes are inevitable.
2. The global economy can collapse or disintegrate under a partial destruction. Over 90% of the world’s money has passed in cyberspace, leaving a minimum of approximately 9% spent on production. This maximum amount of money is directed towards speculation which contributes to the unequal distribution of wealth and generates new situations of instability in the global economy. A new attitude tends to dominate the world, that of the markets where all countries and individuals are debtors. Despite of the negative effects of a possible economic downfall, this threat brings something positive: the new “balance of terror,” which means that the threat of the global economic destruction may possibly boost the global economy. It resembles the atomic and nuclear bombs which prevented a global conflict because of the threat of a global disaster.
This threat could also promote the concept of supervision of the financial systems so that the absence of any corporate codes of conduct will cease to dominate. It could prevent or heal extremely dangerous local or global recession situations. Or even produce a new concept for the global public interest, not only in universities and scholars, but also in international forums that bring countries together. Although the absence of morality makes things difficult, it brings back the concept of politics and philosophy. Today, the absolute spirit has led to situations of intolerable cruelty, and it opposes situations of genuine compassion. It seems that what distinguishes history is lack of intelligence which consequently emanates lack of morality. Failure to anticipate and prevent tragic situations always returns to the historical scene. This concept of prevention as a feasible achievement constitutes the main problem of our time.
The intensity of incurable diseases intensifies our dangerous times and infernal practices. This fact is probably the only example of global democracy. Diseases do not distinguish humans. The tragic death of Steve Jobs, a distinguished entrepreneur of Apple, Inc. is a prime example to this unique global democracy. Paradoxically, the so-called modern humans refuse or fail to understand important events and they live their daily lives as if nothing has happened.
The question arises whether this delusion can be diagnosed in advance; whether it is possible to prevent the birth and development of unrestrained cruelty; whether the population overgrowth, the depletion of the energy sources, and the shortage of drinking water exacerbate the local or global reality, which aggravates the helplessness of human thought.
However, there is still room for positive action. A sense of beauty and new possibilities emerge, at least, in theory, and hopefully, in practice.