When you study history, you realize how much has gone wrong with the world, so much so that the glass has often been almost full to the brim. When you study present times, however, you realize that the glass is overflowing.
There was a lot of injustice, violence, war and ecological ruin earlier too, but you could always say that we will take remedial actions. Now we are fast approaching a point when only very limited time is left for this, when about a dozen environmental problems taken together are fast escalating to create an existential crisis in a matter of decades while the vast accumulation of weapons of mass destruction can annihilate most life even now. Just at a time when humanity possesses most destructive weapons and is taking steps towards even space warfare, wars and conflicts are getting more frequent, more prolonged and when they end at all they often do not end on a note of goodwill.
As for the extent of injustice, the biggest splurge of luxury takes place at the same time that the humanitarian crisis involving death threat to millions accentuates and is more starved of relief funds than ever before. In places like Gaza where people who have faced extreme injustice repeatedly in the past, the perpetrators appear determined to surpass their past record with the kind of injustice even this place had never seen before or had perhaps not even imagined till the recent past, while those most capable of stopping this instead supply the weapons of destruction for this.
So there is absolutely no doubt that the many wrongs of the world are increasing and overflowing as land and ocean do not have the capacity to contain them.
What is more, while it is true that many people contribute to the enormous distress and destruction in small ways, the number of people who contribute in enormously big ways are relatively small, perhaps 2%, perhaps 1%, while there are also a much smaller number of people, perhaps just 0.001% or even lesser, who have gathered enormous powers which they use to cause distress to others in most horrible ways, sometimes by unleashing wars, sometimes by supplying the means for this, at other times by starting economic wars and other extreme violence and injustice.
Hence in undue haste a conclusion may be drawn that to create a better and safer world the main task, the first task is to destroy those forces and their systems that unleash most of the injustice and violence the world sees. However there is a possibility that such a hasty conclusion, far from resulting in the creation of a safer world, can actually hasten its ruin.
Of course it is true that some sort of very strong and sustained action against the most powerful forces of destruction is needed in our deeply troubled and threatened world. However the world is already perched precariously at the edge of a cliff in such a way that any hasty actions that temporarily lead to more uncontrolled confrontation can end up destroying the world even more speedily before the forces of opposing injustice have a chance to build something new and different.
Hence the efforts to create a better and safer world in which future generations, our children and grandchildren, can not only survive but also steadily move towards a safer world of harmony and justice, must necessarily be based on creating the base for this in constructive and peaceful ways.
Essentially what this involves is that over a period of the next decade somehow we are able to ensure that the maximum attention and resources can be given to ensuring that millions and millions of people all over the world can be mobilized on the values of justice, peace, protection of environment and biodiversity (all forms of life) in such a way that by their sheer numbers, their strong ethical strength, their unity and their extraordinary persistence and commitment, they succeed in providing a base for the creation of a better and safer world.
An important task here is to create a vision of a new world based on justice, peace, protection of environment and all forms of life (including, most importantly, protecting the essential life-nurturing conditions of the planet) which can resonate with people and also inspire people, must be realistic and whose various components must be mutually consistent. Some very basic principles must get universal acceptance among these people. On this basis local versions specific to various regions, down to various villages and settlements, of a different world can be prepared. The people involved with this must be prepared to give and take, must learn to live with small differences without breaking their unity on the more basic issues.
As increasing numbers of people start living on the basis of applying precepts of justice, peace, non-violence, harmony, protection of environment and care for all forms of life in their daily life, this improves their life and attracts more and more people. Hence the people and communities devoted to creating a new, better, safer world start getting stronger and more numerous, and where they face more obstacles, others come to their help. The inspirational living and work of these people provides more and more people an opportunity to question the worldview favored by the forces of injustice and wars, and to move towards aligning with those trying to create an alternative world based on justice and peace, safety and protection of all life and environment.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, Earth without Borders, and A Day in 2071
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