The change that affects all spheres of life

The changes that we have seen over the last 70 years or so have affected almost spheres of influence on this planet, from the socio-political, geographical, economical and environmental. For now we can focus on the environmental as it is one of the global factors which has the biggest impact on the present as well as the future and survival for us a species.

But why all of a sudden this increased pace of change and why the recent upsets that we have seen throughout the world, from America rushing like a bull in China shop bent on upsetting long standing post war allies and treaties, an upheaval of a system that it has been the de facto leader of to ensure that the world does not teeter on the brink of destruction, as we have so often come close to - the Cuban missile crises, the use of atomic bombs in warfare - to name but a few. Then we have China which has become a power house in the East, able to hold it's own in the political arena against America and they are becoming leaders in certain fields, renewable energy, where the West was the leader at a certain point in time, but due to political instability and an uncertain economic future have fallen back. 

Though in no way is this a bad thing, we need to embrace renewable energy and alternative energy sources in order to try and avoid a certain future which we are heading to if we do not change our current ways and for a powerful country to take the lead and show by example, China being one of the countries that had high pollution levels due to increased industrialisation and Beijing suffering from leathal smog levels, that they can turn around a once seemingly hopeless situation and create somethin better from it. 

In America we have a new administration that is promising a revival in the coal industry, an industry that has had much to do with the current level of pollution we see today and something we need to try and limit our footprint on the planet if we are to survive the next 100 years, if we are to go by Steven Hawkings' prediction. Creating jobs and using that to leverage yourself in an election is one thing, but to do that at the the expense of the natural environment and sacrificing sustainable development goals - would that be worth the price at the end of the day?

In Europe by contrast there are countries that are making great strides in the alternative and renewable energy industry examples include Germany, in Germany they had to pay people to use energy because of a surplus energy created due to a strong wind and sun in April 2014 with a renewable electricity supplied at 74%  and in 2015 May 15 nearly all the demand for electricity was met. In the Netherlands trains are running completely on renewable energy. With these innovations an taking into account that which China is busy contributing to the renewable energy market we can see great strides making headway in creating a sustainable energy alternative to our fossil fuel dependancy. 

One can draw the conclusion that the change for renewable energy is also underlying a political and economic one where the interest of certain groups outweigh the need of the majority or the planet in the long term goals. 

Next we look at the the political landscape of the world at present and what could have changed so much in the last couple of years that has lead us to this point in history where our survival, not just economically but socially as well physical survival, hangs in the balance.

How will history judge the present us?

    

  

The world in constant flux

The last couple of years have seen the course of a great many changes to the established world order, threats from economic downturns, at worst a recurrence of the market crash of 2008/2009, the election of leaders that are seemingly out of touch with the electorate that voted for them to make a difference, the rise of nationalism in places where traditionally, for the past 50 or so years, democracy and an outward look towards internationalism and globalisation have been the dominant views, and more uncertainty about what the future might look like and what it may hold.

But why have things changed so drastically over the last few years, why have so much uncertainty crept into our thoughts and fears that we are starting to become numb to what is happening around us and taking a more inward approach to close ourselves off from what the world is coming to.

Perhaps it is a portrait where we have been feeding all our insecurities, uncertainties, actions and fears into in order to keep the veneer of normality and that it has festered for so long that it was bound to burst open and reveal to us exactly what we have been trying to ignore all these years after the last World War, where we and the international community have tried to set up a system with checks and balances to not let the events and circumstances that led to the outbreak of both World Wars, occur again, but in setting up these systems we inadvertently set up a system that will eventually lead to exclusion, arrogance, alienation, wars and suffering and an eventual descend back into anarchy and revolution that seem to crop up in so many places around the world. 

Has the system let us down? Is the time ripe for a change to the system for a more inclusive, embracing system of diversity and differing views? 

Like Dante, do we descend into Hell to face our worst fears, conquering them and through redemption finally be lead to a more peacful world where nature and people are respected, treated equally and fair or do we walk the dystopian path to repeat the past over and over until we finally learn from our errors to bring us back to growth, if we ever do. Like Hegel said from what experience and history have taught us is that people and governments have never learned anything from history nor acted on principles deduced from it.