I think we would all agree that we are living through tumultuous times. Times of enormous uncertainty as not only do we transition into a new high tech AI world, but we are reeling from the impact of the pandemic. Humans need to feel safe and in control. Even if that sense is an illusion that we or our governments create. It makes us feel better. It takes a lot of energy to predict what is going to happen next. We simply, don’t like it!
But before we go any further, let’s be clear one thing. We have ALWAYS lived in uncertain times. Even when we were not killing each other, harnessing fire or colonizing countries, we were unsure if the crops would fail or the plague would come to our village. Is now any worse. Well, yes. The number of changes and the pace of change is exponential and unprecedented. It’s too much, too fast for individuals and societies to adjust to. So, yes, it’s big.
As humans we all face personal times of uncertainty and upheaval (a micro level) and we have patterns of response or ways we behave to help us feel safe again- even if it’s that illusion again. Humanity is no different (a macro level) and our society also has ways it responds to uncertainty and things it does to get back its sense of order. We saw how society reacts to uncertainty big time in the west in the late in the 19thcentury as we transitioned from one era, that of an industrial society to another era, the information age. We thought that was big until the pandemic. So much changed in days that it has changed and our way of seeing the world. It also looks like it isn’t over yet, and uncertainty is now a constant. So, what does that mean?
It means we must learn to live with it. This article is to help us see what this uncertainty is doing to us all. Let’s look at what we might find ourselves doing at a personally level and remind ourselves why we might be behaving this way. Then let’s consider what we are seeing at a societal, economic, and cultural level. Does this help us understand what is going on around us? This is not meant to be disheartening, or to berate any of these responses. We cannot ever hope to address what we don’t see, name and understand.
Make a count of how many we are currently seeing.
1. The rise of fundamentalism: In times of change everything is up for negotiation. The middle band of thinking seems inadequate. We have seen fundamentalism in every aspect from religion to the environment. We even see fundamentalism in our nurses and teachers who speak for the complete removal of ways we have done things in the past and the creation of a new world order (that interestingly shifts the balance of power in significant ways).
2. The rise of Pessimism. We know that teenagers, have an overwhelming pessimistic view of the world. We see adults with the rising incidence of depression and suicide. With global conflicts rife, environment fragility and inequality growing you can see why young people don’t look to a bright future. It can be suggested that this pessimism is fuelled by those who can profit from this either financially or through utilising the lethargy and hopelessness it brings.
3. Loss of Trust. People lose trust in the government and institutions. They become increasingly cynical of their motives and question their input. Popularism is the political outcome of this as politicians like Donald Trump convince people that their needs are being disregarded by the governing elite (interestingly most popularist politicians are a part of the economic elite). We no longer trust our banks, or doctors and our teachers. We simply don’t know whom to believe anymore. This sparks challenges with authority.
4. Increased spiritualism. When we can’t explain the world, we look to find ways of acceptance and peace within a reality we cannot process.
5. Redefinition of values. Values provide a social compass and stable societies share common values. We are unsure what is valid or right. People, especially those previously outside the rage of social values, question values and seek to redefine them to better meet their personal needs. Socially this prompts the rise of pluralism which has great promise for equity and social just but frequently divides an already fractured unstable society.
6. The laying of blame. Someone else has to be to blame for this. The rise of racism, anti- semitism and sexism further polarise. They blame does not lay here so neither will the solution.
7. Tighter regulation. We all seek to bring back control into our sphere of influence. Governments, parents, and businesses.
8. Back to basics: The world becomes too complicated, and we want it as it was. Back to the 3 Rs at school, restore the nuclear family and go back to nature.
9. Overload and change related chaos: Everyone is looking for answers and trying to find the pathway out of the uncertainty. There are initiatives which are reactive, poorly planned, funded and followed up. Change related chaos results.
10. Attempts to distract and control through a manufactured crisis: Attempts to divert people’s attention to other issues to take the focus and hide from the issues that really matter. Many people say that even if COVID was not manufactured, that panic was heightened by governments and those in power to create a sense of crisis to give them permission to intervene. We see it in headlines all the time, the crisis in schools, the crisis in aged care and the crisis in youth crime. The great dangers of these illusions are that they create from a manufactured crisis, a real crisis. They undermine the profession to such an extent that the crisis in effect becomes a reality.
So, some food for thought? Can you look at the current climate in a more balanced way when you see that’s just humans do, like it or hate it, it’s in our nature. Maybe we can just see it through different eyes.
Comments