MUST HUMANITY DO THE SAME
THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN?

This isn’t the first time we’ve come to this crossroad, you know. We’ve been here before. And each time we get to this place we swear that we’re never going to slide backward again. We make an oath that this time, we’re going to move forward. The evolutionary journey of humanity is not going to stop here, and reverse course, ever again.

And then — in the past, at least — it has done just that. Our forward motion has been stopped dead in its tracks, and we’ve taken the species right back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. On at least one occasion, we took it right back to its origins.

All of this has happened every time we have reached the stage in our development as a species of sentient beings where our technology, our science, our medicine, our very human genius, outstripped our human understanding of how to best use it. And so we destroyed much of our planet, and most of the inhabitants of it.

We are about to do it again. But do we have to do it again? Is there no other way for our species to evolve than for us to insist on using the Two-Steps-Forward/One-Step-Backward method?

People in the power centers in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and the U.S. capital of Washington D.C. are about to answer that question. But not them and them alone. Others are now addressing, and will soon be answering, that question as well.

These others include the Earth’s political figures as the authors and thus the authorities of our governance, the captains of business and industry as the drivers of our economies, the Earth’s ecological experts as the protectors of our environment, the globe’s medical establishment and its scientists as the guardians of our health and the creators our potential, the planet’s educators as the producers of our future, the leaders of the world’s religions as the pronouncers and the validators of our beliefs, and individuals around the world as the determiners of our values.

So far, the people in these positions of influence have not done a very good job. Not one of the systems, institutions and devices they have put into place to create a better life for us all is producing this result.  Our political systems clearly are not working. Our economic systems clearly are not working.  Our ecological systems clearly are not working. Our health care systems clearly are not working. Our educational systems clearly are not working. Our social systems clearly are not working. Our spiritual systems clearly are not working.

Nothing our human society has created is producing the outcomes that were intended. It is worse than that. They are actually producing exactly the opposite.

Our political systems are producing too much disarray. Our economic systems are producing too much poverty. Our ecological systems are producing too much environmental degradation. Our health care systems are producing too much inequality of access to modern medicines and health care services. Our educational systems are producing too much incomprehension. Our social systems are producing too much disparity and injustice. And, saddest of all, our spiritual systems are producing far, far too much intolerance, anger, hatred, and violence.

What gives here?

Isn’t it time to ask, “Is it possible that there is something we don’t fully understand about God and about Life, the understanding of which would change everything?

“What’s going on with the human race that it cannot see, even as it looks right at itself? Where is our blind spot?

Do we have to ignite another massive war? Do we have to blow ourselves to kingdom come and start the whole process of civilizing civilization all over again? What will it take for us to stop this endless, insane process?

Are you willing to join in working to bring this endless cycle to an end?

IN THE NEXT POST: Humanity’s Blind Spot, and what you can do to help heal it.

Please Note: The mission of The Global Conversation website is to generate an ongoing sharing of thoughts, ideas, and opinions at this internet location in an interchange that we hope will produce an ongoing and expanding conversation ultimately generating wider benefit for our world. For this reason, links that draw people away from this site will be removed from our Comments Section, a process which may delay publication of your post. If you wish to include in your Comment the point of view of someone other than yourself, please feel free to report those views in full (and even reprint them) here.
Click here to acknowledge and remove this note: