The Interconnected Crisis as I see it

The world is at the cusp of multifold crisis: 

• Ecological Crisis where we are consuming 1.5 times the rate at which Earth can replenish 
• Socio-Economic Crisis where 26 individuals own as much wealth as bottom 50% of humanity and inequity is only getting skewed (Oxfam Inequity Report) 
• Spiritual Crisis with a remarkable self-alienation whose one of the consequences is rising number of suicides. 

The crises are created a web of factors, we wish to name the roots as we see it: 

Firstly, our monocultural factory like schooling system produce consumers and workers whose humanity is layered with fearful pursuits of material excess. And that has created a system that work for only a few humans at the cost of other human beings, other beings and the environment. The education system was developed for a particular socio-cultural context where Industrial Revolution was rising, colonialism was the order of the day and the paradigm of man’s relationship with nature was to control it. The education system has become worse in the last 30 years -- responding to an industry and society increasingly run by capitalism. 

Secondly, Globalisation has resulted in large anonymised supply chains, production spread over countries, layered exploitation of people and the environment and reduction of each human to specialised functions. Due to this, we can no longer grasp the impact of our everyday actions on the larger system. 

Thirdly, the phenomenon of dismantling of communities particularly in the last 30 years at a rate unprecedented before - because of economic mobility, nuclearisation of families and as a response to orthodoxy that existed in some communities. Because of this belongingness to land, culture of care for immediate environment and trust based relationships are lost. 

Lastly, the recent technocratization of most aspects of our lives have marred human abilities to connect and act based on humanness. We experience the world and ourselves through one or the other technology / machine that has had a toll on our instincts as humans (selfie camera perception of oneself, for instance). 

The crisis at the level of individual young people is 

• The connection between the self and the world severed
• There’s a mindset of scarcity with life - causing inability to rise on the Maslow’s needs pyramid 
• Losing touch with inner self 
• Lack of understanding of the multiple realities of the outer world 
• Limited definition of success 
• Misplaced identities and belongingness 
• Marred capacity for connectedness 

I think these issues need to be addressed because the dominant human systems of our times are failing the people and the planet. The systems are threat to life at large and are not creating dignity to all life. From anthropocentric view too - the dominant systems are working for only a few people, power is getting further accumulated (indicated by rising economic in-equity and political polarisation) and isn’t positioned to create happiness and well-being to people. 

The issues described above shall persist in my understanding, because they are the pillars of what we call modernity. That began with the abstraction of knowledge through printing press in the 14th century and concretised by the science led industrial revolution from 17th century onwards and later strengthened by capitalism. Modernity gave human species a perception of being the strongest and can dominate forces of nature. The purpose of life is reduced to material gain. The nexus of science-industry-politics is hard to breakthrough to let change happen. 

Until a higher pursuit, is felt by humanity at scale - we shall continue to build on paradigm given to us by modernity. The higher pursuit has to transcend cognition and these could well be times to strengthen intuition as the superpower in humans.

At Youth Alliance, we have been attempting to create space with young people to get in touch with this interconnected crises and begin to create life paths that are in pursuit of higher meanings.