"With global interconnectivity growing by leaps and bounds, the spread of information and ideas means our moral compasses will expand beyond national borders. It is only a matter of time before all of us look beyond the horizon and become citizens of both our own country and of our planet. The world will be a better place when we unite to strengthen our global village."
(Kishore Mahbubani. Dean of the national university of singapore's lee kuan yew school of public policy)
In an excellent article published on the intenational monetary funds website in september 2012 under the title "the global community has arrived, Mr Mahbubani highlights various milestones our modern society has passed in the process of globalisation.
As our travel, communication and information technology networks have expanded and helped create a global economy, a global village, the problems associated with this expansion have become correspondingly huge (global).
You can , I believe, see a clear correlation between the rise of ' the global village' and the decline of our natural world. In my opinion , ultimately the benefits to us from this process, risk being obliterated by the problems we are busy creating in this uncontrolled experiment we have embarked on.
As our modern interconnectivity continues to grow by leaps and bounds, the same process, untill now, has been accompanied by our dismantling, degrading, destabilizing and disrupting the natural interconnectivity that has slowly been evoving since the birth of our planet.
I touched on this in my last piece on hedgehogs. We make it increasingly difficult for them because we put up obstacles (such as garden fences) that restrict their movements and channel them towards dangers we have created (such as roadways).
On a bigger scale we disrupt migration routes, for example by building roads in Africa , or oil pipelines across the migration routes of caribou, or dams that block the progres of migrating fish.
Our disruption , our interference is everywhere, from the minute, and unseen to the large scale and unmissable.
As a result we break up populations of wild species, we attack and degrade their abilities to interconnect, to breed, to sustain their populations. We isolate them in small pockets or bubbles of life, which allow for little free movement, and gradually wither away.
Our actions always have consequences, whether we are aware of them or not. One consequence of our global village is that in building it, we have violated our natural world to the extent that it is loosing its ability to regulate itself.
We have become the obstructors, the destroyers of life. Our level of disruption is expanding exponentially. There is no ryme or reason to it. The whole process has no regulation, no guidance system or sense of direction.
We blindly follow a creed called capitalism. Uncontrolled from a young age it lacks manners ethics or grace. We have fed and raised a monster. When it runs out of things to consume it will eat itself.
It is time to wake up, because this emporer has no clothes. He has been standing naked for a long time, but we refuse to acknowledge it.
In his article, Mr Mahbubani quotes the Oxford philosopher David Rodin who in 2012 argued that as we will be ''pushed'' towards a global ethic by the need to address urgent issues that are increasingly global in nature (Rodin.D,2012, ''Toward a global Ethic"")
The creation of our global village has been central in the creation of these urgent issues. They are self inflicted wounds often done under the guise of 'necessity'... often unnecessarily.
I believe that we have reached that inflection point. As more of us realise that our true quality of life is being adversely affected by the persuit of our ''lifesyles'', we will be pushed further towards the global ethic referred to by Mr Rodin.
We face a choice ultimately between truth and substance... and illusion, triviality and transcience. We had better choose wisely.
We embrace the more postive sides of our human nature, or ultimately we loose the battle for our own survival of a species. It is time to reconsider our values and goals.. It is time for vision and wisdom, for our survival is inevitably linked to the survival of all the other species on our planet.
Maybe the time will come when a decadent, wastefull, frivolous lifestyle will be regarded as socially unnacceptable. Like wearing fur. A time when our society will celebrate meaningfull contribution more than its current facination with trivial things such celebrity lifestyles. .
Untill then, if necessary, why not consider embracing a new ethic/moral position yourself .Why not ''evolve'' to a place of contribution, creative cooperation and caring. You can choose to be an example.
Help wherever possible to boost the natural interconnectivity around your home area. Help to combat the trend towards isolating the natural world. Create new pathways for it..Create a friendly place for it. Bring some joy to it. It will reward you.
You can also play a vital role in making a healthy envioment and biosphere a guiding ethical principle for the 'Global village'. Use the benefits of our new, ever expanding interconnectivity to make a better world.
Use the new power you have to communicate to spread a message of hope. We are now citizens of our own country and our planet.
The latest edition of the living planet report from the world wildlife fund (www.panda.org) published on the 27th of october highlights the damage our 'global village' is creating. I intend to follow up on that in my next piece.
Are you willing to help make a difference?
One planet. One home. Lets make it a good one to live in.