Five crisis in the XXI Century

While road tripping with good friends all along the Fiords in Norway where speed limit is 60, you’ve got enough time not only to be delighted by beautiful landscapes but also to discuss about every imaginable topic. One of the conversations I have been deeply thinking ever since it’s this tiny thing so called the destiny of humanity. Period, breathe. I know those are big words for this fella, but the more I age, the more I get sensible to these kind of subjects. I am sure it’s almost impossible to forecast what’s going to happen even tomorrow with absolute certainty, but there has to be some signs pointing at where we are, as a whole, heading in the long run. That’s basically the reason why, I came up with this brief list resuming the five challenges humanity will face in the XXI century.

1. Extremism crisis –related to religious fundamentalism, racism and political parties. It looks like we are more and more heading for an extreme world, where the political, religious and racial equilibriums set out in the last centuries are sinking. A “pseudo”-equilibrium which was defined in order to favour an elite and has finally collapsed. To that loser part of the system, words such us balance, council and union are no longer the aimed solution. A new century rises in where certain groups have known how to feed people frustration and poverty by contemplating and only answer, which tends to be right next to the cliff. Either we finish with the extremes or the extremes will terminate this world.

2. Climate change crisis -I know the issue has been on the table for centuries and “nothing” has happened so far. To this extent, some people stand up for a fake thesis, by stating that all the predictions are wrong and nothing will ever happen to this planet. However, there are growing physical evidence that the problem is real; temperature measurements, glaciers, vegetation, cloud cover, animals, sea level… hence, don’t be a fool and ignore the data as long as it suits your ways. I don’t want to play bad omen here, but we are not that far from what experts are already calling the next III World War i.e. the Water War, an inevitable conflict between countries over the water resources on the planet.

3. Manpower crisis – We all love those fancy Artificial Inteligence worlwide congresses, robots and machines gradually being capable of performing every single activity. When I see a machine taking over a human’s job in a factory of course I see evolution, better work safety conditions, etc…. but I also see thousands of jobs in the trash the next day. We all  support blindly this optimization of resources, but honestly, where is our manpower going? You might think this only will affect to low-education-requirements job…..and you are peaceful with it. The truth is somehow different. I recently read an article saying whether your job is more likely to be replaced by a robot based on a study from Oxford University estimating that 47% of total US jobs could be automated and taken over by computers by 2033. I suggest we should be cautious with this disruptive evolution to avoid ending up in a world where we are not necessary anymore. Evolution should be an step forward for all humanity, not for a group.

4. Capitalism crisis. The social-economic system which has been defined (or chosen, I’d dare) for most of the countries we are living in is under attack. Visibly, something is wrong with it. The invisible hand of the market is scratching his balls. A controversial book such as Capital in the Twenty-First Century written by Thomas Piketty is trying to find out the “why”. According to Piketty’s thesis, return on capital is greater than return of economic growth, which leads to a concentration of wealth in the long term and therefore, social and economic instability. Since I am not an economist, cannot criticize the book thesis but its conclusions are speaking loudly trough reality; Wealth inequality is growing in most of developed countries, and deserved/legal or not, this is/will be a major problem very soon. A system of progressive wealth taxes to help reduce inequality (wealth coming under the control of a tiny minority) might be a solution, but in my non-economist humble opinion as long as Tax Havens are permitted, this won’t work for the big fishes.

5. Population Growth Crisis. We are already seven billion people living happily (?) on the Earth. Honestly, it seems that we are growing way too fast. By 2100, average forecasts estimate around 10 billions dudes wandering around in our beloved planet. Is this growth sustainable? Indeed, is there such a thing as sustainable growth? Only to meet transportation demands in cities such us London or Paris or food supply in Nigeria sound as an impossible challenge. The real question shall be, does this planet has a capacity limit? Of course it has but, how close are we from it? Will the XXI century be the time of seeking for new places (planets) to live? I know it sounds science-fiction but….would you bet against it?

I believe these five crisis represent big challenges for the generations to come. We won’t be here long enough to live enterely the consequences of these major crisis. Our past generations have overcome against all odds and I have faith we will too. However, if violence and dispair have been our weapons in the past, I hope dialog, culture recognition, talented leaders and specially a fully awared youth will be cornerstone of the future. So it’s on us, mates. Don’t make it a time to regret. Cheers,

Pablo

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“We’ve always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible. And we count these moments. These moments when we dare to aim higher, to break barriers, to reach for the stars, to make the unknown known. We count these moments as our proudest achievements. But we lost all that. Or perhaps we’ve just forgotten that we are still pioneers. And we’ve barely begun. And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, because our destiny lies above us.” – Cooper – Interstellar (2014)

Music while writting: The killers – Hot fuss