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"Our chances of success depend in
great part on the degree to which you, the individuals and
groups that make up civil society, mobilize around this
[Millennium Development Goals] mission."
-- U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan |
For the careful observer, consciousness
is changing. We are rapidly accepting the fact that we cannot go on
as before, and we are becoming more and more open to new
possibilities. A wise use of the creative imagination is essential
in order to recognize, among these new possibilities, those which
are most able to improve the quality of life. There are now many
signs that indicate how the cultivation of creativity is becoming an
accepted aim, not only in the education of the young, but also in
the world of adults. There is a growing recognition of the
importance of inventiveness and imagination in the growth process of
the young. And there is a growing interest in courses in creative
thought in the world of work, particularly among the leadership.
These tendencies, if extended and projected into the future, show
what is in store: a global culture, in which regional and national
differences are preserved in order to enrich each other, with an
accent on creativity in its myriad forms. William James said: "The
greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can change
their lives by changing their mental attitudes." It is a
revolutionary discovery, because it assigns to humanity as a whole,
but also to every single inhabitant of this planet, including me and
you who are reading these lines, the ability and the responsibility
to contribute to creating a better future from the point of view of
unity in diversity.
There emerges in consciousness today
the need for, and at the same time the initial evidence of, a new
and global system of ethics, which can only spring from the new
concept of brotherhood which many people of advanced consciousness
have already begun to make their own: the concept, precisely, of
unity in diversity. It is a concept of explosive power. It
knocks down the barricades erected by different doctrines, overcomes
the barriers of different conceptions and behavior, and conquers the
incomprehension, animosity and hatred which these differences,
sometimes exasperated to the point of fanaticism, have originated
and consolidated. From this revolutionary concept, easy to speak of
but difficult for many to assimilate, it will certainly be possible
to elicit the right reply to those questions which humanity is
asking itself in order to rebuild the science of human
relationships. And concepts such as tasks, duties and
responsibilities will take on a spiritual dimension and a new
meaning in the beautiful battle of consciousness to build a new age
of peace.
To go from theory to practice, I have
some difficult questions to ask. Have we perhaps sown
thoughts of comprehension and respect for the weakest in the
consciousness of our youth? Have we perhaps taken to heart the
tremendous historical results of an education and teaching centered
on the principle of force as the greatest social law -- results
that, especially in the 20th century, have been devastating,
horrible? Have we perhaps indicated to our young people examples of
real servants of humanity, stirring in their consciousness the light
of comprehension and the responsibility of sharing? Have we perhaps
brought to the school desks and the universities, in a predominant
way, those principles of fairness which can give rise to responsible
social behavior and constitute strong brakes on those whose
consciousness is still immature? Or haven't we perhaps proposed to
them, in the occurrences of every day, models of conduct which exalt
personal achievement to the detriment of the collective interest?
And in the media, with few exceptions, haven't we perhaps accepted
the indication to our young people, and sometimes the exaltation, of
egoistic and venal values which give rise to and feed materialism,
individualism, and exasperated and unrestrained social climbing,
which takes on, in its worst form, the concept of the end that
justifies the means? Haven't we perhaps produced a virtual reality
in which violence and cruelty are spotlighted in minute details,
almost with satisfaction? Haven't we perhaps accepted as unavoidable
the fact of living an existence of well-being side by side with
extremely hard and cruel realities that see thousands of children
die of hunger every day? Haven't we perhaps accepted without
objection, in the virtual reality which now envelops us,
protagonists of infinite television stories in which hatred,
betrayal, promiscuity and unrestrained social climbing constitute
the basic elements for perverted designs and for crimes pursued with
wickedness and ruthlessness? Haven't we accepted, even legitimized,
these types of behavior, which are characteristic of some social
groups, insidiously and ambiguously proposed as a model and a point
of arrival for our young people?
Let us, then, assume our
responsibilities. Is it too late to change this situation? In spite
of everything, I think not. Innovative teachings begin to clear a
path in schools and universities. In some high schools, farsighted
cultural and didactic associations are presenting to the young, with
a real spirit of service, those problems of strong socio-economic
imbalance which have brought about very serious situations in many
parts of the world. And in some universities a new viewpoint of
evaluating world problems and the responsibilities which derive from
them is beginning to penetrate. Faculties like political science,
economics, jurisprudence, sociology and science of communications
are beginning to acknowledge new subjects of study that incorporate
responsibilities, tasks and innovative prospects for future levies
of management. Moreover, the hundreds of non-governmental
associations, the many thousands of nonprofit associations and the
many millions of people dedicated to voluntary service bear witness
to the fact that a silent revolution of consciousness is already
in progress. It is an inexorable movement which it will be
impossible to stop. It is our best guarantee that we will gradually
know how to build a society that is more just and more inwardly
aware and thus really happy, and it is our best evidence that each
one of us, in his family, in his profession, in his own place of
work and in his free time can immediately bring his own
contribution. And I ask those who tend to be discouraged, because
they see that these new people, these consciences awakened to the
real personal and social values, are still in a clear minority, to
bear in mind the scientific concept of "critical mass" and to
ask themselves this question: At what level will this growing
minority of the population reach a critical mass that will bring
about spontaneous modifications in the social tissue? When it will
have reached 15 percent? We are already there. Twenty percent?
Perhaps, and we are not so far off. Twenty-five percent? Almost
certainly, and it will not be long before that level is reached and
man will at last be able to show that he knows how to take care of
this planet. Pure optimism? Not at all. It is the awareness of not
being any longer far from that level of critical mass that I have
mentioned, coupled with the certainty that we don't have much more
time to change the quality of life on Earth by resolutely traveling
the road of sustainable development. In other words: virtue of
necessity.
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At least three different levels of
values should be included in the vision of sustainable
development. At the first level, the most tangible, there are the
intelligent calculations made by the scientists or the economists
concerning human survival. At the second level there are the
compassionate concerns for human justice to which all the movements
involved in development and human rights give voice. The third and
most inward level, the source of vision, goes beyond the interests
only of humanity to include all life. This is the level at which the
unity of creation and the subtle interdependence of all creatures
are perceived. It is the level to which the religions bear witness,
even if it is not necessary to be formally religious to recognize
it. It is supported by the understanding of ecology. It can be
defined as the spiritual level. There is an urgent need to integrate
these different levels of values so that the guidelines and the
programs outlined at the Johannesburg Summit honor all three
dimensions: those of the mind, the heart and the human spirit.
A fact that is often forgotten
regarding human development is that it does not necessarily imply an
ever-growing production of goods and services. It is true, for
example, that buildings and textbooks are necessary to supply the
basis for the education of the population; but human potential is
something subtle and subjective, and it is from the relationship
that we create between ideas and facts that knowledge, wisdom and
culture emerge. A growing number of people are supporting the idea
of a culture that is simple in its means and rich in its goals
and which deliberately includes not only human beings but all
creatures. There is little doubt that such an approach is necessary,
particularly in those countries that are already following a course
of intense production and consumption. The statistics are
convincing; and we are all aware that, if every person in the world
consumed as much as the average person in the high-income Western
countries, we would need another three Earths to sustain us. Thus
the goal of sustainable development cannot be a continuation, an
expansion of such as intense exploitation of natural systems. We
must learn instead how to extend our comprehension and our respect
in order to ensure the sustainability of their usage, also from the
viewpoint of future generations, making this the tangible evidence
of our degree of free identification with the new emerging values.
In each of the fields of expression of
human activity, institutions and practices exist, both at the
national and the international level, that materially condition the
extent to which individuals can exercise their own liberty.
Much has been written about the different, complicated systems on
the basis of which such institutions interact within the different
societies all over the world. At the center of this complicated
network of conditioning factors are the people, the individuals,
with their attempts to exercise their own will freely. The meaning
of liberty concerns essentially the capacity to make choices, and it
is thus a question of values. Liberty of action must therefore be
exercised responsibly, given that every choice made by us, every
value proclaimed by us, concerns those who surround us and
inscrutably extends its sphere of influence outwards. This flow of
thought is most valid when it is a question of exercising one's
liberty in the choice of fields and programs of service which, as
such, though they start from us, extend outside us and provide
tangible evidence of how delicate the exercise of this faculty is.
More and more groups characterized by
the common desire to serve a cause have been established in the last
50 years, and their number continues to grow. In these days, the
nongovernmental organizations associated with the U.N. Department of
Public Information are participating in the 57th NGO/DPI Annual
Conference at the U.N. Headquarters, coming from the four corners of
the world. "This conference aims to raise public awareness and
support for the Millennium Development Goals through the 3,000 NGOs
working directly with the U.N. Secretariat," says Shashi Tharoor,
under-secretary-general for communications and public information of
the United Nations. "The involvement of civil society partners in
the MDG campaign is essential to its success." And the recognition
of the significance of a minority, any minority, working for the
common good was splendidly expressed by the American sociologist
Margaret Mead, who said: "Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is
the only thing that ever has." Yes, this too is a fine expression of
critical mass!
[Good News Agency
editorial by Sergio Tripi;
translation by Jancis Browning]
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