Article: The Major Problems Facing Our World

It was Marx who said that the seeds of destruction of capitalism are sewn into its very fabric (Marx, 1964/1848). Globalization is an ever increasing evolutionary force that is propelled largely by technological and scientific advances and which is primarily about the balancing of tensions between six (6) primary interfaces:

1. money versus spirit (greed versus transcendent values)

2. machine versus humankind (technology versus intrinsia)

3. hierarchy versus equality (inequality versus social justice)

Ultimately, the success or failure of globalization will decide the entire fate of all species on the planet including human, animal and plant. When understood through this lens, it all narrows down to an issue of justice.? If the success of globalization is defined in narcissistic, Machiavellian terms, then the entire planet is doomed. However, if the success of globalization can be measured by the Buddha's Middle Path and, hence, by avoiding extremes, then humankind can avoid annihilation. Henderson (1991, p. 81) argues that all nations must forfeit the illusion that capitalistic market forces, propelled by the psyche of narcissistic self-interest and the obsession for control and power, and continued growth will save us. Instead, Henderson compels us to turn toward a complete shift in values, toward "win-win rules" with massive investments in "greening" our human technologies, as well as ecosystem restoration and population control. These will hold the promise in saving the planet from peril. As Henderson states, competition from capitalism is antithetical as a strategy when the world is overpopulated and there are growing numbers of unemployed and underemployed who can no longer afford to purchase the growing number of goods and services.

Rifkin (1995) sums it up fairly well when he compares two choices for humankind. One choice is that humankind collaborates to share the technological productivity gains so that the gap between the rich and the poor does not exceed reason, in order to eliminate poverty and so that investments are made with an equal priority of focus on our fragile ecological system. Rifkin presciently speaks of the end of work as we have known it as more and more people are unemployed and have shortened work weeks. Conversely, if these gains are "used primarily to enhance corporate profits, to the exclusive benefit of stockholders, top corporate managers, and the emerging elite of high-tech knowledge workers, chances are that the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots will lead to social and political upheaval on a global scale" (Rifkin, 1995, p. 13). Since Rifkin published this statement, social upheavals all over the globe have erupted including places such as Nepal, Thailand, South Africa, Lebanon, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, France, Great Britain and the United States, to name a few.

The only salvation is for humankind to transcend the dominant patriarchal competitive consciousness and replace it with a feminine relational, collaborative consciousness. Hegemonic superpowers have outlived their usefulness and, in order for humankind to evolve to the next level of consciousness, cooperation, sharing of knowledge, technology and resources, compassion and goodwill will be the mark of success for all life, from the mineral and plant kingdoms up to the animal and human kingdoms. The aggression, sexual drive and competitiveness of masculinity are the very traits which provided the necessary adaptability for humankind to evolve for the past ten millennia. For that, we thank the male gender since his consciousness has been causal in allowing us to adapt to, and survive, harsh natural environments. However, as Seager (1993) tells us, "it is perilously evident that 'salvation' will not come through the masculinist structures that have brought us to the brink of environmental collapse". The patriarchal consciousness which saved us yesterday will be the death knell consciousness for us today and tomorrow. We must transcend these past evolutionary adaptive qualities of masculine aggression, competition and autonomy and adopt feminine qualities of collaboration, cooperation, interdependence, compassion and wisdom. We fail to heed this wisdom at our own peril.

References

ABC News (2006, April 14) Oil: Exxon Chairman's $400 million parachute.

Retrieved December 30, 2006, from

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=1841989

Anderson, W. (1999, January). The age of open systems: An introduction to

globalization. Presented at the Saybrook Residential Seminar, San Francisco, CA.

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