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The global situation has reached an unprecedented and pressing level of complexity, and the current trends that need to be urgently addressed are greater in number and magnitude than in the past. With a world population of 8 billion human beings, the solutions applied so far to provide adequate food, efficient health services, quality education for all and, above all, "humane treatment" for all, have progressively shown their wear and tear and their inadequacy... The outlook is very bleak if we continue to think that "no one can fix this" and we are spectators of what is happening instead of actors fully involved in discovering and inventing solutions.
Yes: for the first time in history, the human species
is progressively recognised as equal in dignity, whatever its gender,
ethnicity, ideology, beliefs, sexual sensitivity, etc., and, moreover, it is
able to express itself freely thanks to digital technology. Citizens, aware of
global threats, particularly those that are potentially irreversible, can now
act in favour of effective multilateralism on a planetary scale, can now fulfil
their urgent intergenerational duties, can now ensure the preservation of the
habitability of the Earth, can now exchange force for words...
For all this it is necessary to know, to remember and
to act. Duty of memory... Crime of silence..., I have written it many times and
I repeat it now. To invent the future and overcome inertia, it is imperative
that "We, the peoples..." dare to know and know how to dare. If we
remain spectators, impassive, distracted, abducted by social networks and
"artificial" intelligence, we will not be able to "change course
and ship" as Professor José Luis Sampedro advocated.
Now we can. We must act now, thinking of the
generations to come. Otherwise, we would deserve that terrible sentence of
Albert Camus, which I often quote: "I despise them because they dared so
little when they could do so much".
Otto Schermer, in his recent splendid article
"Protecting the flame", showed that we now, at last, have well-established
guidelines and benchmarks, such as the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs to guide our
daily behaviour. "We need to know what is happening, to respond
creatively.... and to mobilise collectively", he writes. Know... and do!
Science, conscience and the full use of the distinctive faculties of the human
species...
As I have commented on other occasions, it is urgent
to change confrontation for mediation and dialogue. Moving from "para
bellum" to "para verbum" implies intergenerational alliances and
alliances with the media to make the democratisation of multilateralism
possible, starting with the United Nations System - adopting a Universal
Declaration of Democracy, with the elimination of the five disqualifying vetoes
since its very creation - and continuing with the European Union, incapable of
deciding since it fell - or was pushed - into the trap of
"unanimity".
Science and conscience for the benefit of the human
species, ensuring that political decisions will in the future have the
scientific basis that is essential to carry out the radical transformations
demanded by the current situation on a planetary scale. As José Manuel Morán,
Vice-President of the Spanish Chapter of the Club of Rome, underlined, "it
is not only a question of being very clear about what should be done, but also
about how".
I have already noted that one of the great challenges
that must be addressed without delay is that of migration on a global scale.
From 1 January this year to 9 March, 4 500 migrants have arrived on British
shores alone. All human beings are equal in dignity and deserve equal
treatment. It is a real disgrace, I never tire of repeating, that every day 4
billion dollars are spent on arms and military expenditure, while thousands of
people die of hunger, extreme poverty and brutal uprooting... thousands of
people die. The solution lies in a global pact on migration and the extension
of the UN Convention on the Rights of Refugees. We must once and for all put an
end to raised and armed hands and make open and outstretched ones proliferate.
Now, in addition to territorial security, there is also human security, the
security of the human beings who live in such well-protected territories.
It is particularly
urgent to ensure that the Mare Nostrum ceases to be an unfortunate necropolis
for so many immigrants, instead of agreeing - as the United States, the United
Kingdom and Australia have recently done - to place several nuclear submarines
in the Pacific Ocean, each of which costs around 3.5 billion dollars...
It is necessary to take advantage of the extraordinary
development of digital technology, but to ensure that robotisation never
exceeds its limits and produces a very dangerous dehumanisation, especially
when it comes to making decisions that must always make maximum use of the
fantastic and hopeful faculties that distinguish the human species. It is a
matter of improving the quality of life and productive capacity, with a
conscious and responsible citizenship, and the fundamental pillar is, and
always will be, full freedom, transforming data into knowledge and knowledge
into wisdom.
Now, at last - and this is our hope - we can finally
put into practice the first sentence of the United Nations Charter: "We
the peoples ... have resolved to save succeeding generations from the horror of
war". Until recently, "the peoples" did not exist... and male
power was absolute. Now, at last, we recognise ourselves as equals and can
express ourselves freely. Now we can stop being spectators of what is happening
and participate now, without delay, in moving from a culture of confrontation,
imposition, domination and war, to a culture of encounter, dialogue, mediation
and peace, so that all conflicts, active or latent, are resolved by word and
not by force.
There is an urgent need to replace plutocratic and
supremacist G-group governance with democratic governance. The first step is to
achieve a European Union without the blanket veto of "unanimity" and
a renewed and fully multilateral United Nations. On the 75th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we must activate great popular clamour
for its validity and widespread respect while resolutely implementing the
Climate Change Agreements and the 2030 Agenda. "The windows to ensure a
sustainable future are closing", the United Nations has just announced...
and "We, the peoples" continue to ignore the pressing appeals about
the very habitability of the Earth..., we continue to postpone our essential
duties concerning the future of our children and descendants... Social networks
and the media keep us obedient, silent, distracted... while "the windows
are closing"!
The visible irruption of the university students could
initiate this process. "The silence of the intellectuals": this is
the title of the excellent article by Boaventura de Sousa Santos in Other News
on 28 February, which lucidly warns us about the attitude to adopt.
