We can sense the world is in the process of plunging in to living in a global autocracy, which will result in the dilution of human rights, the grind of enduring unemployment and instability.
by Zulkifli Nazim
“The struggle is great, the task divine—to gain mastery,
freedom, happiness, and tranquility.” - EPICTETUS
It was a decade or so ago, in the depth of the global financial crisis, that the musician and writer Henry Rollins offered a prescription that once again feels relevant. Indeed, it feels relevant because his advice was timeless, and applies in ordinary and extraordinary times alike. It’s advice worth following in times of triumph and great trials.
“People are getting a little desperate,” he wrote as unemployment spiked and markets crashed. “People might not show their best elements to you. You must never lower yourself to being a person you don’t like. There is no better time than now to have a moral and civic backbone. To have a moral and civic true north. This is a tremendous opportunity for you, to be heroic.”
To make matters worse breathless, twenty-four-hour media coverage makes it considerably harder for politicians, businessman and even the ordinary layman, to be anything but reactive. There’s panic and more panic. There’s too much information, every trivial detail is magnified under the microscope, speculation is rampant—and the mind is overwhelmed, with fear and anxiety.
In the 1990s, political scientists began to study what they called the “CNN Effect.”
The CNN Effect is now a problem for everyone, not just rulers and commanders of military, navy and Air Force and other para military forces. Each of us has access to more information than we could ever reasonably use. Even if we’re not glued to a television, we are still surrounded by gossip and drama and other distractions, which, inescapably will set the country in motion towards mayhem, violent needless disturbance and senseless destruction.
Today the news media bombards us with one crisis after another on every screen we own. The drudgery and toiling for our sustenance wears us down and never seems to stop. We are overfed and undernourished. Overstimulated, overscheduled, and lonely. Who has the power to stop? Who has time to think? Is there anyone not affected by the din and dysfunctions of our time?
We must stop this.
Well, here we are back in rough and uncertain times again. People are not showing their best selves. People are scared. For several years in a row now, people have had their true north obscured and disoriented by daily examples of bad leadership—of ego and selfishness and downright incompetence. The coronavirus just stepped in aggravated and exacerbated the situation – emphasizing, incompetent, bungling and clumsy leadership the world over.
The rate at which lockdowns, quarantines and curfews are going rampant, Countries all over the world will soon be vulnerable to outbreaks of social unrest on account of food and medicine insecurity, if the so-called super powers do not find a permanent solution to control and eradicate this pandemic very soon.
We can sense the world is in the process of plunging in to living in a global autocracy, which will result in the dilution of human rights, the grind of enduring unemployment and instability. We can see economic injustice looming over the horizon, lay-offs surge, salary cuts and reduction in income on investments will thrust the country into utter chaotic situation - frustration will turn into despair, anger to violence. Before long, hunger and other urgent needs and wants will drive the people into the streets and create unrest, civil disorder and riots.
The entire world is turning into a lethal hydrogen bomb - going tick-tock, tick-tock and any moment it will explode.
Governments the world over are talking and talking but they do not seem to have a platform or a program, and it’s unclear whether there’s anything that can pull the world out of it. The scale of the economic mismanagement is extraordinary, and the humanitarian crisis in the degradation of democracy in capitalist countries and the economic management is stunningly accelerating from bad to worse.
In spite of all the draw backs and day to day suffering, we can choose to see this as a tremendous opportunity. This is a moment to be heroic and serve mankind. To think about others. To prepare. To keep calm. To reassure. To protect. This is a time to reevaluate our priorities. To ask ourselves what’s important and what we’re working towards. Courage is calling you. Self-discipline is essential. We need your moral and civic backbone. And man, do we need wisdom right now more than ever? Yes indeed! We need them right now.
If we want to be good and feel good, we have to do good. There is no escaping this. Dive in when you hear the cry for help. Reach out when you see the need. Do kindness where you can. Because you’ll have to find a way to live with yourself if you have the ability to help and remain silent about it.
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