Turbulent times
Last week, the US Supreme Court expanded the rights for gun owners to carry and, the day after, overturned Roe v. Wade, the seminal 49-year old decision made by that very same court that essentially made abortion legal in the country. Before that, we in France faced disturbing political news in the form of a significant rise of both political extremes through this year’s presidential and legislative elections, resulting in electing a moderate President without a majority to govern. Before that, Russia shocked the world in invading, or rather attempting to invade the neighbouring country of Ukraine. Right when we were slowly getting out of the Covid bubble…
If we take one more step back, there are other alarming signs that any reasonably focused observer can take note of: 2016’s Brexit and the seismic wave it sent across the very structure of the European Union; the election of Donald Trump later that same year, and the fairly well documented consequences that came with it; the radicalisation of Hungary’s government under extreme conservative Viktor Orbán’s rule; the rise of AFD in Germany, the first extreme right party to have any political weight in the country since 1945; the demonstrable rise in mass shootings in the US; through all of that, the growing scare caused by climate change and our relative inaction towards it… These are not scattered elements, but rather a series of phenomena that point towards the same conclusion: we as a planet — or, rather, as a people inhabiting said planet — are not currently living through an entirely fruitful era. To say the very least.
There are many possible explanations to this situation, but I will focus on two key points in my humble opinion:
The fact the humanity has seen relatively little unrest in the past decades if we compare to any other era in history, recent or otherwise. Indeed, if we consider the last 30, 50 or even 75 years, the amount of major socio-political crises has actually decreased quite significantly. In the last 30 years even more so: the collapse of the USSR, of South Africa’s Apartheid era, the overall strengthening of the aforementioned EU, the first steps towards a more open China… all point towards a more stable and peaceful earth. This does not mean that there were no wars to be seen anymore, as was vividly disproven by the Vietnam War, several coups and/or civil wars in Latin America or Africa, more recently the Gulf War, Afghanistan, Syria… Still, all things considered and while that remains a rather long list, the current era is significantly calmer than the preceding first half of the 20th century — to take only one example.
Conversely, we are currently witnessing what I would call the “homeless effect”. In 19th century London (or Paris, or any other city), you would find homeless people at just about every street corner, begging for food and/or shelter and/or work. Social inequalities and poverty were such then that this was simply common place. Today, while begging sadly remains ubiquitous in some parts of the world, it has become significantly less frequent in Western countries thanks to a global rise in living conditions, which includes stronger healthcare, higher education, better wages, etc. So now, when we do see a homeless person in the streets of London (or Paris, or any other city), they are a way more shocking sight — because of the contrast they create.
I believe these phenomena largely explain the current state of the world: one that has experienced so much more peace than any previous generation that it is somewhat starting to forget how valuable that is. I remain resolutely convinced that the long term trend we have seen throughout history towards progress (better living conditions, strengthened individual rights, increased peace…) will continue to unfold. That includes us — hopefully soon — finding and implementing effective policies to fight climate change, limiting access to firearms, guaranteeing the rights of women, gay communities and all minorities… the list goes on. The question that is left unanswered, however, is the time that it will take to get us out of this current slump and back into a more constructive phase. For this history of progress is not linear…