Our age of insecurity – part 2
There are no easy answers to our present condition. By definition insecurity is a personal feeling.
One of the modern watchwords is ‘management of change.’ We would all like things to be as they were or to stay as they are, but that isn’t going to happen. We need to work with our world as it is.
The reason that human beings have survived in such numbers is because, from the earliest days, they have worked together
In my lifetime the world population has grown from two to seven billion and we’ve managed it because groups of people have discovered how to nurture one another.
The paradox is that capitalism is essentially a selfish creed, but that we humans are all dependent on one another. We have no choice in the fact that we need to pool our effort, in an atmosphere of co-operation and generosity.
The caricatures that have been propagated give comfort and satisfaction to many people whose views are limited and basically selfish.
What are the alternatives? We can’t change anything in a hurry. A great scientist (I forget who it was!) once said that ‘Nature knows no leaps.’ Any changes in the way we organise ourselves need to be gradual.
Somehow we will have to help people to feel that they have a real stake in our society. Having to apply for 14 non-existent jobs per fortnight is hardly likely to produce benefits for individuals, or for society at large. I would hate to have to make decisions on spending that we delegate to our politicians (thank heavens!) They are as insecure as anybody else, in some ways.
Any real answers must be long-term. We must all educate ourselves, as widely as possible, avoiding superficial answers to complex questions.
I suppose that, at 81, I’m on the downhill run, but I still hope to see a society where relaxation and confidence reign supreme!
Harry McQuillan
