FIRST LIGHT – A NEW CENTURY & A NEW MILLENIUM
We are only 22 years into our new century. I remember watching the firework displays from around the world, heralding the dawn of a new, fabulously exciting century, and a new millennium, with my 6 year old son. We sat glued to the global roadshow as the New Millennium arrived – from Anadyr, Russia in the east to Apia, Samoa in the west.
What about this & this & this?!
And now, less than 25% into what was going to be the high point of humanity’s journey through time & space, a newspaper this week referred to it as “Our Rather Sad Century”. The rebel & the optimist in me immediately thought, wait a second: what about the Smartphone [which only arrived in 2007 with the launch of the iPhone]; what about online shopping; what about streaming; what about the Springboks winning the Rugby World Cup!
And THIS?
Yes, I am acutely aware of, and hungover from the pandemic that killed millions of people and literally brought life as we knew it, to a standstill – for two years.
Yes, I still have a headache from the Trump presidency and we were inches away from the American democratic experiment being imploded by his machinations.
Closer to home we had the midnight arrest of South Africa’s former president, Jacob Zuma, testing our young democracy to its limits.
WAR
And just as we were all getting comfortable with how far humanity has come in terms of managing its conflicts – the rather sad, recurring theme of our history, globally, erupted as a dictator revealed himself to be a mass murderer of the worst order. Yes I am talking about the WAR in Ukraine; Putin’s unprovoked war of brutality on a smaller neighbour. Suddenly ‘online’ & ‘mobile’ meant that all of humanity, with its billions of smartphones could watch the unspeakable horror of innocent men and women and children being slaughtered – for the megalomania of one man with nuclear bombs. I have written earlier about Putin as the most dangerous man in all of history, for this very reason.
Yes inflation is high. Inequality is driven by capitalism 1.0 and the system is in serious need of an iteration. All of this are made even more dark and frightening by the clouds of global warming grumbling ominously.
AND YET
The CEO and co-founder of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, recounted this week again how 20 million USD was ‘sent’ to Ukraine in just a few weeks by people from all over the world who booked accommodation in Ukraine, with no intention of staying with their hosts, but rather donating it to fellow brothers & sisters in need. I quote him;
“In a world of darkness, in a world of destruction, I think kindness still exists in this world.”
As long as we retain our capacity for kindness, our century with not be sad. With our boundless capacity for innovation and a remarkable capacity to withstand catastrophes, I submit that there is much to be optimistic and excited about. Perhaps it will be in this century that humanity will truly make its GREAT LEAP FORWARD.