A changing world

In the wake of news showing Donald Trump leading over Hillary Clinton, the joke has become a lot less amusing and we are now in search of a different planet. The world is changing and as is customary at every turn of the century, the 21st century is starting to show its true face – or perhaps we are now beginning to distinguish its features. Comparatively speaking, the massacre of WWI in 1914 led to an incalculable collective psychological shock, primarily in Europe. Until then, nearly everyone believed that following the industrial and scientific revolutions at the end of the 19th century, there was only one direction for the world to take and that was forward. The trench- es, however, put an end to the dream. And, as we now know, there was more, even worse, to come. Nevertheless, the world only moves forward, even if it’s hard to see the big picture amid the gloom of war, migration, hunger and genocide. Despite the crematoria and constant fears of a nuclear holocaust, the 20th century brought about the end of colonization, peace and unprecedented prosperity, even beyond Western borders. The facts, therefore, are changing and clearly, despite all the good things that the new century is bringing, changes are never pleasant and painless. At the same time, there have always been nations and populations who have been less for-