The seeds for destruction!

It is quite evident that many countries have encountered globalisation and, having looked out of the window, decided to shut it and withdraw back into themselves, thinking that by doing this the world will stop turning. A couple of days ago, I think it wa

The reality is that nobody is going to punish anyone, because the punishment is self-inflicted. The UK has opted to leave the EU club with its own particular rules and single market In choosing to exit the club, it has to realize that it will not be able to access club membership or advantages as if it was still a member, as if there was a pick and choose option! Why it has chosen to leave is something it will have to examine itself. I must say that the UK was never a very big fan of the EU as founded and in fact joined many years later when its concept of a European free trade area (EFTA) failed after all its members joined the EU leaving it alone in the cold. Maybe the penchant for EFTA is still eating at the UK?

That it has now chosen to return to this cold is its own doing! There is a reality in life which states that things done together are easier than when done alone! It is called solidarity. It seems that the UK is constantly trying to disprove this theory while the rest of us continue to enjoy the advantages of doing things together. It is interesting that the UK Conservative party was always divided on this issue, with Labour being ineffectual, never presenting a united front to this day. Constant shifting of political blame on the EU in the past, after constant national governing foul-ups, only served to drive a wedge between the UK public opinion and the EU, and now public opinion and their own UK politicians. This tension was always there but has now been exacerbated by the xenophobia expressed by a nation which is horrified by the free movement of peoples from Europe to the UK! Horror of horrors! All this fear arises from delusional threats to self, brought about by inferiority complexes afraid of confronting realities, fuelled by imperial nostalgia with a fear of globalisation and foreign influence. As a result, the UK has decided to withdraw into its comfort zone, thinking that by doing it will protect itself from the world. The Roman Empire of old tried to protect itself against the approaching barbaric hordes from the north by excluding them rather than including them, as a result of which the Roman Empire moved first East in an attempt to escape, then North as the Holy Roman Empire!

We see the same thing happening in the USA and other countries. The newly elected government in the US now prone to tearing apart every international agreement it signed especially with its immediate neighbours, and falling into self-adulation of the ‘America before everybody else’ kind. This type of withdrawal usually manifests itself as anti-immigrant, pro-nationalist, anti-Muslim (or other minority religions) rhetoric of the type where those of a different religion are the devil incarnate. Again all this is a symptom of the same condition. A fear of globalisation and reaching out to others –refugees, legal migrants and those of a different religion even though they respect other people. For example, the fear that Europe or the US would no longer remain a Christian country is often bandied about by those who do not usually wear out the the church’s doorstep. This attitude is usually a fear of the badly educated or provincial voters, who instead of being led by wiser politicians usually end up leading politicians by their nose. It is in effect weak leadership which compounds these situations.

I also hate being constrained by political straitjackets where the options are a very liberal alternative embracing a global perspective, but allowing the killing of babies in the womb for one excuse or another, or the conservative straitjacket of being pro-life but rejecting everything global due to fear of national dilution. The biggest wish of today’s voter is to be freed from these constraints. Give me the respect for human life and give me the liberty to relate to global perspectives which bring about the common good!

In today’s world it becomes more important than ever to use ethics to deal with issues. Ethics teaches us to choose what is good and avoid what is bad. Good and bad not only in the sense of the subjective ‘what is good for me alone’ but also in the objective sense of what is good for me in a relational exchange of all types of goods with others. In the Middle Ages there was a conundrum between medieval scholars. The question was: is something good because God wants it or does God want it because it is good? The weight of the argument eventually fell on the latter version of the argument. This medieval conun- cal leaders are often prone to being led by poorly formed political and public sentiment and populism rather than by what is ethically correct. This is what the new generation of politicians have to give us, leadership that is inspired by the ‘good’. We need politicians who can lead not those who follow!

When Abraham Lincoln, a good, peaceful man, was President of the USA and the Federal Commonwealth was threatened by those who wanted to leave it and endorse slavery, he had no problems leading the country in a bloody civil war! He did what was right in the circumstances! Pope Francis in today’s world is an example of the thesis of a populist antithesis. He is not afraid to endorse what is right and good with respect to the problems of the global environment even though many around him simply choose to look at and live in the past. The founding fathers of the EU did not fear doing away with what was bad by toning down national sovereignties (which led to two world wars) in order to pool sovereignties which brought about many years of peace and progress. We should not try to reverse this by creating a politics which is steeped in personal individualism, withdrawal from the world, subject to populist clamour and in effect afraid to face the realities of the world! Being not afraid is essential to looking the world in the eye, but being not afraid requires a reason for optimism and hope, and unfortunately today it is this cause for optimism and hope that we have thrown away and lost. Love God and love your neighbour and do what you like sets us free to do good. Subjectively loving ourselves and our subjective hedonisms is laying the seeds for our destruction and those of the world around us!