We Are The World lyrics

Too bad we have not lived up to this. The song is a nice touch. I remember when it came out how everyone was so touched. What a wonderful world. All anyone has to do is pay attention to the headlines to see how miserably we have failed to give our children a better place. We should all be ashamed of ourselves.

a reply to: soulpowertothendegree

I was really disappointed that we didn't live up to this in particular.

a reply to: soulpowertothendegree

It is never too late to do the right thing.

a reply to: swanne

Your optimism is overshadowed by the existence of evil that refuses to be extinguished by the light. Normal eradication, like taking out the trash will just not suffice. Hopefully, eventually, the world will be a better place for future inhabitants, provided there is a world left to inhabit.

You know, until very recently I was extremely pessimistic about our chances of actually achieving a better, more peaceful world.

This might sound strange, but what got me thinking was Periscope of all things. My friend had been addicted to it for the last couple of weeks, and finally got me to watch some broadcasts from other countries. Now, I'm an unabashed humanist. So I've always known (and hoped) people were more alike all over the world than they are different, despite what bias and media driven preconceptions might have one believe.

But even I was taken aback by just how much like us people in China, Iran, and Russia even loners living way up in the arctic circle who have to take multi-day dog sled treks for supplies to survive, are. (Pretty neat such a person has a smart phone to broadcast with. Again, confounding preconceptions.)

They just want to survive. Their large urban centers are largely similar to ours. Their traffic lights beep or tick to let blind folks know when it's time to cross. Their mass transit system looks like the one in the city I live in. They laugh. They smile. They cry. They listen to rock'n'roll and pop music or some variation thereof. I already knew this was the case. But seeing on Periscope made me realize... soon it will be utterly impossible for any government on Earth to dehumanize an adversary state's populace through propaganda. It just won't work. Everyone will know that these are just people.

And that's when I came to the realization that it's not through organized movements, structural reforms, or other obvious shifts that the world may become a better place. It will instead happen - if it happens, if we don't blow ourselves up first - through emergent behavior and unexpected cominglings of new technologies and everyday human behavior. We're already seeing the beginnings of it. A more connected, perpetually communicating world.

I used to scoff at social media. "Why do people feel the need to share every aspect of their daily lives?" But this brought home to me that it's just the simple desire of people to connect with other people. It's human nature. And increasingly, it's going to be a very powerful, very inexorable means of preventing bloodshed in my opinion. It was the first time I really saw what seemed like the birth pangs of humanity shifting toward what astronomers sometimes call a Type 1 Civilization. That is, a planetary rather than nationalistic society.

Yes, we still have to make sure the worst of us don't end up in control of such a system should it emerge. But I think the chaotic, unpredictable nature of human socialization - now that it's becoming truly global, complete with video and sound - will help prevent anyone from securing any real control over the process.

That gives me real hope.

Peace.