Discovering the new purpose, we will find a combination of priorities, more people doing more for our planet, including more diversity and pluralism
The pandemic revealed realities, which we knew, although we did not see, or did not want to see. The quantitative world that we build, no longer responds to people’s desires. The qualitative world, less valued, has failed to bring us new philosophers, thinkers and political scientists who offer us the desirable future concepts. Therefore, during the pandemic, when we gathered with our loved ones, we were able to value the human – with capital H – more and more each day, we started to understand the lost dimension. The pandemic hit everyone equally, rich and poor, of all races, beliefs and opinions, and hard hit the poorest, the least favored, the oldest and in poor health. We lose humanitarian references and turn to old paradigms, which do not always give us sufficient answers. People’s sensitivity rose to critical levels of tolerance, patience and understanding, and we witnessed outbursts of indignation about racism, insertion, diversity, poverty and environmental issues among many.
Surprised by the degree of indignation of people who left their social isolation to correct history with acts of overthrowing statues, which represent references of colonialism, slavery, poverty and environmental exploitation. There is no doubt that the New Normal will be of claims for the humanization of our lives. Do more for people, in every way, at home, in the office and in family life, as well as in relationships. Solidarity to fight hunger, misery and poverty will take on a new dimension, people will demand much more about how to respond to these humanitarian challenges. Protocols to combat Covid-19 show that the priority is to preserve lives, for health and later for economic well-being. This will be the People dimension, the H factor increased in our relationships.
The second dimension of this new purpose is in relation to the planet. We recognize that in order to continue the lifestyle that we have today for all the inhabitants of the planet following the lifestyle of the American citizens, we would need five planets, or with the European lifestyle, we would need three planets, which we do not have. Consequently, we have to reinvent ourselves to have a single planet lifestyle, and therefore, disruptive innovations and transformations, need to consider this particularity 1). Worldwide solidarity starts from a shared responsibility, where solutions are global and actions are local. It will not be possible to continue to point the finger at others, and expect them to do their homework, without first being engaged in joint actions. We have a responsibility to inspire future generations to love nature, and the initiation of this relationship with the world takes place in education at home, in schools and in organizations, showing that we are responsible for taking care of animals, vegetables and minerals. We will be revisiting naturalists and scientists who, before classifying what they discovered, showed their deep respect and admiration for divine work 2). Yes, it will be possible for everyone to grow and live with quality, aiming for a better world. Companies will be directly affected by not meeting sustainability; their competitiveness will increasingly depend on how their governance with the entire ecosystem on the planet will be 3).
The third dimension will be pluralism. Diversity as a symbol of pluralism, respected and represented, will be the hallmark of the New Purpose. The diversity of beliefs, races, origins, ages, genders, cultures will be dimensions of the New Community principle/precept in the family, community and global aspects. Radicalisms will be rejected and plurality will take its place. However, this process will not be peaceful, because the existing structures resist changes in power, prestige, benefits, and privileges, among others. The radicalization of Twitter will increase clashes until we reestablish the new standard of values of greater tolerance, patience, understanding and acceptance of the different as normal. Homogeneous is easier, but diversity is creative, innovative, thought provoking that sparks innovation.
In the three purposes, PPP, we will have different priorities and will be targets of greater clashes. Europe already defines for itself that the exit from the pandemic will be through a green revolution. The Planet will have priority over other P’s. In the USA, Plurality is likely to have a strong emphasis on national debate. While in Latin America, Africa and some Asian countries, People will have their priority, in the fight against hunger, misery and poverty.
The new purpose of PPP -more People, Planet, and Pluralism- will be more qualitative than quantitative. New models, new forces will emerge, which societies will emphasize in their political, social, economic and environmental systems. A recent ECLAC study now completed on the pandemic, poses the dilemma for Latin America as follows:
“…The current context is marked by a double challenge. On the one hand, economies worldwide are challenged with plateaued growth rates, with harsh impacts on employment levels and quality and signals of poverty and extreme poverty resurgence. The socioeconomic gains obtained in the previous years, such as prosperous, fast-growing trade and decreased social inequality in many developing countries (including in Latin America), can be at risk if countries are indeed embarking in what can be a period of very slow process of economic recovery. On the other hand, there is growing evidence that urgent, path-changing action must be taken to effectively avoid the worst impacts of climate change and the environmental crisis. We are living in a unique moment, in which there is still time to act to limit global warming by up to 2°C, as established in the Paris Agreement, and to restore natural capital to avoid exceeding planetary boundaries. This double challenge, the socioeconomic and the environmental, implies that there is an urgent need for structural transformations in development styles that ought to be more sustainable economically, socially and environmentally…”4).
We are discovering new forces of transformation in these purposes, and we need to understand that in these PPPs there are gigantic opportunities for a world with less social differences, better practices with nature and a new tolerance for differences. For this to happen we are relearning what our parents called virtues, such as listening instead of talking, understanding instead of judging, accepting before contesting, inserting in place of rejecting, giving instead of receiving, the latter perhaps the most difficult because it affects everything that is sensitive to us, such as prestige, privileges, status, rights and the pocket.
1) Abundance, the future is better than you think, Peter Diamanodis& Steven Kotler, Free Press, 2014, pg5; + OPL www.oneplanetnetwork.org
2) Konrad Guenther, A Natureza, Milagre de Deus, 1922, Melhoramentos, Serie o Homem e o Universo nr 18
3) www.cdp.net, climate disclosure index
4) CEPAL, Study Green fiscal policies; An armoury of instruments to recover growth sustainably,
Camila Gramko, Brasilia 2020, pg 7 https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/45418/1/S2000005_en.pdf
