Addressing Global Divides on a Crackling Globe of Deepening Faults

Has your fortune doubled since the pandemic started? It happened to the five richest men in the world. However, in the same few years, more than half of the world's population has become poorer. As a reader of this newsletter, you likely find yourself between these extremes, which is a good moment to remind ourselves how lucky we are in a world where hardship and hunger are a daily reality for many people worldwide. 

But we could do so much better than this.

I wonder if the ultra-rich really care. Take Jeff Bezos, who flew to space for 5.5 billion dollars and thanked Amazon workers for making this possible. Those thanks must have included Susi, who worked at a shrimp factory in Southeast Asia that delivered to Amazon-owned Whole Foods. In a just-published Oxfam report, she said, 'While we were working, there wasn't time to rest. I was not allowed to drink.'

Five years ago, a UN report said that achieving human well-being and eradicating poverty for all of the Earth's people—expected to number eight and a half billion by 2030—was still possible. However, it warned that it would require a new relationship between people and nature as climate change and biodiversity loss threaten progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

But our relationship with nature hasn't changed, and Oxfam has found that it will take 230 years to end poverty at current rates. Meanwhile, to briefly return to those billionaires, they are now in the race to be the first to be a trillionaire, and it will likely take just 10 years to reach that sad milestone. Call me a socialist, but we could do much better by having effective and fair governments that believe in a more equal world and are willing to regulate and reimagine the private sector.

I hope for democratically elected governments to take the lead, but I realize we live on a crackling globe where lines of division are drawn faster than anyone can promote justice and equality. Voters love those growing fault lines; in many democracies, right-wing populists are gaining massive support from the voters. 

Last night's results from the Iowa caucuses gave record-breaking support for Trump, whose 1.5 trillion dollars in tax cuts have helped billionaires pay a lower tax rate than the working class for the first time in history. I'm pretty sure Iowa's adoring crowd is far worse off financially. If the likely Republican candidate wins the next presidential election, the crackling globe will see international and national cracks increase and deepen socially, politically, legally, and geopolitically. 

Last night, devoted Iowans celebrated with their leader. While braving extreme weather, which would have been a reminder about the climate crisis for many of those not present, Trump said: "We're going to drill, baby, drill right away. Drill, baby, drill." He added: "We're going to seal up the border because right now we have an invasion." 

As a European spectator of America's drama, I often wonder how Americans must have followed the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930's. Did they laugh about the popularity of those most unlikely leaders? Did they recognize the danger? Did they see growing cracks in the global landscape of countries, societies, ethnicities, and religions? A landscape where bridges were burned and walls built.

Global Goals

More than eight years ago, the world agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the next 15 years. The beauty of all these global goals is how intricately they are connected. You can't solve poverty without solving hunger, which is related to better health, education, etc. Unfortunately, the same logic also works the other way around.

So, when politicians like Trump promote the exploration and use of more fossil fuels (the climate action SDG is number 13) and create more inequality (instead of adhering to SDG 10), it will impact the whole chain of other SDGs. And these are just two examples; I don't believe he ever expressed any interest in goals like 'responsible consumption,' 'gender equality,' or - keeping January 6 in mind-' peace, justice, and strong institutions'.

Staying with the climate change and inequality connection, Oxfam says the wealthiest 1 percent emit as much CO₂ as the poorest 66 percent of the world's population combined. And I don't see the rich trying to share their wealth. The world's largest corporations are owned or led by billionaires who aim to get even richer instead of focusing on their workers or the environmental consequences of their actions.

The same UN report warned against this. It concluded that Creating economic growth just by increasing consumption of material goods is no longer a viable option at the global level. Projections indicate a substantial surge in international material use, projected to nearly double from 89 gigatons in 2017 to 167 gigatons by 2060. This trajectory is poised to escalate levels of greenhouse gas emissions and trigger various detrimental effects, including those arising from mining activities and other pollution sources.

While the existing development model has brought prosperity to vast populations, it has also perpetuated persistent poverty and fostered unprecedented levels of inequality, compromising innovation, social cohesion, and sustainable economic growth. Moreover, it has brought the world to critical junctures with the global climate system and biodiversity loss. 

A Fundamental Transformation is Needed

To alter this course, scientists advocate for a fundamental transformation across key sectors of human activity, encompassing food, energy, consumption and production, and urban development. These transformations necessitate coordinated efforts involving governments, businesses, communities, civil society, and individuals. 

The report underscores that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) fundamentally hinges on decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation. Simultaneously, it highlights the need to reduce social and gender inequalities concerning wealth, income, and access to opportunities.

It is now five years later, and at the beginning of this new year, I feel frustrated that we know how to move towards a better, fairer, healthier, cleaner, and greener planet. However, we seem to be in a destructive cycle of running steadily further behind on what we should do while the masses run behind incompetent leaders with divisive agendas. We need fewer divisions, hatred, and conflicts on this crackling globe; let's polish up this planet together based on mutual interest for a better future for our kids.

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Notes:

https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/inequality-inc

https://unfccc.int/news/climate-change-and-biodiversity-loss-threaten-sdgs-un-report

https://www.reuters.com/business/davos-crowd-gathers-governments-urged-rein-billionaire-class-2024-01-15/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/09/trump-tax-cuts-helped-billionaires-pay-less

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/drill-baby-drill-trump-reiterates-his-campaign-talking-points-after-massive-victory-in-iowa-caucuses/ar-AA1n2bwU