Global

“We are aware that globalization doesn't mean global friendship but global competition and, therefore, conflict.”
René Girard

Zeitgeist is an interesting word. It means in plain English, the spirit of the times. What a lot of people come to think or believe at the same time. It would be nice to think that everyone is on the same page, at least with the big things, but life sometimes is full of contradictions. 

Globalism is one of those topical things, perhaps one of the most over-used words of our time. We read about it in the newspaper. We hear about it in the workplace. We have been oft informed that the march of globalism is inevitable. Buckle up, bucko. Globalism carries with it, the inevitability of extremes… big winners, and big losers. Such pronouncements (to me anyway) have the ring of triumphalist wishful thinking. They are somewhat gleeful, as if the ill effects of globalism are something to wish on others by those who have the power to do so.  

Sometimes globalism has been painted in shades of rose, that it is a wonderful thing. The global village. We are not after all very different from anyone else. That is supposed to be good news. What it delivers is a backslap. It’s a statement that you are not as special as you think. The group, and what eveyone ELSE thinks is more important. They assume we will get on board with what we are supposed to think. What IS everyone supposed to think?  Read the news. They are telling us. I think that globalism is the information front, of a war on human beings, or at least, a war on humanity.

One thing that comes up time and again with globalism is the notion that people are not all that necessary. With so much technology to substitute for manpower, and artificial intelligence to stand in for thinking, the cyber world can easily replace the real thing. In a world seen through the web where content can be tailored and curated, physical things don’t matter so much. ​Some, (like the extreme nature people) consider Mother Earth to be more important than human beings. I have news for you, human being. There are too many of you. Some of you had better hurry up and die so that the earth can live. Time to cash in your carbon footprint. Greta would be happy to put you on the list of those expendable. 

Enter 2020, the year when it became clear, that global may not such a great idea after all. All those open borders and lack of constraints spread a very vicious disease. Expendable is not very fun when it comes to human beings even if you are old. Being at work, suddenly not so important as staying alive. What is close to home actually becomes VERY important and what happens far away, not so much. 
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I am old enough to remember a time before internet and in that, I count myself fortunate. It means I have seen a way of life in action that is not so dependent on technology. It gives me faith in people. We have been around a long time, and many zeitgeists have come and gone with the times. Maybe this turn of the wheel will usher in a real understanding that human beings are more resilient than the fate any prediction could foist upon us. It’s what some people point out, that annoying God-spark that makes human beings able to assess value, and to make choices. It’s what makes us truly human, and in times such as these, we come to realize how beautiful a thing it is, to be truly human, to the core. It may become the new zeitgeist. 

It’s particular to Christianity, the idea that every human life is a reflection of the image of God, and that every individual has some kind of divine importance. Individual. Did you get that? You are one. 

It might be time to take back the globe, for people. For you and for me, and for the sake of humanity.