The Age of Despair

 The world has been accustomed to the idea that overtime conditions will improve. History demonstrates that this goes in cycles. There can be periods of calm that descend into tumult. The past centuries have seen war, dramatic economic and political change. After World War II and the Cold War there was a sense of optimism . The hope for a peaceful and tolerant world was unrealistic. Empires collapsed, new states emerged, and resources became more scarce. War, poverty, and hate still plague humankind. These have been common ills through the course of human history,  yet responses to them have varied. The contemporary period is unique in the regard to  cultural and political paradigm shifts. World leaders do not have new or dynamic visions for society's improvement. Bold ambition or change has been abandoned for the sake of a simple management system. Most states function on this despite the urgent need to adjust to modern challenges. Both liberal democracies and authoritarian regimes advocate a general management system for the sake of remaining in power. The neoliberal capitalist system has caused social and economic disruption. People who were once financially secure are at greater risk of falling into poverty; not due to fault of their own, rather economic policy that benefits a wealthy elite. The means of resistance is being stifled  by online censorship, governments attempting to reduce civil liberties, and condemning dissent by mass media. Seeing as the conventional avenues for change are not effective and mass movements are targeted for repression, people may just disengage. Some are so oppressed they are struggling for basic survival. Starvation, disease, and unemployment reduces the ranks of  a potential revolutionary  global mass movement. World revolution taking place in which the pyramid structure of society being overthrown is out of reach. Human civilization may be going backward rather than a positive advance. There may not be a future in which the world population prospers. This is not speculation or hyperbolic cynicism ; the age of despair has brought the end of the blind optimism that was adopted by foreign policy, economic, and political observers. 

     The rapid expansion of warfare has continued without interruption. The root of  various conflicts are the result of economic factors , large power competition, national and racial hatreds. War has been a part of human history and  it will never be stopped. The major problem now is that warfare has been launched in the name of the promotion of liberal democracy. African, Asian, and Latin American nations are the targets of the US-EU block. Eastern European nations and  the Balkans are also singled out, because traditionally Western Europe did have domination in these regions. Russia when it became a major world power was looked upon with fear. The global focus turns more so against China because of its economic influence. A pandemic did not even slow tension or conflict. Instead, there seems to be a growing movement to blame the entire deaths around the world  and the pandemic itself on China. While this is a hyperbole expressed by anti-Chinese racism, the real motive is to prepare other nations for military action against China. The US has in particular been more hostile to China and change in administration does not change policy. The US and Europe need enemies to justify large armies and a profitable military industrial complex. A paradigm shift is occurring in the way war is presented as normal to the public. The War on Terror will gradually replaced with the concept of the China-Russia axis. This will not be a new Cold War, rather it might escalate into mass global conflict. While large power competition occurs between the US, China, and Russia other conflict zones are becoming more active. Ethiopia's internal conflict with the Tigray  has spilled over into Sudan. Saudi Arabia continues to wage endless war on Yemen. This resulted in Iran arming Houthi  rebels as a counter. Libya has become a safe haven for terrorist organizations with instability similar to Somalia. India and China are having border disputes that could push the two countries to war if not resolved. Pakistan having better diplomatic relations with China,  would likely get involved. Afghanistan remains unstable with the Taliban and Haqqani still active. US-NATO forces are fighting a conflict without end. The situation grows more precarious as certain resources such as clean drinking water and fossil fuels become limited. 

       The predominance of the neoliberal capitalist system and the upper class elite have caused growing  social inequality. Globalization has caused outsourcing, displacement of workers, and massive economic exploitation. Social mobility becomes more out of reach, even in countries with a substantial amount  of wealth. More people will fall into poverty in the coming years due to the avarice of the ruling elite. Nations across the world are seeing a rise in anti- government protests. France, Germany, the US, and UK will continue to see demonstrations related to growing income inequality. Youth are in particular effected worse dealing with growing student loan debt and low paying jobs that barely meet their needs. Housing, healthcare,  food, and fuel prices continue to increase while wages remain stagnant. Simultaneously, the business leaders have seen astronomical profits and gains in net worth. The average citizen does not have economic power, beyond the ability to consume. Labor unions have become weak and ineffective. Workers have limited options for resistance or organization that advocates for them. The consequence of this is the gradual disappearance of the middle class and a working class stuck in permanent servitude. The notion that the next generation will live a better life has proven a mere illusion. Globally, living standards could decline due to the manipulation of the international neoliberal capitalist elite. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund  have produced policies that do not work for the developing nations. Instead it has locked most into debt, which they can never escape. The 2008 global financial crash and the erratic markets of 2020 demonstrate that the economic system is never stable. Unemployment, homelessness, and food insecurity are becoming more common, resulting from fiscal austerity and cuts to basic social services. The survival of the citizen is not ensured by the neoliberal capitalist economic network. 

      Citizens of the world can no longer expect governments to do anything for them. No matter what system of government, be it democratic or despotic has a vision for improvement of the general welfare. The only objective most governments have is to remain in power. Amassing political power means nothing if it has no practical direction. The political crisis today is one of  ineffective management and the promotion of the status quo. The world does not need inept managers; it needs leaders. What this means is that heads of state must work to make dramatic change. Problems need immediate solutions, because the masses are struggling. If no action is taken, the population will become more vulnerable to extremist  political ideology. Xenophobic nativist nationalism and neo-fascist movements are becoming popular due to economic and cultural circumstances brought on by globalism. If there is no counter to this basic rights and democratic systems of government could vanish. This is why governments must be proactive in providing for their citizens to make such movements less attractive. Empty platitudes or meaningless slogans are no longer going to placate the population. Material conditions worsen and all most see is inaction. When a person or movement promises some form of relief , people will be more responsive to that. The only way to contain political extremism is to maintain a functional  society. People need employment, education, housing, and healthcare. Infrastructure and the economy require care. Political figures need to be responsive to the needs of the people. If this is not done more far-right extremists or authoritarians will come to power. Leftists are not organized enough to adequately fight the far-right forces or gain power to make substantive change. 

     The contemporary period  has ushered in a new form of pessimism . Most have become discouraged that genuine change can happen. Activism has been seen as a waste in both time and effort. The pyramid structure that has been present in human civilization since permanent settlement. It would be erroneous to think it would collapse anytime soon. The feeling of longtime activists is that the battle is never ending. While, conflict is unavoidable the same problems remain present. Certain cases, it appears that human civilization is going backward. There are barriers are not always the military, police, or the general power structure. It is people who accept the world as it is or see egregious amounts oppression as normal. A section of the population may not be as harmed from the hierarchy that exists, so that belief is acceptable to them. Others do not resist simply because they do not have the power to do so. Numbers are not the only obstacle to a mass movement. People generally do not reach a developed form of political consciousness. Society actively discourages critical thinking. The media and news are no longer the vehicles for starting conversation or debate of ideas. The media exists to support the power structure, rather than challenge it. Corporate mainstream media has no interest in generating political consciousness. If enough people had alternative sources of information, then much of the power structure would lose support. The only reason the establishment  remains powerful   is that people are compliant. The idea that the system works, but has a few flaws is an often repeated myth. Thus there are people actively preventing progress, those ignorant to corruption, and people who have accepted defeat. Disillusion and pessimism  give way to apathy. The world is stuck in a general state of apathy. However, sometimes there is no other choice but to resist. The world population will  eventually come to this conclusion, but conditions will have to get critically worse to spark a reaction. 

       The age of despair has become characterized by war, poverty, racism, and decline of standards of living. These ills have been present throughout history, but circumstances are different in this period. The rapid social and political gains are being reversed. Humanity has more power now than ever to cause its own destruction. The presence of nuclear weapons always increases that danger, but the rate of environmental damage is not slowing. Climate change is not taken seriously and overtime will put lives at risk. Thinking about the future only produces ominous images. Observers of the past tended to have the view of exponential improvement of world civilization. The blind optimism of the past has been crushed by the lugubrious political reality. The technological and egalitarian future has become a fiction. Defenders of the optimist point of view, say that compared to the past , the human  condition has vastly improved. That perspective lacks cogency for a number of reasons. It ignores that fact that current economic system is impoverishing  the population. Warfare is conducted in the name of human rights and democracy promotion. The result of this has been civilian deaths and mass refugee migration. The worst part about this is that United Nations enables world powers to wage aggressive war. As long as the UN remains superpower dominated a global peace is not be attainable. Change may seem futile when examining the list of problems facing the modern world. There are solutions. The first is to have a global anti-war  movement to stop the push for military intervention in various nations. The UN must be reformed to counter abuse from major world powers. The neoliberal capitalist economic system needs to be dismantled. World leaders must reconnect with the people they govern. If this can be done, the age of despair will be a strange historical anomaly.