The Ingredients of Prevention.

• Author: Saighal, Vinod

The call for prevention of violence by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is both timely and essential for harmonious societies leading to a harmonious world. The reality is that the world is moving headlong in exactly the opposite direction. Before venturing into remedial pathways for giving teeth to the urgent appeal, a survey of realities on the ground indicates not only the extent and depth of atrocities, despoliation and deprivation, but tends to confirm that these have crossed all humanitarian limits. This paper is focused on measures that allow for a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel.

By the second decade of the twenty-first century, threats to the planet have been magnified to an extent that could not have been imagined. The most pressing concerns can be tabulated in order of priority as nuclear proliferation, the catastrophic decline in remaining pristine tracts around the world, demographic growth to levels well beyond the carrying capacity of the planet, pandemics, global warming, and last but not least, the technological and genetic breakthroughs that could alter the very nature and independent existence our our species. The time for despondency and throwing up one's hands is not yet upon us. In fact, answers--doable initiatives in reckonable time frames--are at hand to make a mighty effort to reverse the planetary decline and give future generations some hope for an existence that does not proximate a hell on Earth.

THE ROOT CAUSES OF GLOBAL TURMOIL

While there are several direct and associated causes for the planetary decline, the two most significant factors are market capitalism in full cry and lack of fair global governance mechanisms that can be respected by all countries and peoples. For the foreseeable future, market capitalism is here to stay. Around the world, in countries rich and poor, the Gini coefficient, the most commonly used measure of inequality, remains for a vast majority of populations closer towards zero for the have-nots. Inclusive growth is hardly taking place in the majority of the countries, leading to a breakdown of the social cohesion of society.

At the height of the cold war the hands of the doomsday clock had come very close to midnight denoting how close humanity was to the brink. A similar condition has developed with the proliferation of nuclear powers and nuclear weapons. Going by current trends the world has taken the slow route to ultimate extinction for humankind and the vast majority of species that...