So This Is Where We Stand?

New Millennium Style Capitalism Western society is living in grandiose times. Our urbanized industrial society has reached a pinnacle. Never before in the history of humankind has the earth witnessed such opulence and opportunity. We live in an era in which much has been accomplished, much is still possible, and many contradictions exist. We live in a time in which humanity realizes the limitations involved with the manner in which we as a civilization choose to live—environmental problems, world hunger, and many social ills can attest to this. Yes, we’ve travelled far, but have we progressed? The Western world now possesses sufficient information to determine the direction humanity must take to resolve problems of all sorts. Inaction or plotting the wrong course of action at this stage of our industrial era paints a bleak picture of our fate as humans living on planet earth. With the knowledge we have so far accumulated, with the studies that have been made, and with the conclusions rendered on issues such as global warming, third-world poverty, social injustices, crimes of all sorts, and war, it should be easy to see where humanity should be heading to make things better and more secure. Which world organization, which state, which educational institution, which corporation, which individual will be the one to take the leadership role and act as the unifying force in setting a proper course for our small globe and those residing on her? Isn’t it time to start acting on what we already know? Is there need for more study? Aren’t the conclusions sufficient grounds for implementation of some sort of unified global approach to resolving at least some of the more pressing ills of our time? Yes, certain United Nation conferences have taken place to treat certain issues, including those surrounding the environment. How effective has this been? Has our world benefited yet? Certainly someone is bound to pick an issue that has been resolved from such conferences to demonstrate their effectiveness or potential for effectiveness, I ask you, in whatever time one may be reading this analysis, have you experienced a marked improvement in world conditions? I would have to say that if some sort of very important central and global body has been designated and given sufficient powers for the sole purpose of making our world a better place, then yes. If such a body does not exist or has never existed, then the probability is that the world is in disarray. Before you make your judgment, study the world around you until you understand it enough to make a fair assessment. At this time, I can attest that based on what I know about current conditions, our world is in a sorry state but can be saved should we wish to. Waiting too long will take us to the point of no return. If we’re not careful now, I foresee a world in much greater shambles. In your time of reading these sentiments, should the world be in a fabulous circumstance, I congratulate all parties concerned; you have done well and continue to take the actions necessary to preserve or better what you have accomplished. My hope is that it is this last statement that stands—otherwise, someone somewhere out there has a lot of work to do. Fortunately, the world of academia influences the minds of individuals who will someday contribute to bettering society. These graduates leave academia with much enthusiasm, knowledge, goodwill, and intentions. They eventually enter the so-called real world and find they’ve travelled back in time because for one reason or another, the real world isn’t as nice, fair, or rational as it should be. Still, even under these circumstances, they can either go astray and follow everybody else, or take on the obligation to contribute to furthering the cause of making the world a better place by living in a way that perpetuates good for all. The beauty in this is that one can choose to contribute in the ways one finds fit. You see, my way of doing it for the time being is to inform. Your way may be to help those in need, or to teach, or to make your company a fairer place to work in, or make corporate production more environmentally safe. One may even want to simply be nice to people and bring out good feelings that in their own way translate into actions for the good. It is up to these graduates to ameliorate world conditions and each new graduating class lays a foundation to a better world.