Our Crises-Ridden Planet

"Every human being has a work to do, duties to perform, influence to exert, which are peculiarly his, and which no conscience but his can teach."  —William Ellery Channing

Contrary to popular belief and conventional wisdom, the dreadful situation the world is in is not “economic,” “social,” “political,” or “environmental” crises, per se. Our difficulties are not separate crises, either. Certainly, they are not due to “human depravity,” or to the so-called “human propensity to evil.”   

Analysis and synthesis of the insights that are brought together in Creativity: Revealing the Truth about Human Nature conclusively identify our present predicament as, fundamentally, a creativity crisis.

• This is the inability of the vast majority of people to reach their full potential — inability to recognize, to develop, and to engage one's natural abilities in meaningful and beneficial functions. Resultantly, widespread sense of futility (meaninglessness), of which many psychological, social, economic, and political crises are the symptoms, or facets. 

A dreadful and unprecedented combination of old and new problems portend the collapse of civilization and threaten the future of the Planet, unless appropriate solutions are found, and within sufficient time. Erich Fromm's gloomy observation signifies the dread and apprehension. Fromm's words:

• "This time, mankind is at one crossroad where the wrong step could be the last step."  

Fromm's observation corroborates the horror that other global analysts variously portray as: 

• "Apocalypse" 
• "imminent collapse of civilization"
• "disintegration of society" 
• "impending convulsion and chaos" 
• "breakdown of our cultural patterns" 
• and so on.

In and of themselves, the modern crises are deeply troubling. What is even more troubling is the growing ineffectiveness of traditional solution approaches; hence, the twin questions:

• Are the modern crises and the global predicament unsolved because they are too difficult to solve?
       
• Or, could it be that we've been tackling the wrong problems?

To the extent that the foregoing conclusion is valid, resolving the modern crises and building the viable and sustainable global future that everyone wishes to see require us to:   

• Correct the widely accepted, but inadequate and misleading representations of human nature — misconceptions that, clearly, are at the root of many of the difficulties the world is experiencing.   
  
  In other words: 
• Set right our understanding of who we really are and why we live. Specifically and most importantly, recognize our inherently and primarily creative essence which is in perpetual search for actualization and fulfillment.

• Align all economic and social policies, decisions, and actions with our quintessentially creative nature.    

• Give considerable attention to inner development of people as ethically, morally, socially, and ecologically responsible beings: So that everyone recognizes his/her own special abilities — his/her own creativity — as a global asset, rather than a personal competitive advantage.

• Harness and meaningfully engage the creative intelligence of all people in the Great Work of resolving our present predicament, and of building a viable, ecologically enhancing,  humanly fulfilling global civilization.
  
  In other words:
• Provide ample opportunities for everyone to find, to follow, and to fulfill his/her passion, his/her path, his/her authentic purpose in life. 

The book, CREATIVITY: Revealing the Truth about Human Nature, and its global civic creativity campaign offshoot, Time to Rethink Everything: So that Mankind May Thrive and Flourish into the Infinite Future, provide the logical and necessary starting point for the vitally important and urgently needed shift in thinking and actions: 

• CREATIVITY: Revealing the Truth about Human Nature, presents authentic and valid sense of who we really are and why we live.
  
  
• Time to Rethink Everything: So that Mankind May Thrive and Flourish into the Infinite Future translates the new understanding of human nature into practical everyday actions, including parenting, education, leadership, aging, work, global development, and more.