Where We Stand Today and Where We are Headed

If we step back to see where we stand right now as a global society, we will find many disappointing realities all over the world. We will witness the drug wars in Mexico spiraling out of control, the oil spill near Louisiana rapidly becoming the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history and Hugo Chávez continually antagonizing his neighbors. If we look elsewhere, we will see that while the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to cripple entire families, villages and nations, Europe braces itself for a second round of economic and financial crises in 2010. Further away, we will hear about the seemingly endless struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan and the violent outbursts that have recently consumed Thailand and Kyrgyzstan. And if we dig deeper, we will inevitably observe the social injustices that are being carried out around the world, whether it is exploitation in a sweat-shop in Vietnam or the manifestations of intolerance towards women and homosexuals that are found all over the Islamic world.

These are the headlines and the issues and events that reach our ears and eyes, but they are not an accurate indication of who we are or where we are headed. All of these issues certainly represent immeasurable suffering for millions of individuals around the world; however, these issues do not define us. Rather, they are a static snapshot of where we are today and the challenges that we need to overcome in order to evolve. The news leaves us numb, thinking that things will never change and that progress is an illusion, but are things not already improving?

In the past fifty years, standards of living have been rising steadily across the world, particularly in East Asia. And countries like Colombia that faced decades of unimaginable levels of violence and conflict are now poised to become purveyors of growth and hope for their citizens and even their neighbors. Multinational companies are now more than ever being held accountable for their disproportionate consumption of resources and their infractions. Human rights are consistently being upheld in countries where the concept did not exist a few decades ago and as a global community we are learning every day about better governance, more effective institutions, new policies and experiences that will allow us to meet the challenges of our present and our future.

The driving force behind all this is the fact that more and more of us are opening our eyes and reacting to the realities of our current situation. The human consciousness is continually expanding to understand the values of preservation and sustainability; of improving health and eliminating epidemics; of promoting education and opportunities and promoting growth and inclusion; and of mitigating social, political and economic disparities.

The future of our planet is not bleak.

Is it naïve then to have faith in humanity and in progress? In our resilience and our endless ability to adapt and surmount any test or trial? In this blog, I would like to share my opinions on those problems and their potential solutions, on new ways of framing our problems and resolving them and on innovations that are already being implemented around the world. Additionally, I would like to highlight the cultural richness that is arising as we discover more about one another in every corner of the world, with a particular emphasis on global culture, food and language.

I believe in a day in which there is no conflict and no war, a day without poverty and disease...a day in which humanity once and for all transcends its flaws and learns to live in peace and abundance in this paradise called Earth. To that day and to all of what it represents, I dedicate this blog.