Daily Times

‘UBUNTU’ is a tribal African concept of sharing the bounties of life to contain sadness.

“I am because we are.”

Humans are interlinked. If rivers are polluted, an entire the country suffers; if the contamination reaches the oceans the entire world suffers. Today, global warming is threatening the planet. Fast melting glaciers are raising the sea levels posing a serious threat to islands and port communities.

In the digital age, new codes of sharing and governance have to be evolved; otherwise, the human chain will snap with famine on one side and feasting on the other. In a relatively prosperous world, it is indeed pathetic that a majority of the population continues to suffer. There are deprivation, gloom and doom all around. The common good has become uncommon.

The ancient African tribes understood the importance of sharing. However, the more liberated and better-educated 21st-century humans have gone in another direction. Today the elite is being subsidized by the downtrodden. In the information age, influence and control of resources has fallen into a few hands. It is now turning into a disinformation age.

‘I’ and ‘we’ go together, otherwise there is gloom all around. If happiness is limited to a few happy, it cannot brighten up the world. There has to be enough light around to overcome the darkness. Light at the end of a dark tunnel is not enough if it is not leading the world in the right direction.

In the digital age, new codes of sharing and governance have to be evolved; otherwise, the human chain will snap with famine on one side and feasting on the other

For centuries tribal people lived together. Then civilization challenged their norms and way of life; city-states and countries emerged. America, a new continent, was discovered and welcomed immigrants from Europe. It also imported slaves from Africa. The local tribes were overrun. In the 18th century, a new democracy emerged under a constitution based on human liberties. The United States of America emerged as a leading nation of the world after the World War II. An era of prosperity followed. In search of knowledge and greener pastures, people from all over the world came to it. Many settled in the land of opportunity. With rapid advancement of technology in the middle of the last century, the world started to change. First, it was a technological divide followed by a digital break. Distribution of wealth got skewed. The gap started to widen. For some, wealth generation became easier but for a vast majority, it became very difficult. The fruits of civilization were soon lost. Greed took control of mankind.

Deregulation, privatization and globalization have promoted the greed. There is no one in the corridors of power to stand up for the rights of the poor and the less privileged segments of society. The once-powerful labour unions have been tamed by the rich and powerful. While ‘I’ is all over, ‘we’ have been left behind to fend for ourselves. Democracy and rule of law are under strain to protect and strengthen the status quo. A change is almost impossible to drive. The world is in the firm grip of status quo.

Evolutionary channels of change have been blocked by vested interests. As far as revolutions go, the 21st century remains barren although the 20th century experienced three major upheavals (1917, 1949, 1979). The situation in Islamic Republic of Pakistan is precarious as most of the institutions have become non-functional. It is a free for all, paving the way for the powerful ‘I’s while blocking the path for the weak ‘we’.

It seems that the humanity has gone full circle from tribes to civilized societies where social responsibility was once taken seriously. There were generations of builders who built schools, colleges, hospitals, roads, infrastructure, etc for service to humanity. Now, the consumers have taken over. Priorities have changed and it is everyone for himself. Now with options of alternate energy and Internet, human interaction is no longer necessary on a day-to-day basis. Every house has become self-sufficient. One can live and work from one’s place of residence. Even education is available online through virtual colleges.

It is back to individuals now. It cannot remains like this. The life will either end or there will be a re-grouping of another kind. ‘I’ will have to invent some form of ‘we’ for humanity to survive and prosper. In the meantime, let us bridge the gaps by replacing sadness with hope. Humans learn from their history to chart their course. ‘UBUNTU’ came from the ancient African tribes. Its message is relevant even today – ‘I’ is meaningless without ‘we’. It should be a wake-up call for humanity before it is too late to recover from our chosen loneliness.

The writer is a former Pakistan Science Foundation chairman