When ‘unprecedented’ is an understatement — Welcome to now
Commentary by Pete Haug | FāVS News
Never has an individual been able to roil global markets, economies and even nations themselves at lightning speed — until now. Real-time information via satellite is a far cry from 1844, when Samuel Morse tapped out the first electronic message. Whether one believes in God or not, that message resonates in 2025: “What hath God wrought?”
Today’s speed-of-light transmissions fuel uncertainties in all competitions — sports, capitalism and politics. Who will win? Zero-sum, winner-take-all thinking dominates global society, heedless of ancillary damages, from concussions to impoverishment: “The social responsibility of business is increasing its profits.”
Does this include unilaterally flouting agreements, nullifying contracts and manipulating global markets at home and abroad, while abnegating rule of Constitutional law? Do such winning imperatives include ignoring evidence-based science spanning topics from vaccines to climate change?
Following World War II, the newly formed United Nations garnered hope for world peace, security and prosperity. In many respects the UN has worked, providing awareness of, and assistance for, widespread poverty, illness, illiteracy and social inequalities among neglected populations. But that eight-decades-old international institution lacks checks and balances. Now it appears increasingly ineffective as political, environmental and socio-economic instabilities fuel uncertainties worldwide. What’s next?
Birth pangs
Such painful upheavals may be birth pangs signalizing a massive transformation in global civilization. The years following WWII saw significant advances in material amenities and social awareness. Yet nations and dictators, following the zero-sum imperative, jockey for dominance in different geographical, economic and political spheres of influence.
Abrahamic and other religions prophesy a “Judgement Day,” apocalyptic destruction followed by transformation into a spiritually-based society. In the 19th century, Baha’u’llah warned, “O Ye Peoples of the World! Know, verily, that an unforeseen calamity followeth you, and grievous retribution awaiteth you….”
Neither wars, pandemics, nor similar calamities have transformed society. Baha’is anticipate the promised transformation as a basic change of heart for humanity. Globally, it’s quietly happening, although humankind continues to ignore it. But hope remains.
Metamorphosis
Last November, systems theorist Nafeez Ahmed postulated a global transformation, “an evolutionary transformation of human civilization.” He called it a “planetary phase shift,” a radical change in our collective interdependence, “a new systems framework to navigate the evolutionary transformation of human civilization.” He likened it to the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.
While the potential for positive transformation is enormous, Ahmed warns that rising authoritarianism could derail this evolutionary leap. “We’re living through an unprecedented period of change,” he noted. “Multiple global crises — from climate change to economic instability to technological disruption — aren’t just separate problems, but symptoms of an entire civilization undergoing metamorphosis.”
This refers primarily to governmental institutions, but what about humanity itself? Ahmed has synthesized research from natural and social sciences, integrating that research into a new theory of how civilizations rise and fall. He introduces the concept of “adaptive cycles,” observed from forest ecosystems to ancient civilizations.
These cycles roughly mimic Earth’s seasons: spring growth, summer abundance, autumn release and winter renewal. Civilizations move through similar phases: rapid growth, conservation (stability), release (creative destruction) and reorganization. The good news is that these breakdowns create opportunities for radical new possibilities.
Ahmed thinks industrial civilization is now entering the “release” phase, where old structures begin breaking down. This explains the simultaneous crises across multiple systems. For example, fossil fuels are faltering, as evidenced by a global decline in Energy Return on Investment (EROI) for oil, gas and coal. Meanwhile, EROI rates for renewable energies are growing exponentially. Major technological innovations are expected over the next three decades. These include clean energy, cellular agriculture, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and 3D printing.
Integrating these technologies, Ahmed suggests, could enable “networked superabundance” — a world where clean energy, transportation, food and knowledge become universally accessible at near-zero cost, while protecting Earth’s systems. Such technological integration could provide a “planetary renewable energy system” producing superabundant energy, and all that implies.
But man does not live by technology alone. Ahmed’s work offers exciting prospects for our shared world. What’s lacking is a needed change in values. Zero-sum no longer works. Recognizing and caring about humanity’s oneness, despite cultural differences, is essential for the metamorphosis to succeed. Most religious guidance can be condensed into two essentials: Love God and follow the Golden Rule. This requires free choice, not coercion.
But restructuring civilization will also require regulations to protect us from bad decisions by others — and ourselves. If Ahmed is right, this “planetary phase shift” implies supranational governance, enforcing international checks and balances to safeguard global security of all nations, while maintaining limited national sovereignty. The UN’s idealistic, but flawed, attempt provides eight decades of experience to guide us while building anew.
In 2020, Cambridge University Press published “Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century.” It’s available free in PDF on their website. Have a look.
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.
In every ethical measure, democratic secular countries are out-doing the U.S. We can do better than apocalyptic thinking — we can ask “what IF we survive, then what?” I’d love to see more solution-oriented public discourse.
Thanks. Pete, for once again holding out some hope in these dark times, even though I remain a doubter
The solution given by Jesus is to follow Him, take up your cross and die. Die to self. Die to our ego. Love one another. Serve God by serving both humanity and nature, His creation.
Yet I agree with Paul. It is against our core human nature, selfishness. To the Jew it was and still is a stumbling block and to the world it is foolishness. Why put faith in a God l can’s see (but we can know and experience) and give up (sacrifice) my short life here for nothing more than a hope for pie in the sky?
Human nature has never changed since the fall. Both Cain and able brought an offering of the best they had as a sacrifice to God, yet God chose to favor the one that represented what HE would do (and asks us to do also) for us to rescue us from ourselves, our human nature.
Instead of seeing and appreciating what God has given and is giving us, we rage against our brother who seems to be favored or hoard what we have, still wanting more.
God offers to change our heart and you suggest that as something we need, but present it as something we, together, on our own, apart from God, is possible. The Bible states otherwise.