While a “run-away world” is emerging in an anarchic haphazard fashion, carried along by a mixture of economic, technological and cultural imperatives, - we live in a world where hazards created by ourselves – are us, or more, - threatening than anything else that comes from the outside.
There is a new kind of capitalism evolving here, one that is not solely driven by markets and market regulation, but instead is more of a socialised milieu, something we are not entirely clear about, but which seems to hover somewhere between socialism and capitalism.
Over the twenty odd years from 1984 – 2007, we were barely able to question things, as those years represented a sense of completion, a sense that we had reached a historic watermark for the capitalist ethos. Those years were about ‘what to consume’ rather than ‘what to make’. To suggest that there might be flaws in that system was like suggesting now to bankers that they do not deserve bailout. As it turns out, the flaws might well be due more to poor regulatory and political intervention than flaws that are integral to capitalism. Regardless, a new type of economics had been evolving throughout those years. So even as the system we followed was apparently at a peak, a new one was burrowing away.
Is this new system simply a new adaption to capitalism, or is it a replacement, in effect a threat? More and more companies had been looking for new ways to innovate by searching outside their walls to find expertise and invention where they could. This mindful capitalism is driven by collaboration and sharing, by the replacement of command and control, and by self-organising independent organisational systems. This new ecosystem is replete with huge wastes – the creation of products and services that do not serve any real purpose. However, crowd-sourced projects that entice thousands of target groups to accept one answer are hugely wasteful. Executives that now embark on internal social media strategies would rather be finding an ideal solution to a real market-related problem.
Nowadays, for the first time in contemporary Western history, we are encountering serious competition from emerging countries because their skills and abilities are becoming similar to ours. So Western countries are facing enormous pressure, forced to reinvent themselves or cut back and become consciously realistic. But how? This was only the starting point, offering a great market opportunity while simultaneously becoming an enormous challenge for people, society, corporations and countries, when we began to feel uneasy about this development.
To catch up in the global game, more policy makers deregulated the financial industry, resulting in a massive and controlled system that now affects our lives and the manner in which we conduct business.
This global, penetrating exploitation influenced the public through media, manipulating public opinion, applying financial pressure to attain geopolitical objectives. Thus, the ambitions of power of today’s rulers remain valid, adhering to the same model like thousands of years ago to maintain the creation of a serious crisis so they can win the favour and confidence of the people and those who drive them into absolute dependence.
These social, economic and environmental signs indicate that much is out of control, but even so, we accelerate the process as if we want to intentionally end this situation. We fail to be aware that under this tremendous speed, complexity and intensity we deliberately prevent the truth from recognising such a ‘fake world’ under abnormal renewal mania, lack of implementation deficit and unrealistic expectations that today, at any price, show alarming signs. As humanity, we control intensive and disoriented against a gigantic crisis time and nobody seems to realise it.
To dominate these rapid global developments, Western financial sectors have been deregulated, causing a massive negative economic domino effect which will, quite scarily, take decades to restore. It is time to wake up! Current circumstances are escalating towards another gigantic pre-programmed which will hit us faster and with more intensity than we ever anticipated.
The modern world has elected to become more capitalistic, leading humanity into a new pristine future for peace, democracy and a free market economy. The market economy has been globalised and rapidly flourished. But the question is, for whom is the market flourishing? Market opportunities have been missed for designing the world order with new reforms and regulation. Instead we leaned back, congratulating each other for the extraordinary breakthrough of modern economy – lost peace – and promoted the global sell-off.
This was followed by the euphoria of privatisation, meaning that most of the global infrastructure of the last 50 years landed in the hands of the investment companies, when states were lured into debt traps with interest rates so high they were unable to repay, so they were forced to sell out their state infrastructure or sell their resources to become eligible for obtaining another loan – and the cycle carried on. This decay of the public sector has meant that we know less about what connects us to others. Unfortunately, we accept this, forfeiting important responsibilities to greedy decision makers who act irresponsibly.
Everywhere around us, we see unprecedented private wealth. In the last thirty years, the supersaturated luxury consumption – houses, jewellery, cars, clothing and high-tech equipment – has increased significantly. Financial institutions were displaced as a source of private wealth, leading to a distorted appreciation of economic activities. Private privileges are easy to understand and easy to be described.
The amount of control is, after all, intimately related to the way we are in our occupational hierarchy. All in all, it is vital to understand the social pressure at work and in our society. We must look at tomorrow’s people and define tomorrow’s products and services and sometimes even anticipate the contradictory – ‘awareness’. For the first time, more people are finding mindful leadership more relevant and appealing as it seeks to make a contribution to our world today, showing who we are, expressing kindness and humanity towards others. The conditions in which we live and work is absolutely vital for our health.
It is pleasing to see more people around the globe who are no longer willing to blindly accept and are therefore gradually, carefully prepare things increasingly from ‘inside out’ to see and are practically not noticeable. Nevertheless, it is time to wake up slowly, because under these present circumstances, the next gigantic crisis is inevitable and will hit us faster and with more intensity than we ever expect!
The more adaptation we allow, the more seductive this is for a society. Hence, life seems much easier in a community when all are basically in agreement and where contradiction is mitigated through compromise. In fact, though, communities, corporations, societies and countries where all is possible is not good – that is why adaptation has its price: socially, economically and environmentally. A society which just moves within a closed circle is barely penetrating, a voice leading more and more towards dependency within circles that represent different intentions. This tends to become unhealthy and risky and fails to restore the social balance.
Perhaps a new kind of leadership could attract people for whom it is a matter of course that they express their opinion. A democracy in which all are incessantly agreeing does not stand in the long run. We need mindful leaders who seek to tackle new challenges with imagination, vision and vigorous reactions. The problem is that we are increasingly inspired by external devices that influence our day-to-day life, believing that we can opt out of troubles through conscious thinking, instead leading with and by our unconscious instincts.
It could be mindful leaders who are genuine in their intention, understanding the purpose of their customers, employees and investors – not focussed on personal self-interests. Cultivating mindful leadership is literally getting an identity, not proving that we are better; it is about being authentic and becoming completely honest about our experiences. They seek to enable a new social model where all available resources shall be divided fairly to the entire global society.
Because it must be granted to an equitable distribution of state to be informed about the needs, activities and lifestyle of the population to intervene to skills if needed and a committee be established to determine what is just and what is not, how distribution is to take place, and must for the implementation of a state apparatus also have a strictly dominant observed population by an elite and ensures that they stay on top.
Certainly we are not any wiser by the memory of our past, but perhaps by our commitment and engagement in purpose-oriented measures, we can contribute to a better mindful tomorrow and a future that is right and sustainable for the next generation.