During the past month, it appeared as if all social order was collapsing in my home country, South Africa. I received reels of video footage from friends and family in South Africa revealing horrifying images of carnage and destruction. Thousands of looters were burning and destroying shopping malls and vital infrastructure with a government obviously too weak or incompetent to restore order.
But amid all the chaos were signs of hope. Communities of all races got together to defend their homes and properties, gathering together for prayer, giving each other hope and volunteering to clean up in the aftermath.
South Africa is in many respects a microcosm of global problems highlighting race and gender issues, cultural diversity, and the huge disparity been rich and poor. The economic fallout from the pandemic has entrenched deeply underlying social and political frictions. It is what dozens of countries are currently going through including Lebanon, Cuba, and Tunisia to name just a few.
Inflection points bring out the best and the worst in humanity
Sharp inflection points, challenges and conflicts inevitably bring out the best and the worst in humanity.
Major paradigm shifts are underway
At the start of the 21st century we are seeing major social, political, and economic paradigm shifts. Human knowledge and change has increased exponentially compared to previous generations. The American inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil argues that whenever a technology approaches a barrier, a new technology is invented crossing that barrier. He predicts that such evolutionary shifts will continue to become increasingly common, leading to profound technological change and rupturing old orders.
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