|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
Home 
PublicationsAcademic - Articles - Reports
THE WORLD IS IN THE ADOLESCENT PHASE
Diko Besović, Teacher
of Sports, 2nd Gymnasium, Sarajevo
13 February 2002
Participant in the Education for Peace (EFP) Program
Translated into English from the original.
INTRODUCTION
Where is the world is today? Is it closer to self-destruction than earlier? This is the question which interests all the people of the world.
The young people know that there are many threats to human society at this time, and they are more aware and ready to fight for a better tomorrow. They know that the leadership of the world will be left to them, and they do not care what the present generation leaves them as an inheritance.
The world problems like war, poverty, the status of woman, do not interest the world leaders very much. Mainly force and power are the things used for the convincing of the others. Today’s world is exciting, aggressive and self-centred.
The world that we leave to the young people is insecure, full of violence, hunger, and wars.
The atomic holocaust is close—with the increase of weapons for the destruction of everything living—and that can endanger mankind. It almost happened in the 80's, during the Cold War between the great powers, and it needed only to last a few minutes more everything would have been destroyed all at once. In 1999 alone, India and Pakistan performed atomic tests. The desire to destroy others and those who are different is great.
What confuses me is that there is not a place on the planet Earth which has not experienced war, destruction, violence. People have exploited scientific achievements so they could dominate others; they have done these things not for the purpose of progress, but for oppression. The example of that is the production of the hydrogen bomb, showing the attitude that the western civilisation is based on the exploitation of scientific achievements in order to dominate over others.
There are enormous differences between the rich and the poor: half of the world is ill because of the poverty, and the other half is ill due to being overweight. Diseases like AIDS, drug addictions, psychosis, as well as endangerment of plants and animal species show clearly that the mankind is heading toward its destruction. In the latest years of the 20th century, global awareness of the ecology, of the need for certain plants and animals to be preserved, has grown, as well as the consciousness that the world is one for all people. The struggle to preserve the natural environment, pure waters and atmosphere, has raised the consciousness of the young people especially, and their efforts have become directed towards preservation of life on Earth.
WHAT KIND OF THE WORLD SHOULD BE CREATED?
The level of the man's consciousness is in the phase of adolescence, so it aspires towards pleasure, power, fun, and if that is not achieved, then violence.
The world should grow and come into the phase of maturity, and that means changing mindsets, views, and attitudes throughout the world. The basis of a healthy worldview is the knowledge of both the scientific laws and moral/ethical laws.
The world is one for all people, and it is necessary to keep it nourished. We all are actually very different and yet we make one healthy entirety if we maintain the sense of unity and respect for others’ various opinions and efforts. Readiness to talk, to exchange experiences, to arrive at compromise solutions and to preserve unity, would characterize the change in worldview. A world without tragedies, and with a tendency for peaceful solutions and uniting of the world, would contribute to the maturing of the humans' view. Everything that is based on love can grow and develop: so do we, human beings, foster the progression of mankind. Hate should be left in the past, because it starts the processes of dealing out destruction and war. Sincere and just relationships are that which will enhance the growth and development of the community and mankind as a whole, and the world’s people would gain confidence in and develop a better perspective on humanity. One should be told that only man has power to choose and to search for the best solutions. Maturity is the phase in which we will decide to search for and find the best solutions, and we now are the pioneers assisting in the development of the community, the society, and person who is a part of the universe and who fights for the progress of his being and mankind.
WORLD IN THE PHASE OF ADOLESCENCE
Each man, from the time of his birth, grows and develops, passing through certain phases of development such as the boyhood, adolescence, maturity. The growth and development of the person individually depends on his school, education, community, society and other influences. Adults who often make mistakes may be seen to demonstrate an attitude that is on the level of a boy or an adolescent.
For someone to be a mature person, it is necessary for him to develop continuously, and to pass through all the phases of growth successfully: from toys to computers, to lot of work and knowledge. Refinement of moral norms protects the person in this process, and love helps ensure that growth and development. In their nature, each child is dedicated to the family, school, society, and world in which he lives. It is strange how some people become aggressive, hateful, and engage in wars against their fellow people are different from them by only a little bit.
If the family is violent and without love, disturbances will appear in the growing child, often causing the child to become violent also and to behave as he was raised by the family. If the society is basically violent, then the individual thinks it is correct to be so and he behaves violently, justifying himself by thinking that his people are better than others, and that his nation is more powerful and is right to rule over other nations.
In this way, children identify themselves with the parents, becoming similar to them and using similar methods. And this is how everything develops on the level of society. The society develops, and has its own phases as does an individual. Adolescence is the period of changes, chaos and confusion, the time of passion that can be the cause of destruction and chaos.
The age of maturity is the period of peace and love, in which unity and justice predominate. The diseases which cause us so much suffering are a growing problem. It was obvious in the year 2000—which was dominated by violence, sense pleasures, competitions among the nations, wars, neglect of the environment, difficulties in the marriages of men and women, political competitions, and fights for power and domination. During the 18th through 20th centuries, mankind was in the final phase of the adolescence. It was a difficult period because the establishment of moral ethical standards was neglected and people tried to solve everything only through the science. But spirituality gives the standard of behaviour, and the moral ethical framework for the inter-human relations. The human capacities of knowledge, love, and will enable man to go ahead, and from adolescence, to enter into maturity.
When mankind matures, it leaves behind itself adolescent views of the world, and a more mature and peaceful civilisation is born. Achieving this growth and development and spirituality will become the source of true strength and cooperation among people. Peace is possible only in mature societies where a universal worldview and the mentality are in place.
A civilisation of peace is possible where universal love exists, a love which does not exclude anyone and which is addressed to everyone. The more we create love and unity in diversity, the less there will be hate and wars.
It is by changing ourselves that we change our society and pick the fruit of a peaceful civilisation. Some societies are close to achieving political and social justice, equality between man and woman, and they are becoming happy societies. But feeling of the unity of mankind and caring for the future of all on the planet must take hold of our thinking and be the leading idea on the planet. If Victor Hugo could predict the unity of Europe and the world, then why shouldn’t we be optimistic that the world will be ruled by unity, peace, love, cooperation, and help? One is being achieved; the other will come.
We have to grow and mature from adolescence to maturity so we will be able to bring mature decisions, which are good for all people, in the service of a peaceful civilisation and the unity of the whole planet.
