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Home 
PublicationsAcademic - Articles - Reports
THE TRANSITION TO MATURITY AND PEACE: PRESENT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Written by: Živko Malesević
Banja Luka Gymnasium, Bosnia and Herzegovina
January 2002
Participant in the Education for Peace (EFP) Program
When one thinks about the history of mankind and its changes, it is inevitable to place the first importance on the social nature of human life, and first hope on the possibility of creating integrity as the highest level of human existence. But, before trying to make an explanation of an integrative society, it is necessary to be clearer and more understandable in order to enter the essence of today's adolescent society.
We all understand that man would never survive unless his own nature directed him to a sense of life in the social environment, starting from the first family, according to the Bible, up to nowadays. However, a rather Machiavellian syndrome of hate and conflict has set the human existence in such a way that conflict, suffering, tragedy and violence are in dialectical relation with the intentions of man to give a sense of meaning to his life through the principles of unity and integrity. This means, the confirmation of the human identity is to find the modus vivendi in variety and to act towards unity and integration. The entire history of humanity is written as a continuous struggle between varieties; so much so, that the following question is being asked: Is violence man's natural status, or is it his deformation, which is the result of a wrong understanding of his role in the world and his inability to learn from the numerous lessons of the past?
We live in the family, school, different associations, in our ethnic, religious communities, and state, as one entity. This organization of the human life from micro to macro environments tells us that the essence of life is in the permanent search for existence in various circumstances. On the level of very complex relations, the sense of one's own identity as transcendent over the world that we live in, is not always so easy.
In authoritarian societies we observe hierarchical relations of people in a community, the view of the world is dichotomous, and the orientation in life is under the strong pressure of the authorities. So, the individual constantly feels unsafe and in conflict with the world around him and within himself, by submitting himself to the leader under which he serves. That phase in the development of mankind is what we call childhood, which causes a number of conflicts, suffering and inevitable opposites.
Nowadays mankind is in the phase of adolescence, setting itself free from the irrational authorities, and replacing them with rational ones. Today, in most European societies and in the United States of America we can see a comparison of the situation to a jungle in which the law of the strongest person rules. The stronger one also succeeds. Therefore, individualism is conditio sine qua non of life.
A man is a biological, psychological and social being, so his moral constitution forms the sum of those factors, which of course, in different circumstances create different individualities. In times when the basic life goals are marked by moral promiscuity, enjoyment on the level of purely physical existence, and emphasis on the competitive spirit and egoism with strong narcissistic symptoms, a cult of consequences which result in conflict and violence in all life areas, and thus insecurity and fear, rules the world.
Infantile needs of adults, simulated virtual realities, energy and speed of life, aggression among the mass culture, all have a moral and psychological effect on development of the family, as the nucleus of natural life. In the families that nourish regular emotions, psychological, physical and moral development of the children, opposites and unpredictable daily routines are easily overcome. School and free activities become a motivational factor for the feeling of solidarity, understanding and emotional transcendence.
Since the main issue of existence is to have or to be, the following question is asked: What kind of a person is the one who chooses to have, or the one who chooses to be? Nowadays, with aggression in advertising, poor movies and literature, different recommendations on how to be famous and rich, competition, video games, internet, and other "activities", a life of material fortune is being promoted. Ethical principles are being destroyed by the vulgarization of everything that makes a man of a man. So the principle of “having” is the main generator of the phase of adolescence, which mankind is currently in. However, many theorists in the fields of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy make very pessimistic conclusions that the world has entered the decadent phase and that it will never overcome the integral weaknesses, in order for the world to step into the integrative phase, because the moral failings becomes bigger and bigger and threaten life with total destruction.
In the “eternal present”, pleasures of any kind are sought for. There is no past, because it cannot be lived. The future is being controlled so it could not cause the fear of death. In the various promiscuities of ideas, thoughts, emotions, and sex, everything is allowed. There are no eternal ideas or universal facts, because everything depends on wealth and sudden change, fame and personal promotion, so that possessiveness and narcissism are considered to be the biggest ideals that are worth living for.
There are misusages of knowledge, love, and will, which inevitably and continuously generate violence of man against man, endangerment of the natural environment which threatens ecological disaster, and in the final instance causes additional fears to become the general feeling in life. We, consequently, are led to undertake everything possible to make the current moments of living filled with personal enjoyment, so that we can forget what will happen in the future.
In order for change to happen in the world, the life credo must be redefined, because with that we would be enabled to eliminate the reasons which have caused the current status of society. The world is one, and its diversity should be lived as a beauty and within it we should search for the mutual threads that make us human beings. The challenge that the human individual faces as a social being is often marked with the fear of life. Therefore, a motivational factor must be found, and we must create the environment, in which growth, love and support are the focus. In this environment, the creativity of individuals would be awakened and maturity would be created as the confirmation of identity. This would lead to a sense of integrity with the world and nature, and the prevalent threats, fear, anxiety and violence that we see around us would only be part of the dark history that we have at last defeated. In such an environment, the individual would feel unity, justice and equality for all peoples and nations in the social environment with the strength of his personality and creative pleasures. Continuous peace would be a proof of the maturity of mankind.
In order to gain the most significant phase of mankind’s development, it takes a lot of work, belief and self-confidence, and patient communication and education among people. The religious and scientific views of the world, if understood properly, are not in contradiction in the integrative society, but rather constitute equal interpreters of the unity and diversity of the world, of the man and his existence. This integration would finally solve all suspicions emerging in the phase of adolescence, and man will cross from the age of decadence into the phase of the integration leading to the mature age.
