Chapter Ten
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scale and reach, but the means by which we treat them at the national level
in the process of resolution are weak and incomplete.
The crisis is a condition that requires immediate response. It is an
integral part of the existence of any system, from mechanical to biological,
social, technological, or natural. Since the ancient Greeks – the term
“crises” (krisis–crossroads) has commonly referred to a crucial period: the
crossroads that bring either recovery or more troubles. A crisis is a
moment of extreme danger when time stops; a moment of tension in which
no one can be sure what will happen, how long it will last nor how it will
end. At the same time it can also represent a moment of "enlightenment,"
when people are more open and sensitive to alternative solutions. Our goal
is to try to build a foundation for new ways of thinking by presenting ideas
and proposals that would eventually enable us, at least for some time, to
avoid what is now considered a process of deepening crisis.
To further elaborate on our argument we will focus on three categories
of crisis which significantly overlap: economic/financial, security, and
environmental. From this analysis we will try to identify some common
elements that are connected with the failure of state institutions, the lack of
adequate management, and a gradual loss of confidence in government at
the state level. Further, understanding of these areas could generate a
critical mass of people who are able to believe in a bright future of
mankind, who are able to design the required changes necessary for
optimum adaptation of people and countries to globalization, and to take
responsibility for their implementation.
Economic financial crisis
For a few years already, the world has been bearing the burden created as
a result of the financial crisis in 2008. It has generally been interpreted as a
failure of regulatory mechanisms and the consequence of excessive faith in
the market and its strength. It is hard to disagree with a part of these
analyses, but at the same time it is necessary to assert that far more
elements have been involved in creating this ongoing crisis. As Joseph
Stiglitz points out in his recent works, an understanding of the crisis is like
peeling layers of an onion.^5 Any attempt to explain it, at the same time,
creates new questions. In addition, it is notable that never before has the
economic, scientific, and analytical public shown so much weakness, or
inability, in assessing the current economic crisis to the extent that we
enter into the kind of crisis of economic forecasts. Alan Greenspean
(^5) Stiglitz, Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy.