3 Divides : One needs to wake up to

1. The Ecologoical Divide
2. The Social Divide
3. The Spiritual Divide

The Ecological Divide: Unprecedented environmental destruction – resulting in the loss of nature.

The Ecological divide can be summed up by a single number: 1.5. Currently our economy consumes the resources of 1.5 planets. We use 1.5 times the regeneration capacity of planet earth. And that is the global average. USA is consuming 5 planets

The Social Divide: Obscene levels of inequity and fragmentation-resulting in the loss of society-the social whole.

The social divide can be summed up by another number: 8. 8 billionaires own as much as half of mankind combined i.e. 3.8 billion people.

The Spiritual divide: Increasing levels of burnout and depression – resulting in the loss of meaning and the loss of Self.(Self = highest future potential).

The spiritual divide can be summed up by a number: 800K. More than 800K people commit suicide per year. That is more than the sum of people who are killed by war, murder and natural disasters combined. Every 40 seconds there is 1 suicide.

In essence, we are collectively creating results that (almost) no body wants. These results include the loss of nature, the loss of society, and the loss of SELF.

In the 19th Century, many countries saw the rise of the social divide and people have come aware of it. In the 20th Century, we see the rise of the ecological divide, specially in the last 30 years. In the 21st century, we are seeing the rise of the spiritual divide.

In other words, we live in a time when our planet, our societal whole, and the essence of our humanity are under attack.

So, where is the hope?

The biggest source of hope in our time is that more and more people, particularly the younger population, realize that the three divides are not three separate problems. They are essentially three different faces of one and the same root issue. What issue is that? The blind spot. The blind spot of leadership, management and social change.

The blind spot will be addressed in a separate article. Please check out…

Based on the Theory U by MIT Prof. Dr. Otto Scharmer

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