Tom Friedman has written several sobering books on cultural impacts deriving from changing technology. He notes our rapidly increasing dependency on devices and machines requiring reliable electric power. Phones, digital cameras, computers, television, Wi-Fi networks, cell phone towers, and data services all require consistent power sources. Commodities of the near future are likely to be intellectual and digital in nature as much as anything. Digital content is quickly become a source of vast wealth, for those with access to the grid. Even refrigeration and hot water generally require reliable power access.
In his landmark, The World is Flat, Friedman observes a great barrier to hundreds of millions entering the world community is lack of access to power. Three hundred million people in India alone have no access whatever to electricity, not even having a single light bulb in their homes. This scenario is repeated throughout the world. Prosperity and quality of life is directly linked to power access.
We have just witnessed how fragile access to power is. In mere minutes the world went dark for 670 million Indians, or ten percent of the world’s population. Cities across eight states with sweltering climates of 115 degrees were instantly without fans, air conditioning, trains, lights, and refrigeration. Millions of people came scurrying out of the ground when electric subways systems seized up. Hundreds of millions will never have the ‘luxury’ of a power failure. Three hundred million never had power to begin with and most would not have noticed this failure. Two days later the rest of the world has forgotten this dark reality, caught up in the brilliance of Olympic competition.
The most I’ve ever been inconvenienced by lack of power has derived from ice storms leaving me in the dark for five days. Still I had access to firewood, clean water, and have always been able to find nearby sources of refrigeration and phone service. Most importantly, I knew the inconvenience would soon pass; crews were working 24/7 to turn the lights back on. Many millions will never see the lights come on.
In 1970 I made my first journey around the world, taking no devices with me requiring any kind of power. My most recent voyage found me going through a major energy-management checklist prior to departure. Several digital cameras, primary and secondary battery packs and chargers for same. Voltage reduction transformers. Mains adaptor plugs for several nations. Lap top computer, power supply, and surge protector for same. Back-up external hard drive, power supply and adaptor. Cell phone, associated charger and adaptor. Electric razor, power cord and voltage adaptor. Multi-jack cord with surge protection for all these devices. A mound of assorted USB and Ethernet cables. Suitcase for the whole mess. I find myself asking hotels and ships how many power outlets are available.
As living standards become increasingly dependent on reliable sources of electricity, shear demand on power grids places all of us at increasing risk for power failures. One of my greatest concerns while on long journeys is that consistent power is supplied to my several freezers. More than once I’ve returned to find complete losses of my frozen food stores. I now make it standard practice to put indicator ice cubes in my freezers and to ask people to monitor my house for power losses.
As we live progressively more complex secular lives at ever-increasing speed we risk power failures of a very different kind, with far greater consequences. It has become too easy for many of us to get caught up in the tantalizing gadgetry of modern consumer culture, forgetting the essentials of what brings true meaning to our lives, of what empowers in ways mattering most. Extensive studies reveal much of Western civilization is caught in an epidemic of existential angst. Depression, anxiety, panic disorder, insomnia, and a variety of mental disorders plague a vast number of us.
Europe which has long been regarded as having the best social safety nets and standards of living in the world struggles immensely with this angst. The journal European Neuropsychopharmacology published results of a comprehensive study of 500 million citizens in twenty-seven European nations, suggesting 38% of them struggle with some form of mental illness, 165 million people. The World Health Organization reports nine of the ten nations with highest rates of suicide are European. There appears to be a disconnect taking place. Nations offering abundant personal and social safety and high standards of living are seeing mental illness as their number one health challenge. Could this be due to eroding spiritual and religious life in Europe? As Europe plunges into a regional financial abyss with some nations reporting unemployment at depression levels, will this huge health challenge extend into millions more lives?
In regular journeys to Europe I see evidence of increasing secularization and nearly complete loss of mainstream religious/spiritual life. In the United States, similar trends are gaining strength. A 2008 poll indicated only 9% of Americans thought religion the most important thing in their lives. 62% put family and money at the top of their lists. A recent Pew survey found doubt in God doubling in less than five years among younger citizens.
Similar findings are being found here with regard to mental illness and existential angst. Simply put, people are finding fewer reasons to get out of bed in the morning and once they do, life can be a gray haze of meaninglessness, a lack of calling or purpose.
Millions worldwide have escaped the meaningless of life with alcohol and drugs, only to fall into a pit of despair and darkness beyond articulation. The violence and economic costs associated with abuse and trafficking represent some of the greatest challenges for many nations. It’s been long known the way of escape from this darkness is the same one many nations have been jettisoning wholesale – the practice of spiritual principles in our lives leading to meaningful happy lives independent of power grid failures.
For those successfully emerging from the abyss of addictions, they’ve discovered, “What we really have is a daily reprieved contingent on our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all our activities. ‘How can I best serve Thee – Thy will (not mine) be done.’ ” They understand a life apart from God is often fatal, when “we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit.” Millions have been liberated from the darkness of addiction by placing their lives in God’s hands, finding great purpose and meaning. Many have been liberated from the attendant scourges of mental illness. It can be so for the hundreds of millions who are trapped in the darkness of addiction to material secular consumer living, power, lust, or a thousand other things.
Sometimes the greatest spiritual and emotional darkness is found in those very places with the most reliable power grids. There’s an unlimited supply of uninterruptable Power. One just has to plug into the right Source.
Jesus said, "For a brief time still, the light is among you. Walk by the light you have so darkness doesn't destroy you. If you walk in darkness, you don't know where you're going. As you have the light, believe in the light. Then the light will be within you, and shining through your lives. You'll be children of light." MSG
Blessings,
Craig C. Johnson
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment