Most problems are manageable.
If you’ve ever experienced the frustration of Amazon failing to deliver a package within two days, you’re probably living in the Contiguous United States. To live in a populated region where you share a roadway with a familiar Amazon truck means expecting the reliability of on-time delivery.
Fulfilled promises of the past create today’s expectations. So, when a fault or a breakdown occurs in the system, empathy is hard to conjure because it can feel like an attack on our autonomy – the condition created when expectations are frequently met with little effort on our part.
Today’s frustrations can feel significant because they threaten our independence, tightly packed schedules, or access to happiness. Modern society creates the allure of and supports a lifestyle built on reliable expectations. Amazon delivers in two days or less, Starbucks never runs out of coffee, and reruns of “Friends” can be endlessly streamed from almost anywhere, including your next airline flight. These are the new conditions that shape our modern consciousness.
The modern world has created a new reality that relies on integrated, well-functioning systems.
A late package, a broken espresso machine, and a temporary loss of internet are the kinds of disruptions we navigate in modern society. These are manageable problems.
What happens when the electricity goes out, the water stops flowing from the faucet, and the hospitals are overwhelmed? These are the significant problems that an increasing number of people face in today’s growing disaster zones caused by climate change, war, sabotage, or neglect. Thankfully, society continues to find a way to rally and meet each other’s needs when the moment demands it.
The modern world has created a new reality that relies on integrated, well-functioning systems. With ever-growing risks in our world, it’s time to press on with innovative solutions and the collective resolve required to avoid larger systemic breakdowns. Pursuing equitable outcomes engages the complex work of seeking fair and ethical outcomes that uphold the ecological, biological, and economic systems required for sustaining modern life.
The problems of today are painfully apparent. The courage to collaborate on solutions that build a better tomorrow is required now more than ever.
Matt Till 