Worldwide, forces in play are stressing humanity’s social and institutional fabrics in ways that reflect the transformative power emitted by a volcanic eruption and the intense heat that emanates from molten lava. Humanity is awash with thralls of discovery, a concrete sign of an emergent global ethos.  The problem we face is that there is no plan in place to guide its unfolding, no means available to guard against becoming overwhelmed.  Leadership, be it as it may, has failed to consider the larger picture, concentrating instead mainly on contrivances to preserve the status quo.

‘As we confront the hard facts of ecological devastation, and environmental degradation unfolding on a planetary scale—with overpopulation, famine, war, xenophobia, technological distrust, pollution, and humankind’s misguided hubris prodding the global ecosystem toward the brink of exponential systemic runaway—we do not believe that politics, economics, and business, or science and technology, working independently or with each other, can offer a unified/unifying vision that faithfully reflects the integrated complexity of this World.

We must develop new modes of interacting with each other and with the global ecosystem. It will use the growing emergence of global consciousness to plan a global ethic, an indicator that such a transformation has begun. The move to define, implement and promote a global ethic in business and religion is cause for considerable optimism.

Humankind’s self-awareness is undergoing a radical period of fundamental transformation, and these initially independent efforts to plan a global ethic are evidence that a profound social and cultural evolution is occurring.  As a first step toward recognizing and cultivating a global consciousness, we must experience the earth as an interrelated organic whole.

This requires us to experience and understand cultures and religions from a global perspective,  and to see human history as global history. The movement toward planning a global ethic represents an important and necessary stage in the evolution of human culture, as it moves toward a forming a global society characterized by a newly complexified global consciousness. 

Complicating this task is the paradoxes fostered by the rapid development and inappropriate application of new technologies. The technological advances responsible for our collective transformation are also responsible, in part, for the social and ecological crisis we face on a global scale. Given the complexity of this situation, cultivating global consciousness will not be a sufficient response. We must radically transform our obsolete modes of interacting with each other and the global ecosystem and commit ourselves to develop a viable and sustainable global ethos that will benefit all of humanity.’

Moral persuasiveness backed by ethical considerations and supported by spiritual perceptiveness and the enduring embrace of justice will safely guide the process.

*Adapted from ‘Toward A Viable Global Ethic’.  By Harry R. Halloran, Jr. and Lawrence S. Bale.

In our modern world, everything we do reflects our social, political, and economic ideologies. To understand the failures of our economic system on the scale of an illicit global economy, we must understand how issues such as government theft, drug trafficking, global wealth, money laundering, and the ‘shadow’ financial system contribute to some of our most intractable issues ranging from poverty to hunger, terrorism, and periodic economic crises.

For humanity to progress, we don’t just require an advanced economy. We require an economy that functions as it should, bringing equity and opportunity to all of its participants. It is essential that we disconnect politics and economics. Political instruments are the only tools we have to deal with illicit mechanisms, and until politics to incentivised economics cease, the will for action will not exist.

Market forces do not exist separate from humanity; they result from human will and persistent endeavours.  It did not emerge from nowhere… we made it.  Whether we like it, we must admit responsibility and be accountable for the illicit economy.

Addressing economic challenges will require fundamental changes in how our world works. Many of these changes would come at a massive perceived cost, but the outcomes—over several generations- would exceed even the most utopian vision of a peaceful and fair world.

—Thought Economics, June 2012.

It may be impossible to eliminate nefarious activities at this adolescent stage in human evolution, but in some circumstances and under certain conditions, a nefarious activity diminishes if we apply corrective measures within predetermined situations and institutional structures. This requires collaboration, investigation, in-depth analysis, moral courage, and a collective will to engage agreed-upon solutions. Monitoring is mandatory, and in certain situations, it may require mentoring.

Actions taken will not be an easy task, but it will be a teachable experience with long-term positive results as more people become interested in protecting social welfare.