The Rise of Centrism: A Solution to Global Challenges and Political Ironies
If aliens were to land on our planet today and were asked to comment on the biggest irony in the political sphere faced by the people, they might mention the following:
- The rise of populism leading to short-term and narrow-minded decision making across countries.
- The increasingly complex challenges faced by humanity and the planet, which cannot be solved by any single country alone. These challenges require long-term thinking and global cooperation.
In the future, historians may attribute the rise of populism, declining trust in leadership, and the exponential growth of radical views to any specific technologies (such as social media) or geo-political phenomena. However, the reality is that the desire for a confrontational battle between right and wrong, based on individual perceptions, has left both individual countries and the global systems in shambles.
The solution lies in the rise of centrism. People from different ends of the spectrum must come together, agree on broad goals, develop future plans, and collaborate. This is necessary within countries to address issues like reducing debt and inequality, as well as on an international level to combat climate change and regulate AI.
Is it too much to ask to prioritize a better future for future generations over the desire to prove our viewpoint right? This is a question we should all ask ourselves.
