Human qualities are the triumphant development of Western civilization. Textbook: Reader on the history of philosophy

Peccei: A revolution in the quality of people is the way to salvation

Message from Aurelio Peccei
President of the Club of Rome for the Sustainable Development of Humanity

Table of contents:
1. The development of Western civilization is approaching a critical milestone
2. Learn to use human qualities

3. The limited resources of the Earth will not withstand the growth of the whims of consumerism
4. The split between the overdeveloped and underdeveloped countries = a threat to the life of civilization
5. The scientific and technological revolution (STR) multiplies the growth of demands, destroying resources
6. There is no other way_but to learn

7. Only the revolutionary evolution of the qualities of the people and states themselves

8. Problems have entangled the entire planet, like the tentacles of a giant octopus.
9. It is quite possible that the coming years will be the last reprieve.
10. Despite all the warnings
11. What can we do in this last hour
11.1. It is impossible to rely endlessly on public, social
and state mechanisms and organizations

12. If enough people realize the danger

Translation of Peccei's text:

To my children, my grandchildren, all youth,
so that you understand that you must be better than us

1. The development of Western civilization is approaching a critical milestone

The triumphant development of Western civilization is steadily approaching a critical point.
And we are on the verge of a significant decade of the 80s
_promising to become one of the most important transition periods throughout history.

Full of not only wonderful lavish gifts
--but also contradictions
_the current phase of progress has given a powerful impetus
to the deployment of industrial, scientific and technical revolutions.--

But now reaching alarming proportions
These revolutions have become like giant tigers, which are not so easy to curb.

Profound changes by them to our little human universe
threaten mankind with unheard-of troubles
.
And these threats have presented us with unprecedented challenges.

Man now has such a wide choice of ways of further development
-and at the same time there is so much obscure and indefinite in everything,
it's really time to take a break

To contemplate the fate of human affairs
and about the meaning of our amazing era

2. Learn to use human qualities
=this is the new most important critical frontier to be overcome.

After all, in essence, it is the human qualities of people
are the most important resource of mankind
comparable only to the warmth of solar energy, which it so generously sends us

And therefore, learn to use human qualities for the benefit of all together and each
=this is the new most important critical frontier to be overcome.

3. Earth's limited resources
will not withstand the growth of the whims of consumerism

The development of civilization was accompanied by the flowering of bright hopes and illusions, which, however, could not be realized,
even for psychological reasons.
and social.

Because the Earth_no matter how generous it is
--still unable to accommodate continuously growing population

And can not satisfy more and more of his needs,
desires
and whims.

4. The split between super-developed and under-developed countries
= threat to the life of civilization

That is why there is now a new _deeper_ split in the world
between highly developed and underdeveloped countries.

But even this revolt of the world proletariat
_ striving for the riches of his more prosperous fellows

Even this revolt of underdeveloped countries

(although it takes place within the framework of the same dominant civilization
and in accordance with the principles established by it

Yet it is unlikely that she will be able to withstand this new test.

Especially now_when her own social organism is being torn apart
numerous ailments.

5. Scientific and technological revolution (NTR)
multiplies the growth of requests, destroying resources.

The scientific and technological revolution (NTR) is meanwhile becoming more and more obstinate
And it's getting harder and harder to tame it.

Giving us a power never seen before
and instilled in us a taste for a level of life that we had never thought of before
--NTR, alas, sometimes does not give us wisdom.

Scientific and technological revolution does not give wisdom to control the balance of our capabilities and demands.

6. There is no other way_but to learn
maintain in harmony and balance all human affairs

It's time for our generation to finally understand that now it depends only on us,
can we overcome this critical discrepancy,

On which, for the first time in history, the fate of not individual countries and regions depends,
but of humanity as a whole.

It is our choice that will determine which path the further development of mankind will take,
can it avoid self-destruction
_creating conditions for a balanced (with opportunities) satisfaction of their needs and desires.

Man now _essentially_ has no other way
_ in addition to reaching the next phase of its development as soon as possible,
which should combine the power of scientific and technological revolution with worthy wisdom

Learn to maintain in harmony and balance all human affairs.

7. Only the revolutionary evolution of the qualities of the people and states themselves
can prevent the self-destruction of mankind

And this harmony and balance can only be achieved through an unprecedented chain of events,
which I call REVOLUTION, TRANSFORMING THE MAN HIMSELF..

Man will be able to use his own power only through CULTURAL EVOLUTION

Only by learning to prevent the voluntary or involuntary abuse of power

Only by learning to anticipate and prevent any dubious, harmful and undesirable
the consequences of their activities.

It would be the greatest mistake not to realize the importance and urgent need
such an evolution of MAN HIMSELF.
=It would be the greatest (and possibly fatal) mistake:
don't realize it right now.

For all the disorders and crises of our time are both cause and effect.
humanity's inability to new reality the power of the NTR.

8. Problems have entangled the entire planet, like the tentacles of a giant octopus.
_and we are rapidly rushing to the critical threshold

Is the critical threshold far from us?
I think he's getting really close.
and we are heading straight for it.

By 1984, the world's population will reach almost 5 billion.
This will inevitably lead to an increase in the scale and complexity of all earthly problems.

(My note:
As of October 31, 2011, the world's population was 7 billion people
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_of_the world).

The number of unemployed may reach 500 million in 1984

(My note:
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO) January 24, 2012,
the number of unemployed in the world reaches 200 million people.
But apart from that, about 900 million people, although they have a job, but earn less than $ 2 a day,
actually falling below the poverty line.

The European Economic Community (EEC) will apparently continue to struggle over how to reform the multifaceted monetary system
and coordinate the development of its member countries and their foreign policy.

The population of the EEC is only 5-6% of the world's population,
and one can hardly seriously count on his tangible help to the rest of the world.
It is unlikely that the EEC countries will be able to get out of the quagmire of their own problems by this time.
Since, meanwhile, the resourceful and powerful half of the world's scientific community, engaged in "defense" programs,
will give a new impetus to the arms race, and more and more chunks of the world product will be consumed for suicidal purposes.

For tens of millions of years, tropical rainforests have been in a state of stable equilibrium.
Now they are being destroyed at a rate of 20 hectares per minute.
If it goes on like this, then in three or four decades they will finally disappear_
(before the oil in the last wells runs out,-
-- but with far more _dangerous consequences for humans. than no oil).

You can continue this sad list indefinitely:

Incomplete use of social and economic opportunities,
scarcity and mismanagement of resources,
the inefficiency of the measures taken,
inflation,
insecurity and arms race,
environmental pollution and destruction of the biosphere,
already noticeable human impact on the climate,_

And many, many other problems have entangled the entire planet, grappling with each other,
like the tentacles of a giant octopus.

9. It is quite possible that the coming years are the last respite,

And what is most terrible, no one, in fact, knows which of this many dangers and problems
(far from all of which we have already managed to feel and realize) _
which one will unleash that chain reaction
that will bring humanity to its knees.

No one can now predict when this will happen,

And it is quite possible that the coming years are the last respite,

Given to humanity so that it finally comes to its senses and, before it's too late, change course.

10. Despite all the warnings
- no action has been taken so far effective measures

The danger is so great and real
what to take her away and somehow rectify the situation
is possible only through joint, coordinated efforts of all countries and peoples.-

But so far, despite all the warnings--
-- no effective measures have been taken to address at least one of these problems.

Meanwhile, the number of unresolved problems is growing,
they get harder
their interweaving is more and more intricate,
and their tentacles, with increasing strength, compress the planet in their vise.

11. What can we do in this last hour

11.1. It is impossible to rely endlessly on public,
social and state mechanisms and organizations

What can we do
in this final hour?

First of all, it's time to finally understand everyone_
_both those who make responsible decisions, and ordinary people,_
that it is impossible to rely endlessly on all sorts of social mechanisms,
to update and improve social organization society,

When the fate of humanity is at stake.

With all the important role played in modern life by questions of its social organization, its institutions, legislation and treaties,

And with all the power of man-made technology,

They do not ultimately determine the fate of mankind,-
-until it itself changes its habits, morals and behavior,--
- there is no and will not be salvation for him

True Problem human species(at this stage of his evolution) is that he has been culturally incapable of
keep pace and fully adapt to the changes that he himself made to this world.

Since, arising at this critical stage_
the problem is inside, not outside the person,
taken both on an individual and collective level,_

So her decision must come (first and foremost)
from within the person himself.

11.2. The problem ultimately boils down to HUMAN QUALITIES
and ways to improve them.

For only through the development of human qualities and human abilities
it is possible to achieve a change in the entire civilization, focused on material values,

And use its huge potential for good purposes.

And if we want to curb the technological revolution now and guide humanity to a worthy future,
then we must first of all think about the change of man himself, about the revolution in man himself.

Only a qualitative leap in human thinking and behavior
can help us chart a new course, breaking the vicious circle we find ourselves in.

11.3. Strong political will can achieve
necessary psychosocial changes
in human nature itself

Of course, it is very difficult to achieve such profound psychosocial changes in human nature itself, but it is by no means impossible.

Although the panorama of international life now looks no less gloomy and hopeless,
but still I don't think it's such a utopia to hope
that in the presence of a strong will and desire_
_ we still manage to overcome the barriers.

I refuse to believe that a world that has accumulated enough knowledge and means

To set goals and develop a strategy,
avoiding catastrophe
and ensure the well-being of all mankind,-

I refuse to believe that such a world will ultimately be unmanageable.

But political will is just the first step.

11.4. In this process of qualitative transformation it is necessary
the broad masses of the people must be involved everywhere.

The task before us is actually much more complex and grandiose.
For since human development is our imperative,
then the broadest masses of the people must be drawn into this process everywhere.

It should be about all of humanity as a single whole._
_Humanity as a whole
should become more mature and more responsible,_
if it wants the coming age to come at all.

12.. If enough people realize the danger
_ then these tasks will turn out to be quite realistically solvable

It is quite natural to ask: is it realistic to expect
from ordinary men and women of the planet
similar evolution of human qualities,

Given that we seem to have very little time left?

In order to adequately formulate the answer to this very difficult question,
must be clearly understood and taken into account
that never before has human ingenuity
not subjected to such a decisive test
in an emergency..

And experience shows that even the most ordinary people,
if they are fully aware of the task, problem or impending danger_
_ do not rest until they find the means to deal with them.

And if we evaluate the current situation from this point of view, it immediately becomes
not so hopeless.

Now, literally everywhere, people feel more and more keenly the urgent need to
significantly improve the organization of the world community

And improve the management of the affairs of mankind.

The time has come to reveal and release the dormant in each person
the ability to see, understand and create,

Channel the moral energy of the people
that they themselves create a common future,
worthy of them.

These tasks, for all their apparent incompatibility at first glance,
quite real and solvable today

Provided that we finally realize
what exactly is at stake

If we understand what to be called modern men and women _
_corresponding to its time_
_ means to comprehend the art of becoming better.

In this book, I have made an attempt to raise and discuss all these problems and find the answer to the last, most important question:

How to kindle a spark that will initiate the development of human qualities.

A. Peccei, President of the Club of Rome

Plan your text. To do this, highlight the main semantic fragments of the text and title each of them.

Human qualities

“The triumphant development of Western civilization is steadily approaching a critical point. The most significant successes of its previous development are already listed in the golden book. And perhaps the most important of them, which determined all the other achievements of civilization, was that it gave a powerful impetus to the deployment of industrial, scientific and technical revolutions.<...>From time to time, difficulties and obstacles arose in the path of this frenzied race. But they were either overcome with amazing ease, or they turned out to be stimuli for new powerful leaps forward, prompting the development of more perfect driving forces, new means of growth. Modern civilization has found opportunities to solve many seemingly insoluble socio-political problems. Gaining more and more strength, civilization is steadily spreading across the planet, using all possible ways and means for this - migration, colonization, conquest, trade, industrial development, financial control and cultural influence.

Little by little, all countries and peoples began to live according to its laws or created them according to the pattern established by it. Her manners became an object of worship and a role model; and, even if they are rejected, it is still from them that they are repelled in search of other solutions and alternatives.

The development of civilization, however, was accompanied by the flowering of bright hopes and illusions that could not be realized, if only for reasons of a psychological and social nature.<...>And the Earth, no matter how generous it is, is still not able to accommodate an ever-growing population and satisfy more and more of its needs, desires and whims. That is why a new, deeper split has now emerged—between the super-developed and the under-developed countries. But even this rebellion of the world proletariat, which seeks to partake of the wealth of its more prosperous brethren, proceeds within the framework of the same dominant civilization.

It is unlikely that she will be able to withstand this test, especially now, when her own body is torn apart by numerous ailments. NTR is becoming more and more obstinate, and it is becoming more and more difficult to pacify it.

Having endowed us with unprecedented strength and instilled a taste for a level of life that we did not even think about, NTR sometimes does not give us the wisdom to keep our abilities and demands under control. And it's time for our generation to finally understand that now it depends only on us<...>the fate of not individual countries and regions, but of all mankind as a whole. It is our choice that will determine which path the further development of mankind will take, whether it will be able to avoid self-destruction and create conditions for satisfying its needs and desires.”

(A. Peccei)

Explanation.

In the correct answer, the points of the plan should correspond to the main semantic fragments of the text and reflect the main idea of each of them.

The following semantic fragments can be distinguished:

1) The triumphant spread of Western civilization across the planet.

2) Difficulties and incentives for the development of civilization.

3) The most important problem of modern civilization is the problem of limited resources.

4) Aggravation of contradictions between super-developed and under-developed countries.

5) The growing influence of scientific and technological revolution on the development of civilization.

6) The fate of civilization is in the hands of the present generation.

Other formulations of the points of the plan are possible that do not distort the essence of the main idea of the fragment, and the allocation of additional semantic blocks.

A formidable warning that - with all its apparent well-being - humanity is actually going through a period of acute crisis and that it is necessary, before it is too late, to radically change the outlined course of events, was sounded at two conferences organized by the Club of Rome in 1978 and 1979.

Only a qualitative leap in human thinking and behavior can help us chart a new course, breaking the vicious circle in which we find ourselves. Of course, it is very difficult to achieve such profound psychosocial changes in human nature itself, but it is by no means impossible. The panorama of international life now looks no less gloomy and hopeless, but still I do not consider it such a utopia to hope that, with strong will and desire, we will still be able to overcome barriers.

I refuse to believe that a world that has accumulated enough knowledge and means to set goals and develop a strategy to avoid disaster and ensure the well-being of all mankind that such a world will ultimately be unmanageable.

But political will is just the first step in a new direction, and one step is certainly not enough. The task before us is actually much more complex and grandiose. For, since human development is our imperative, the broadest masses of the people must be involved in this process everywhere. This should be about all of humanity as a single whole, which should become more mature and more responsibly prepare for the new coming era, if it is destined to come at all.

The question is quite natural: is it realistic to expect such an evolution from ordinary men and women of the planet, given that we seem to have very little time left? In order to adequately formulate the answer to this very difficult question, one must clearly realize that never before has human ingenuity been subjected to such a decisive test. And experience shows that even the most ordinary people, if they are fully aware of the task, problem or impending danger, do not calm down until they find the means to cope with them.

And if we evaluate the current situation in this way, then it immediately becomes not so hopeless. Now, literally everywhere, people feel more and more keenly the urgent need to significantly improve the organization of the world community and improve the management of human affairs. The time has come to reveal and release the ability to see, understand and create, dormant in every person, to direct the moral energy of people so that they themselves create a worthy common future.

In this book, I touched on the goals and hopes that feed this confidence of mine. Recently, under the auspices of the Club of Rome, a number of new ideas have been formulated, as well as special studies and developments have been carried out. In my address to you, dear readers, I want to emphasize that I will be more than rewarded if the Russian edition of Human Qualities makes it possible to expand the horizons of these initial works and strengthen them by drawing the attention of Soviet scientists and specialists to them.

A. Peccei, President of the Club of Rome

My children, my grandchildren,

all the youth so that they understand

that should be better than us.

Foreword

The triumphant development of Western civilization is steadily approaching a critical point. The most significant successes of its previous development are already listed in the golden book. And perhaps the most important of them, which determined all the other achievements of civilization, was that it gave a powerful impetus to the deployment of industrial, scientific and technical revolutions. Having now reached menacing proportions, they have become like giant tigers, which are not so easy to curb. And, nevertheless, until recently, society managed to tame them and successfully subjugating them to its will, urged them to rush forward and forward. From time to time, difficulties and obstacles arose in the path of this frenzied race. But they were either overcome with amazing ease, or they turned out to be stimuli for new powerful leaps forward, prompted the development of more perfect driving forces, new means of growth. Modern civilization has found opportunities to solve many seemingly insoluble socio-political problems. So, a new social formation appeared - socialism - widely using the achievements of scientific and technological progress. Gaining more and more strength, civilization often showed a clear tendency to impose its ideas with the help of missionary activity or direct violence coming from religious, in particular Christian, traditions. The work ethic and pragmatic style of thinking were the sources of an irresistible pressure of the ideas and means by which she imposed her habits and views on other cultures and traditions. So civilization steadily spread across the planet, using all possible ways and means for this - migration, colonization, conquest, trade, industrial development, financial control and cultural influence. Little by little, all countries and peoples began to live according to its laws or created them according to the pattern established by it. Her morals became an object of worship and a role model; and, even if they are rejected, it is still from them that they are repelled in search of other solutions and alternatives.

A. PECCHEI

Gaining more and more strength, civilization often showed a clear tendency to impose its ideas through missionary activity or direct violence coming from religious, in particular Christian, traditions. The work ethic and pragmatic style of thinking were the sources of an irresistible pressure of those ideas and means by which she imposed her habits and views on other cultures and traditions. So civilization steadily spread across the planet, using all possible ways and means for this - migration, colonization, conquest, trade, industrial development, financial control and cultural influence. Little by little, all countries and peoples began to live according to its laws or created them according to the pattern established by it. Her morals became an object of worship and a role model; and, even if they are rejected, it is still from them that they are repelled in search of other solutions and alternatives.

The development of civilization, however, was accompanied by the flowering of bright hopes and illusions that could not be realized, if only for reasons of a psychological and social nature. Elitism has always been at the heart of her philosophy and her actions. And the Earth - no matter how generous it is - is still not able to accommodate an ever-growing population and satisfy its more and more new needs, desires and whims. That is why a new, deeper split has now emerged in the world - between super-developed and underdeveloped countries. But even this rebellion of the world proletariat, which seeks to partake of the riches of its more prosperous brethren, proceeds within the framework of the same dominant civilization and in accordance with the principles established by it.

It is unlikely that she will be able to withstand this new test, especially now, when her own social organism is torn apart by numerous ailments. NTR, on the other hand, is becoming more and more obstinate, and it is becoming more and more difficult to pacify it. Having endowed us with unprecedented strength and instilled a taste for a level of life that we had never thought of before, NTR sometimes does not give us the wisdom to keep our abilities and demands under control. And it is time for our generation to finally understand that now it depends only on us whether we will be able to overcome this critical discrepancy, since for the first time in history the fate of not individual countries and regions, but of all mankind as a whole depends on this. It is our choice that will determine which path the further development of mankind will take, whether it will be able to avoid self-destruction and create conditions for satisfying its needs and desires.

Is the critical threshold far from us? I think that he is already quite close, and we are rapidly rushing straight to him. By 1984, the world's population will reach almost 5 billion. This will inevitably lead to an increase in the scale and complexity of all earthly problems. The number of unemployed may reach 500 million by this time. The European Economic Community will apparently continue to wrestle with how to reform the multifaceted monetary system and coordinate the development of its member countries and their foreign policy. And although the importance of the Community's role in the world is by no means determined by the size of its member countries, whose population is only 5-6% of the world's population, one can hardly count on its tangible assistance to the rest of the world. It is unlikely that the countries of the Community will be able to get out of the quagmire of their own problems by this time. In the meantime, the resourceful and powerful half of the world's scientific community, engaged in "defense" programs, will give a new impetus to the arms race, providing it with the means of access to boundless outer space. And more and more slices of the world product will be consumed for suicidal purposes. For tens of millions of years, tropical rainforests have been in a state of stable equilibrium. Now they are being destroyed at a rate of 20 hectares per minute. If it goes on like this, then in three or four decades they will completely disappear from the face of the earth - before the oil in the last wells runs out, but with much more dangerous consequences for humans.

You can continue this sad list indefinitely. And what is most terrible, no one, in fact, knows which of this many dangers and problems - far from all of which we have already managed to feel and realize - will unleash that chain reaction that will bring humanity to its knees. No one can now predict when this will happen, and it is quite possible that the coming years are the last respite granted to humanity so that it finally comes to its senses and, before it is too late, change course.

What can we do in this last hour? First of all, it is time to finally understand everyone - both those who make responsible decisions and ordinary people - that one cannot endlessly rely on all kinds of social mechanisms, on the renewal and improvement of the social organization of society, when the fate of man as a species is at stake. For all the important role played in the life of modern society by the questions of its social organization, its institutions, laws and treaties, with all the power of man-made technology, they do not ultimately determine the fate of mankind. And there is no, and there will be no salvation for him until he himself changes his habits, morals and behavior. The real problem with the human species at this stage of its evolution is that it has been culturally unable to keep pace and fully adapt to the changes it has brought to the world. Since the problem that has arisen at this critical stage of its development is located inside, and not outside, the human being, taken both at the individual and at the collective level, its solution must also come primarily and mainly from within him.

The problem ultimately comes down to human qualities and ways to improve them. For only through the development of human qualities and human abilities it is possible to achieve a change in the entire civilization oriented towards material values and use its huge potential for good purposes. And if we now want to curb the technical revolution and direct humanity to a worthy future, then we must first of all think about changing the person himself, about the revolution in the person himself. These tasks, for all their seeming incompatibility at first glance, are quite real and can be solved today, provided that we finally realize what exactly is at stake ...

For many years I have pondered what steps a person should take to turn off the path of ruin. Exploring the complexity of the infinitely large and penetrating the secrets of the infinitely small, he comprehended the unity of the Universe and discovered the individual elements of that natural order that unites everything that exists in the world. However, in this process of cognition, he did not pay enough attention to what is between the two extremes and what is really most important for himself - his own world and his place in it. This has become the Achilles' heel of modern man.

Two aspects can be distinguished here. One of them concerns the person himself and his behavior, which we must better understand. Research and reflection on this highly exciting topic began at the dawn of the development of philosophy and medicine; these problems are inexhaustible, and the process of their knowledge is endless. But this aspect is not what I have in mind first of all. The second of these, which is more immediate and important in the light of today's problems, concerns the relationship of man and his environment, which is increasingly influenced by the results of human activity. It is here that there are highly dangerous gaps associated with insufficient awareness of the limits and consequences of human activity in the world; these gaps need to be filled immediately - but how?

If for the solution of this problem it was necessary to immediately change human nature, the situation would be simply hopeless. No, we must begin with what will help bring human perception and, consequently, the way of existence and way of life of a person into line with the real world today and the ability of a person to change the world, which he has recently acquired. What is needed is not biological, but cultural evolution, and although this process may be long and difficult, its implementation is quite within our capabilities.

We succeeded in improving individual qualities of athletes, astronauts and astronauts, improved machines, instruments, materials, breeds of chickens, pigs and varieties of corn, we succeeded in increasing labor productivity, increased the ability of a person to read quickly, learned to talk to computers. But we have never even tried to sharpen the perception of our new position in the world, to increase the awareness of the power that we now have, to develop a sense of global responsibility and the ability to evaluate the results of our actions. I have no doubt that if we just try, we will succeed on this path, as each new step will clearly prove that further movement in this direction corresponds to our fundamental interests. Before us is an endless edge of opportunities for improving human qualities.

This is the basis of my optimism, my belief that the situation can still be corrected. At the same time, although the improvement of human qualities is so necessary now, it is so difficult that in order to achieve this goal, it will be necessary to mobilize the will, abilities and capabilities of the inhabitants of the entire Earth for many decades. In the meantime, however, humanity will continue to multiply. It will also not be possible to stop the huge uncontrollable technical machine created by man, which is operating today at full capacity. All this means that the coming changes in the human system are likely to be much more significant than those that occurred before. And since it is not yet known whether humanity will be able to control its numbers and the brutal power of its technical machine and when all this will happen, today you can meet with the most extreme, sometimes mutually exclusive alternatives of the future.

Will humanity one day be able to dispel all the threats and troubles hanging over it and create a mature society that would wisely manage and reasonably dispose of its earthly environment? Will this new society be able to end the current rift and create a truly global, stable civilization? Or, in order to avoid more severe crises, will humanity prefer to entrust its fate to technology even more, developing, as futurologists hopefully predict, absolutizing the role of science, “post-industrial” or “information” models of society? Will this path turn out to be a miraculous way out of the current impasse and will not a person finally perish with all his limited abilities, weaknesses, aspirations and spirituality in a system that will be far and alien to his nature? Will not this choice eventually lead to the creation of a purely technocratic, authoritarian regime, where work, law, social organization and even information, opinions, thoughts and leisure will be tightly regulated by the central government? Will a pluralistic society be able to function as a whole under these conditions?

Or will humanity be so overwhelmed by its own complexity and uncontrollability that the prospect of final decay and death will become real for it? Will the wealthier, in a vain attempt to disassociate themselves from the common fate, want to dig in oases of relative security and prosperity? Won't this lead to a new, deeper division of society into clans? What other consequences, rational or irrational, might flow from our unstable present? And is it possible to consider absolutely excluded and improbable the possibility of the most terrible apocalyptic catastrophe, which will brand human destiny for many centuries, and possibly forever? When and in what form can we be especially threatened by this danger?

One can draw an infinite number of different scenarios for the future, more or less plausible, but, of course, none of them can claim to be absolute. The tense situation in which those now living on Earth find themselves is a direct consequence of what our ancestors did and did not do in previous years, and even ourselves. In a historical perspective, it is not so important how common these or those advantages and disadvantages are among people. And even if someone sometime in the future is held responsible for something done or not done in the past, it will be of little use. The most important thing is to think deeply today about what will happen to the world's billion people tomorrow - and this almost exclusively depends on what we collectively will or will not do from now on.

From all these considerations, in my opinion, the conclusion follows that the situation is now extremely serious and time is not working for us, but we still have good chances to take fate into our own hands - provided that we concentrate all our energy, all the best, what is in us, on the solution of this extremely important and urgent task. If we can make this truly critical effort, then I am confident that, within certain limits, the future of humanity can be what we all collectively want it to be. And the only question is where to start.

Nineteen centuries ago, the Roman writer Columella, studying the then most important field of activity - Agriculture, rightly noted that it needs a person who knows, who wants and who can. Modern man, who today decided to take on an unprecedented event - the creation of a global empire, recklessly overturned this logical sequence, because he can, but so far does not want to, because he does not know. We must correct this state of affairs, and the first of many things to do must be an understanding of the real world and our position in it ...

I believe that the creation of the Club of Rome, the main purpose of which was to study and identify the new position in which a person found himself in the age of his global empire, was an exciting event in the spiritual life of mankind. Literally every hour our knowledge about a variety of things is growing; yet we remain almost ignorant of changes in ourselves. And if anything can be credited to the Club of Rome, it is precisely that it was the first to rise up against this dangerous, almost suicidal ignorance.

34 The Club of Rome is an international public organization created to deepen understanding of the peculiarities of human development in the era of the scientific and technological revolution. Founded in 1968. Italian economist A. Peccei was chairman of the Club of Rome in 1968 - 1987.

We know that our journey as homo sapiens began about a hundred thousand years ago, and for a hundred centuries now, the historical record of mankind has been kept. However, in recent decades, the idea has been increasingly born that humanity has reached some important milestone and is at a crossroads. For the first time since the Christian world stepped into its second millennium, a real threat of the imminent coming of something inevitable, unknown and capable of completely changing the common fate of huge masses of people, apparently, really hung over the world. People feel that the end of some era in their history is coming. But no one, it seems, today still thinks about the need to radically change not only their own way of life, but the life of their family, their people. And it is precisely in this, in essence, that the reason for many of our troubles lies, that we have not yet been able to adapt our thinking, attitude and behavior to this urgent need.

A person does not know how to behave in order to be a truly modern person. And this feature is inherent only to him - other species do not know this weakness. The tiger knows perfectly well how to be a tiger. A spider lives the way spiders live. The swallow has learned those habits that are due to the swallow. Natural wisdom helps all these species to constantly regulate and improve the qualities that ensure survival, adaptability to changing external conditions. And the evidence of the success of these efforts is the very fact of their current existence. But unexpectedly, a person in the age of scientific and technological revolution turns out to be their mortal enemy, an enemy or a tyrant of almost all life forms on the planet. A man, having invented a fairy tale about an evil dragon, himself turns out to be this dragon.

And man, who has much in common with all other living beings, lacks only the wisdom to survive. Gradually losing his natural ability to adapt and survive, considering it to be a good thing to trust his fate more and more to reason, that is, to his technical capabilities, a person, instead of changing himself, began to change the world around him, becoming a star of the first magnitude in it. He would never win in a direct fight with other species, but he offered them a fight in his own way and became invulnerable. However, the world could not change indefinitely, catering to his desires, and at each new step of ascent, a person had to again realize his increased power and learn to live with it. As a result, here it is, the human paradox: like in quicksand, a person gets bogged down in his unprecedented abilities and achievements - the more force he uses, the more he needs it, and if he does not learn how to use it in time, then he is doomed to become the eternal prisoner of these quicksands. sands.

Over the past decades, in a new burst of inspiration, man has won several more dizzying technical victories, but has not yet found the time either to learn how to use their fruits, or to get used to the new opportunities that they gave him. Thus, he began to lose a sense of reality and the ability to assess his role and place in the world, and at the same time those fundamental foundations that his ancestors had erected with such zeal over all previous centuries, trying to preserve the human system and establish interconnection with the ecosystem. Now man is faced with the need to fundamentally revise the traditional views of himself, his fellows, the family, society and life in general and revise on a planetary scale, but he does not yet know how to do this.

It is necessary to be perfectly aware of the absurdity of the assertions that the current deeply abnormal and unfavorable state of the human system can be somehow equated with any kind of cyclical crises or associated with some transient circumstances. And if, for lack of another suitable word, we are nevertheless forced to call it a crisis, then we must realize that this is a special, comprehensive, epoch-making crisis, penetrating literally all aspects of human life. The Club of Rome called it the predicament of mankind.

The diagnosis of these difficulties is not yet known, and no effective remedy can be prescribed for them; moreover, they are aggravated by the close interdependence that binds everything in the human system today. Ever since a man opened a box similar to Pandora's box, and hitherto unknown technology slipped out of his control, everything that happens somewhere in the world resounds almost everywhere. There are no longer economic, technical or social problems that exist separately, independently of each other, which could be discussed within the same special terminology and solved slowly, separately, one after another. In our artificially created world, literally everything has reached unprecedented sizes and scales: dynamics, speeds, energy, complexity - and our problems too. They are now both psychological, and social, and economic, and technical, and in addition also political; moreover, closely intertwining and interacting, they take root and sprout in adjacent and distant areas.

Even with a cursory glance at the above list of problems, it is easy to see the links that link them together; on closer examination, these connections become even clearer. Uncontrolled human settlement on the planet; inequality and heterogeneity of society; social injustice, hunger and malnutrition; widespread poverty; unemployment; growth mania; inflation; energy crisis; an existing or potential deficiency natural resources; the collapse of the international trading and financial system; protectionism; illiteracy and an outdated education system; youth riots; alienation; the decline of cities; crime and drug addiction; an explosion of violence and a tightening of police power; torture and terror; disregard for law and order; nuclear madness; political corruption; bureaucracy; degradation environment; the decline of moral values; loss of faith; a feeling of instability and, finally, the unawareness of all these difficulties and their interconnections - this is by no means a complete list, or rather, a tangle of those complex, intricate problems that the Club of Rome called problematics.

Within this range of problems, it is difficult to single out any particular problems and offer separate, independent solutions for them - each problem correlates with all the others, and any solution that is obvious at first glance to one of them can complicate or somehow affect the solution of others. And none of these problems, or combinations of them, can be solved by the consistent application of the linear methods of the past. Finally, one more difficulty hangs over all the problems, recently appeared and overlaps all the others. As experience has shown, at a certain level of development, problems begin to cross borders and spread throughout the planet, regardless of the specific socio-political conditions that exist in different countries - they form a global problem.

Such international distribution problematic epidemics does not mean that problems of a regional, national or local nature will disappear or become less intense. On the contrary, there are more and more of them, and it is becoming more and more difficult to deal with them. But the worst thing is that we continue to stubbornly focus our attention precisely on these peripheral or partial problems, which seem closer to us and therefore larger, and at the same time we do not notice or simply do not want to realize that, in the meantime, the vise of a much more formidable one is tightening around us. world wide problem. Governments and current international organizations are absolutely unable to respond flexibly enough to the current situation. Their very structure seems to have been specially created in such a way as to solve exceptionally narrow, sectoral problems and remain completely insensitive to general, global ones. They seem to be surrounded by an impenetrable wall, through which the echoes of storms are not even heard; moreover, their bureaucracy stubbornly resists any attempts to react, it is literally paralyzed by a mass of urgent tasks and at the same time, of course, does not see much more terrible, but somewhat remote in time troubles...

In August 1974 I was visited by Erwin Laszlo, a former concert pianist, a man of versatile interests and multifaceted talents: a philosopher, a specialist in cybernetics, an essayist. He shared with me one idea that turned out to be very consonant with my own thoughts. Its meaning was as follows. Thinking about the future, people, as a rule, focus mainly on the negative trends of the current development, on unresolved issues, on those changes that are necessary for the survival of human society, leaving aside and practically not taking into account the healthy, positive principles existing in it. . Meanwhile, perhaps it is precisely on them that one should, if not rely, then, in any case, count when planning certain changes. “Focusing attention on the disease, we appeal primarily to fear, and behavior based on it is difficult to direct in the desired direction. A focus on health, on the other hand, motivates positive goal-oriented behavior; and then any achievement is considered not just as luck in an effort to avoid misfortune, but as a victory, ”* he wrote later. “Man climbs Everest because he sees it as an expression of human ingenuity and resilience. Tell him that he must do the same in order to survive or gain freedom, and he will perceive it as hard inhuman work.

* Laszlo E. Goals for Global Society - In: "Main Currents in Modern Thought", vol. 31, 1975.

I shared this point of view. Indeed, it was time to move from the stage of ordinary shock - which was necessary to draw people's attention to the impending danger - to a new stage of a positive look at what humanity can realistically achieve in the foreseeable future in the course of its evolution. Unfortunately, among economists and technicians there are still fools who believe that it is their sciences that are able to find that magical philosopher's stone that will heal humanity from all its ailments. In addition, there are influential forces in the world that are interested in continuing the previous course, so it is too early to stop the shock treatment. And yet, the goals of mankind cannot be limited only to the desire to avoid a catastrophe, provide opportunities for survival and then drag out a prosaic and flawed existence in their semi-artificial little world. It is necessary to raise the spirit of a person, he needs ideals in which he could really believe, for which he could live and fight, and if necessary, die. And these ideals should grow out of his awareness of his new role on the planet - the role that I have already talked about so much.

culture and global problems modernity

Gaining more and more strength, civilization often showed a clear tendency to impose its ideas with the help of missionary activity or direct violence coming from religious, in particular Christian, traditions. The work ethic and pragmatic style of thinking were the sources of an irresistible pressure of the ideas and means by which she imposed her habits and views on other cultures and traditions. Thus civilization steadily spread across the planet, using all possible ways and means for this - migration, colonization, conquest, trade, industrial development, financial control and cultural influence. Little by little, all countries and peoples began to live according to its laws or created them according to the pattern established by it. Her morals became an object of worship and a role model; and, even if they are rejected, it is still from them that they are repelled in search of other solutions and alternatives.

The development of civilization, however, was accompanied by the flowering of bright hopes and illusions that could not be realized, if only for reasons of a psychological and social nature. Elitism has always been at the heart of her philosophy and her actions. And the Earth - no matter how generous it is - is still not able to accommodate an ever-growing population and satisfy its more and more new needs, desires and whims. That is why a new, deeper split has now emerged in the world - between super-developed and underdeveloped countries. But even this rebellion of the world proletariat, which seeks to partake of the wealth of its more prosperous brethren, proceeds within the framework of the same dominant civilization and in accordance with the principles established by it.

Is the critical threshold far from us? I think that he is already quite close, and we are rapidly rushing straight to him. By 1984, the world's population will reach almost 5 billion. This will inevitably lead to an increase in the scale and complexity of all earthly problems. The number of unemployed may reach 500 million by this time. The European Economic Community will apparently continue to wrestle with how to reform the multifaceted monetary system and coordinate the development of its member countries and their foreign policy. And although the importance of the Community's role in the world is by no means determined by the size of its member countries, whose population is only 5-6% of the world's population, one can hardly count on its tangible assistance to the rest of the world. It is unlikely that the countries of the Community will be able to get out of the quagmire of their own problems by this time. In the meantime, the resourceful and powerful half of the world's scientific community, engaged in "defense" programs, will give a new impetus to the arms race, providing it with the means of access to boundless outer space. And more and more slices of the world product will be consumed for suicidal purposes. For tens of millions of years, tropical rainforests have been in a state of stable equilibrium. Now they are being destroyed at a rate of 20 hectares per minute. If this continues, then in three or four decades they will completely disappear from the face of the earth - before the oil in the last wells runs out, but with much more dangerous consequences for humans.

What can we do in this last hour? First of all, it is time to finally understand everyone - both those who make responsible decisions and ordinary people - that one cannot endlessly rely on all kinds of social mechanisms, on the renewal and improvement of the social organization of society, when the fate of man as a species is at stake. For all the important role played in the life of modern society by the questions of its social organization, its institutions, laws and treaties, with all the power of man-made technology, they do not ultimately determine the fate of mankind. And there is no, and there will be no salvation for him until he himself changes his habits, morals and behavior. The real problem with the human species at this stage of its evolution is that it has been unable to culturally to keep pace and fully adapt to the changes that he himself made to this world. Since the problem that has arisen at this critical stage of its development is located inside, and not outside, the human being, taken both at the individual and at the collective level, its solution must also come primarily and mainly from within him.

For many years I have been thinking about what steps a person should take in order to turn off the disastrous path. Exploring the complexity of the infinitely large and penetrating the secrets of the infinitely small, he comprehended the unity of the Universe and discovered the individual elements of that natural order that unites everything that exists in the world. However, in this process of cognition, he did not pay enough attention to what is between the two extremes and what is really most important for himself - his own world and his place in it. This has become the Achilles' heel of modern man.

If for the solution of this problem it was necessary to immediately change human nature, the situation would be simply hopeless. No, we must begin with what will help bring human perception and, therefore, the way of being and the way of life of a person into line with the real world today and the ability of a person to change the world, which he has recently acquired. What is needed is not biological, but cultural evolution, and although this process may be long and difficult, its implementation is quite within our capabilities.

We have succeeded in improving the individual qualities of athletes, cosmonauts and astronauts, improved machines, instruments, materials, breeds of chickens, pigs and varieties of corn, we have succeeded in raising labor productivity, increased the ability of a person to read quickly, and learned to talk to computers. But we have never even tried to sharpen the perception of our new position in the world, to increase the awareness of the power that we now have, to develop a sense of global responsibility and the ability to evaluate the results of our actions. I have no doubt that if we just try, we will succeed on this path, as each new step will clearly prove that further movement in this direction corresponds to our fundamental interests. Before us is an endless edge of opportunities for improving human qualities.

This is the basis of my optimism, my belief that the situation can still be corrected. At the same time, although the improvement of human qualities is so necessary now, it is so difficult that in order to achieve this goal, it will be necessary to mobilize the will, abilities and capabilities of the inhabitants of the entire Earth for many decades. In the meantime, however, humanity will continue to multiply. It will also not be possible to stop the huge uncontrollable technical machine created by man, which is operating today at full capacity. All this means that the coming changes in the human system are likely to be much more significant than those that occurred before. And since it is not yet known whether humanity will be able to control its numbers and the brutal power of its technical machine and when all this will happen, today you can meet the most extreme, sometimes mutually exclusive alternatives of the future.

Will humanity one day be able to dispel all the threats and troubles hanging over it and create a mature society that would wisely manage and reasonably dispose of its earthly environment? Will this new society be able to end the current rift and create a truly global, stable civilization? Or, in order to avoid more severe crises, will mankind prefer to entrust its fate to technology even more, developing, as futurologists who absolutize the role of science hopefully predict, “post-industrial” or “information” models of society? Will this path turn out to be a miraculous way out of the current impasse and will not a person finally perish with all his limited abilities, weaknesses, aspirations and spirituality in a system that will be far and alien to his nature? Will not this choice eventually lead to the creation of a purely technocratic, authoritarian regime, where work, law, social organization and even information, opinions, thoughts and leisure will be tightly regulated by the central government? Will a pluralistic society be able to function as a whole under these conditions?

One can draw an infinite number of different scenarios for the future, more or less plausible, but, of course, none of them can claim to be absolute. The tense situation in which those now living on Earth find themselves is a direct consequence of what our ancestors did and did not do in previous years, and even ourselves. In a historical perspective, it is not so important how common these or those advantages and disadvantages are among people. And even if someone sometime in the future is held responsible for something done or not done in the past, it will be of little use. The most important thing is to think deeply today about what will happen to the world's one billion people tomorrow - and this almost exclusively depends on what we collectively will or will not do from now on.

Nineteen centuries ago, the Roman writer Columella, studying the then most important field of activity - agriculture, rightly noted that it needs a person who knows, who wants and who can. Modern man, who today decided to take on an unprecedented event - the creation of a global empire, recklessly overturned this logical sequence, because he can, but so far does not want to, because he does not know. We must correct this state of affairs, and the first of many things to do must be an understanding of the real world and our position in it ...

I believe that the creation of the Club of Rome, the main purpose of which was to study and identify the new position in which a person found himself in the age of his global empire, was an exciting event in the spiritual life of mankind. Literally every hour our knowledge of a variety of things is growing; yet we remain almost ignorant of changes in ourselves. And if anything can be credited to the Club of Rome, it is precisely that it was the first to rise up against this dangerous, almost suicidal ignorance.

And man, who has much in common with all other living beings, lacks only the wisdom to survive. Gradually losing his natural ability to adapt and survive, considering it to be a good thing to trust his fate more and more to reason, that is, to his technical capabilities, a person, instead of changing himself, began to change the world around him, becoming a star of the first magnitude in it. He would never win in a direct fight with other species, but he offered them a fight in his own way and became invulnerable. However, the world could not change indefinitely, catering to his desires, and at each new step of ascent, a person had to again realize his increased strength and learn to live with it. As a result, here it is, the human paradox: like in quicksand, a person gets bogged down in his unprecedented abilities and achievements - the more force he uses, the more he needs it, and if he does not learn how to use it in time, then he is doomed to become the eternal prisoner of these quicksands. sands.

Over the past decades, in a new burst of inspiration, man has won several more dizzying technical victories, but has not yet found the time to either learn to use their fruits or get used to the new opportunities that they gave him. So he began to lose a sense of reality and the ability to assess his role and place in the world, and at the same time those fundamental foundations that his ancestors had erected with such zeal over all previous centuries, trying to preserve the human system and establish a relationship with the ecosystem. Now man is faced with the need to fundamentally revise the traditional views of himself, his fellows, the family, society and life in general and revise on a planetary scale, but he does not yet know how to do this.

It is necessary to be perfectly aware of the absurdity of the assertions that the current deeply abnormal and unfavorable state of the human system can be somehow equated with any kind of cyclical crises or associated with some transient circumstances. And if - for lack of another suitable word - we are still forced to call it a crisis, then we must be aware that this is a special, comprehensive, epochal crisis, penetrating literally all aspects of human life. The Club of Rome called it the predicament of mankind.

The diagnosis of these difficulties is not yet known, and no effective remedy can be prescribed for them; moreover, they are aggravated by the close interdependence that binds everything in the human system today. Ever since a box similar to Pandora's box was opened by man, and hitherto unknown technology slipped out of his control, everything that happens somewhere in the world resounds almost everywhere. No more economic, technical or social problems, existing separately, independently of each other, which could be discussed within the same special terminology and solved slowly, separately, one after another. In our artificially created world, literally everything has reached unprecedented sizes and scales: dynamics, speeds, energy, complexity - and our problems too. They are now both psychological, and social, and economic, and technical, and in addition also political; moreover, closely intertwining and interacting, they take root and sprout in adjacent and distant areas.

Even with a cursory glance at the above list of problems, it is easy to see the links that link them together; on closer examination, these connections become even clearer. Uncontrolled human settlement on the planet; inequality and heterogeneity of society; social injustice, hunger and malnutrition; widespread poverty; unemployment; growth mania; inflation; energy crisis; existing or potential lack of natural resources; the collapse of the international trading and financial system; protectionism; illiteracy and an outdated education system; youth riots; alienation; the decline of cities; crime and drug addiction; an explosion of violence and a tightening of police power; torture and terror; disregard for law and order; nuclear madness; political corruption; bureaucracy; environmental degradation; the decline of moral values; loss of faith; a feeling of instability and, finally, the unawareness of all these difficulties and their interconnections - this is by no means a complete list, or rather, a tangle of those complex, intricate problems that the Club of Rome called problematics.

This international spread of problematic epidemics does not mean that problems of a regional, national or local nature will disappear or become less intense. On the contrary, they are becoming more and more, and it is becoming more and more difficult to cope with them. But the worst thing is that we continue to stubbornly focus our attention precisely on these peripheral or partial problems, which seem closer to us and therefore larger, and at the same time we do not notice or simply do not want to realize that, in the meantime, the vise of a much more formidable one is tightening around us. world wide problem. The current governments international organizations turn out to be absolutely incapable of reacting flexibly enough to the current situation. Their very structure seems to have been specially created in such a way as to solve exceptionally narrow, sectoral problems and remain completely insensitive to general, global ones. They seem to be surrounded by an impenetrable wall, through which the echoes of storms are not even heard; moreover, their bureaucracy stubbornly resists any attempts to react, it is literally paralyzed by a mass of urgent tasks and at the same time, of course, does not see much more terrible, but somewhat remote in time troubles...

In August 1974 I was visited by Erwin Laszlo, a former concert pianist, a man of versatile interests and multifaceted talents: a philosopher, a specialist in cybernetics, an essayist. He shared with me one idea that turned out to be very consonant with my own thoughts. Its meaning was as follows. Thinking about the future, people, as a rule, focus mainly on the negative trends of the current development, on unresolved issues, on those changes that are necessary for the survival of human society, leaving aside and practically not taking into account the healthy, positive principles existing in it. . Meanwhile, perhaps it is precisely on them that one should, if not rely, then, in any case, count when planning certain changes. “Focusing attention on the disease, we appeal primarily to fear, and behavior based on it is difficult to direct in the desired direction. A focus on health, on the other hand, motivates positive goal-oriented behavior; and then any achievement is considered not just as luck in an effort to avoid misfortune, but as a victory, ”he wrote later. “Man climbs Everest because he sees it as an expression of human ingenuity and resilience. Tell him that he must do the same in order to survive or gain freedom, and he will perceive it as hard inhuman work.

After Laszlo and I discussed all these issues in detail, he expressed his readiness to take on the project on the goals of modern humanity, provided that he was given the support of the Club of Rome and the necessary financial resources were allocated. Without doubting the approval of my colleagues in the Club, I guaranteed him our support and helped to settle financial questions. The main task of the project was to determine the goals that humanity should set for itself at the current stage of its development. These goals were supposed to be deduced in the end comparative analysis the current situation and prospects for the development of mankind, on the one hand, and the development trends of various philosophical schools, cultural traditions, values and motivations throughout the history of human civilization, on the other. It was planned to use the results of studies already carried out, including the projects of the Club of Rome, as the source material characterizing the current state of mankind. “Today,” Laszlo said, “we are faced with the task of finding such ideals that could, on a global level, perform functions equivalent to the functions of local and regional myths, religions and ideologies in healthy social systems of the past.” And here paramount importance was attached to a global, global approach.

Until now, the traditional sources of ideals have always been religious and civil systems of views and worldviews. Two new sources are now emerging before our very eyes: a sense of globality, which I will discuss below, and the consciousness of a new role for man as the leader of all life on Earth. And we all face the task of finding such a combination of these ideals flowing from different sources, consonant with the feelings of modern man, in order to create in him the moral stimuli and creative aspirations necessary for self-satisfaction and direct them towards the achievement of goals that correspond to the spirit and needs of our time. Intended to open a wide discussion of this problem new project- "Goals for a Global Society" - was launched at the end of 1974. Laszlo managed to gather a good group, and they planned to complete the first stage of work on the project by the summer of 1976 ...

We are now only at the very beginning of a process of profound change, and it is up to us to take care of how to direct its further development and expansion. Man has subjugated the planet and now must learn to manage it, comprehend the difficult art of being a leader on Earth. If he finds the strength in himself to fully and completely realize the complexity and instability of his current situation and accept certain responsibility, if he can reach the level of cultural maturity that will allow him to fulfill this difficult mission, then the future belongs to him. If he falls victim to his own internal crisis and fails to cope with the high role of the protector and chief arbiter of life on the planet, well, then a person is destined to become a witness to how the number of his kind will sharply decrease, and the standard of living will again slide to a mark that has been passed several centuries ago. And only New Humanism is able to ensure the transformation of man, to raise his qualities and capabilities to a level corresponding to the new increased responsibility of man in this world.

This New Humanism should not only be consonant with the power acquired by man and correspond to changed external conditions, but also possess stability, flexibility and the ability to self-renewal, which would allow regulating and directing the development of all modern revolutionary processes and changes in the industrial, socio-political and scientific technical areas. Therefore, the New Humanism itself must have a revolutionary character. It must be creative and convincing in order to radically update, if not completely replace, the principles and norms that seem to be unshakable now, to contribute to the emergence of new values and motivations that meet the requirements of our time - spiritual, philosophical, ethical, social, aesthetic and artistic. And it must radically change the views and behavior of not individual elite groups and strata of society - for this will not be enough to bring salvation to a person and make him the master of his own destiny again - but become an integral, organic basis of the worldview of the broad masses of our population that has suddenly become so small peace. If we want to raise the level of self-consciousness and organization of the human system as a whole, to achieve its internal stability and harmonious, happy coexistence with nature, then our goal should be a deep cultural evolution and a radical improvement in the qualities and abilities of the human community. Only under this condition, the age of human empire will not turn into an age of catastrophe for us, but will become a long and stable era of a truly mature society.

The revolutionary character thus becomes the main distinguishing feature of this healing humanism, for only under such a condition can it fulfill its functions - to restore the cultural harmony of man, and through it the balance and health of the entire human system. This transformation of the human being will constitute the Human Revolution, thanks to which the rest of the revolutionary processes will finally acquire purpose and meaning, reach their culmination. Otherwise, they are destined to wither, not flourishing and leaving behind nothing but an unimaginable and inaccessible mixture of good and evil.

Of course, revolutionary changes in the material sphere have brought a lot of benefits to man. And yet the industrial revolution, which began a century and a half ago in the British Isles with the use of mechanical looms and steam engines, and then, rapidly growing, eventually found its current gigantic, the truly intimidating face of the modern industrial system creates far more needs than it can satisfy, and therefore itself is in need of a radical overhaul and reorientation. The scientific revolution that followed it spread everywhere scientific methods and approaches, greatly expanded our knowledge of the most diverse processes and phenomena of the physical world, however, it did not add wisdom to a person. As for the technical revolution, it is precisely this revolution, with all the material blessings that it has brought down on man, that has turned out to be the main source of his internal crisis. By changing the attitude to work and creating the myth of growth, it not only significantly transformed the means of warfare, but also fundamentally changed its very concept. And expensive military equipment, which only the superpowers could afford, has contributed in no small measure to the current political polarization of the world.

There is hardly any point in arguing that the scientific and technological industrial complex created by man was and remains the most grandiose of his creations, but it was he who ultimately deprived man of orientation and balance, plunging the entire human system into chaos. And the coming socio-political revolutions can solve only a part of the problems that arise in connection with this. Because no matter how good new order, for which such a stubborn struggle is now being waged, it will still affect only certain aspects of the current international system, leaving the principle of the sovereignty of nation-states underlying it unchanged and not touching on many pressing human problems. Even with the most favorable development of events, these revolutions will not be able to turn humanity off its pernicious path. The strong fermentation of minds observed in society, fragmented and disorderly, needs to be directed, planned and coordinated. Like all other revolutionary processes, this revolution will remain unfinished and will not be embodied in any real deeds, if not. inspire and not revive it with purely humanistic human ideals. For only they will give the revolutionary processes a general direction and universal goals. Of greatest interest to me are the three aspects that, in my opinion, should characterize New Humanism: a sense of globality, a love of justice, and intolerance of violence.

The soul of humanism is in a holistic vision of a person in all periods of his life - in all its continuity. After all, it is in man that the sources of all our problems are contained, all our aspirations and aspirations are concentrated on him, all beginnings and all ends are in him, and in him are the foundations of all our hopes. And if we want to feel the globality of everything that exists in the world, then at the center of this should be an integral human personality and its capabilities. Although this idea has probably already stuck in the teeth and sometimes seems just a truism, the fact remains that in our time the goals of almost all social and political actions are directed, as I have already said, almost exclusively to the material and biological aspects of human existence. Let a person really be insatiable, but after all, following such a simplified approach, it is impossible to reduce his vital needs, desires, ambitions and aspirations to this. And more importantly, such an approach leaves aside the main asset of a person - his own unrealized, undiscovered or misused opportunities. Meanwhile, it is precisely in their development that not only the possible solution of all problems lies, but also the basis of the general self-improvement and self-identification of the human race.

Closely connected with this is another important idea - the idea of the unity of the world and the integrity of mankind in the era of the global human empire. It need hardly be repeated that, just as biological pluralism and differentiation make natural systems resilient, cultural and political diversity enriches the human system. However, the latter has now become so integrated and interdependent that it can only survive by remaining united. And this implies mutually compatible and consistent behavior and relationships between the individual parts of this system. The universal interdependence of processes and phenomena dictates another concept necessary for the formation of a sense of globality - the concept of systemicity. Without it, it is impossible to imagine that all events, problems and their solutions are actively influenced and are equally affected by the rest of the range of events, problems and decisions.

All these aspects of the new globality are closely interconnected and correlate with two other concepts dictated by the characteristics of our era. These new concepts concern the relationship of time and purpose and stem from the fact that acquired human power has accelerated the pace of events and increased the ambiguity and uncertainty of our future. This forces a person to look further ahead and clearly understand their goals and objectives. Man, in the words of Dennis Gabor, is not able to predict his future, but he can build it. And the humanistic conception of life at the present, highest stage of human evolution requires him to finally stop "looking into the future" and begin to "create" it. He must look as far as possible and in his actions pay equal attention to both present and remote effects, including the entire period during which these effects may manifest themselves. Therefore, he must think carefully and decide how he would like to see the future, and in accordance with this regulate and regulate his activities.

I am fully aware of how difficult it is for us, with all the differences in our cultures, to perceive the concept of globality - a concept that links together the individual, humanity and all the interacting elements and factors of the world system, uniting the present and the future, linking actions and their final results. This fundamentally new concept corresponds to our new complex and changeable world - a world in which, in the age of the global empire of man, we have become absolute masters. And in order to be people in the true sense of the word, we must develop an understanding of the global nature of events and phenomena, which would reflect the essence and foundation of the entire Universe...

An active fermentation of ideas is also observed in international life; here, the concept of independence is being replaced by an approach based on the recognition of multilateral dependence between all individual elements of the international system. This is only the first, albeit modest, but absolutely necessary step forward from the current anarchic and uncontrollable state in the world, which is based on the so-called “sovereignty” of a chaotic multitude of competing and quarreling states, first to forced, and then quite conscious cooperation. The ultimate goal of such an evolution will be a true "community" of people united by mutual respect and common interests. There is hardly any need to emphasize again that national sovereignty is, in the age of man's global empire, the main obstacle to his salvation. And the fact that it stubbornly retains its importance as the guiding principle of the human constitution is a typical syndrome of our abnormal cultural development, and therefore of all our predicaments.

In this regard, let me touch on some of the issues that I have already discussed in more detail. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, there were about sixty sovereign states in the world, some of them with extensive colonial possessions. Now 144 countries are members of the United Nations. And all of them: large and small, old and young, some are very monolithic and homogeneous, others are highly heterogeneous in structure, some represent a rational single organism, others bear the imprints of various kinds of historical, racial, geographical and cultural circumstances that justify their existence - they are all highly self-centered and extremely jealous of the prerogatives of their sovereignty. The borders of some have moved many times over the centuries; unstable and changeable, like mercury, many of them are still the subject of lively discussions. Others stubbornly preserve the traditions of ancient dynastic marriages and alcove alliances, or perpetuate the whims of cartographers who have transferred the spheres of influence of colonial empires to the drawing board. And yet, each of the countries, even when plotting plans to seize foreign territories, proclaims the inviolability and sacred inviolability of its own borders.

On the practical side of things, for most relatively small and weak states, sovereignty remains largely nominal, not to mention the recently introduced concept of limited sovereignty. In fact, in the face of superpowers, large states, and even powerful corporations, the position of small countries is rather hopeless. However, even they own experience having experienced what it means to be weak in the face of the strong, they do not yield to the latter in cruelty, refusing to recognize for the ethnic and cultural minorities, by the whim of history, found themselves within their territories, the same rights to self-determination and independence that are demanded for themselves on the world stage. And yet, for all its ethical, political and functional unacceptability and absurdity, the sovereignty of the nation-state is still the cornerstone of the current world order. Moreover, it is clear that in recent times there has even been a certain revival of the cult of sovereignty, the cult that A.J. Toynbee, calling it "the main religion of mankind, which chose the bloody god Moloch as an object of worship, which requires people to sacrifice their children, themselves and all their neighbors - representatives of the human race." Is it any wonder that the structure of the current international edifice is so unstable and shaky when it is built from old, unusable bricks - sovereign nation-states.

Nothing, probably, would have seemed more strange and wild to an intelligent alien observing the Earth from the side than this kaleidoscope of various countries that have divided the continents into parts - a piece for you, a piece for me - and now striving to divide the seas among themselves! The alien will be even more surprised when, approaching, he sees what ingenuity earthlings manage to show in order to justify the existence of this unthinkable structure and control it.

A monstrous war growth that consumes 6-8% annually common product human labor for destructive purposes is far from the only absurd by-product of this senseless division. To this we can add a system of diplomatic services that has grown to an incredible size, the benefits of which are now not much more than from an equally swollen system of secret intelligence services. It is obvious that in our age - an age when telephone, telegraph and television communication systems, telexes, radio, press and airlines covering literally the whole world bring all the latest news to every home, when information travels around the world by itself without outside help, when journalists do not miss a single more or less interesting incident without covering it in the newspapers, and satellites constantly monitor what is happening on the surface of the planet - a significant part of these extremely cumbersome, mannered and hopelessly outdated services that have remained to us from the times knights of the sword and sword, turns out to be completely superfluous and inappropriate.

In addition to the obvious, tangible and eye-catching results of the activities of all these services and organizations, in particular the military, many small tricks have been invented that complicate and confuse modern life. Monstrously inflating the bureaucracy, officials send to all ends a pile of encrypted messages, coded instructions, misleading reports, overlapping and completely contradictory treaties, protocols drawn up to change previously signed ones, which in turn were intended to amend former laws - also into laws that should never exist in nature at all. Artificial alliances are created, which are usually immediately forgotten, international laws are developed that allow for many different interpretations - however, this is not so important, since no one ever observes them anyway.

The fact that many people today continue to stubbornly defend national sovereignty does not at all serve, in my opinion, as proof of its expediency. Indeed, until the moment when the world had the opportunity to be convinced of the falsity and deceit of the myth of economic growth and he enjoyed exactly the same unanimous worship. And just as this myth faithfully served the interests of the world establishment, helping it to cover up its flaws and mistakes, the principle of national sovereignty turns out to be very beneficial in the first place to its most zealous defenders - ruling classes. After all, a sovereign state is their patrimony. All pomposity and outward brilliance, all pompous words and florid adornments hiding narrow self-centeredness, coupled with the property interests associated with it - all this serves the selfish purposes of governments in the best possible way; after all, a sovereign state allows them, under the guise of loud phrases about the fatherland and traditions, or the fatherland and the revolution, or about anything else, to defend, above all, their own positions. Moreover, it gives them more and more means, pretexts and reasons to exert psychological and political pressure on their fellow citizens, without stopping at the right moment to call for help the old tried and tested trick - to kindle nationalism and chauvinism in the country. That is why no statesman in any country has ever stood up and proclaimed openly and publicly that the orthodox commitment to the principle of state sovereignty in the conditions modern world becomes not only dangerous, but simply ridiculous and completely inappropriate.

And yet, despite the efforts of its defenders, the "vessel of sovereignty," in the words of the Harvard political scientist Stanley Hoffman, "leaked," and through its once-perfectly watertight walls a stream of technological innovation flows unceasingly and unrestrainedly. And along with it, slowly but surely, the conviction is growing and expanding that this state of affairs is leading us down the wrong path. And hence the confidence in the need to search for and study new transnational forms of organization and ways of coexistence. Already now, in those circles of society that are most sensitive to the new demands of the current era, specific studies are being undertaken aimed at revealing the structure of a new political order on the planet, free from the imperatives of national sovereignty. Thus, the myth of growth was once dispelled step by step and the role of gold as a single monetary equivalent withered away. Now, just as gradually, the idea of the need to abandon the principle of the sovereignty of the nation-state is gradually maturing and acquiring real features.

The initiative for the first steps in this direction must come from older and more powerful countries. The new countries created as a result of decolonization and the liberation movement are a case of a significantly different kind. For them, due to the logic of the existing world order, the possibility of creating an independent state is an inevitable proof of self-determination, a means of self-affirmation and national unity, it is an opportunity to have a say in deciding international problems, to develop, relying on their own strength, to educate their own class of politicians capable of managing state affairs. Finally, it allows them to optimally accommodate each other - without too much sacrificing either one or the other - their traditional culture and modern methods management. And no matter how absurd the mistakes that they have already made and will make more than once during the period of training and adaptation, no matter how naivety and no matter what excesses they fall into, the experience of self-management is absolutely necessary for their further development, and they will acquire it. can only under the guise of sovereignty.

As for the countries belonging to the so-called First, developed capitalist world, they just can and should take the initiative of collective and voluntary renunciation of part of their sovereign rights, thereby showing the world that this is not associated with any tragic consequences. for the development of the country. And this idea is not so new as it might seem at first glance. Such attempts were made for the first time 40 years ago in Europe, and in fact it is considered the cradle of the principles of sovereignty. In 1934, the government of the Spanish Republic took the decision to renounce part of its sovereign rights and transfer them to the League of Nations, but soon a civil war broke out in the country, nationalists came to power with the support of the military - and the romantic initiative was never destined to come true. Apart from this attempt, the Europeans needed to go through another, second world war(which, like the first, proceeded mainly on their territory, ruthlessly crippling Europe and its peoples), in order to finally realize the meaninglessness of all the suffering, destruction, moral and financial sacrifices that squabbles between separate nation-states brought them. And in 1945, tired of this war, of those who kindled it, they finally matured to the idea that it was time to join forces, and tried to create a new, unprecedented transnational and supranational organization.

It took another twelve years before the real foundations of the current European Economic Community were laid. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of Western European countries then expressed their complete readiness for integration in the economic field, considering it as a prelude to further political association. However, this logically inevitable development of the process was disrupted and suspended due to the lack of a strong unified leadership, due to the revival of nationalism - the most striking, but not the only example of which is Gaullism - and also due to parochial, narrowly selfish interests and actions of representatives of political circles. . Certain difficulties also arose in connection with the positions taken on this issue by the United States and the Soviet Union, concerned - albeit for different reasons - with the prospect of a new economic giant and competitor and a possible redistribution of political power and influence.

Of course, such a slow development of the integration process and countless delays that constantly arise on the way to its concrete implementation, could not but cause a certain disappointment and chill to the very idea. In addition, the state of general crisis currently experienced by the countries of Western Europe does not in any way encourage the implementation of large projects if they do not promise frankly positive results in the near future. The unification of a disunited and divided continent - and this is exactly what Europe once was - has been and remains an extremely difficult task, and its solution is fraught with incredible difficulties; however, now we can already say that the key to it has been found, and the very logic of things is forcing Europe to unite. In the current decade, in my opinion, very favorable conditions have been created for the implementation of many plans that have not yet been realized. It is in this direction that the mood of the majority of Europeans is now developing. If this idea continues to gain strength and support - and I believe it will - we will witness a decisive event for the fate of all world development - the creation of the first true regional union or community.

It must be said that the process of unification itself does not imply an automatic rejection of the attributes of sovereignty, but contributes to a certain dissolution of this principle, firstly, by extending it to much larger geographical territories, and secondly, by gradually imposing transnational ties on them and introducing supranational organizations. It is very interesting that the processes currently taking place in Europe involve the most diverse groups and strata of society in the creation of new institutions and new mechanisms. The construction of the Community is not carried out according to a pre-planned program, as it was originally intended, but mainly a la carte, which in the end cannot but slow down its pace. And all the main social forces, not having the opportunity to prepare and plan actions in advance and on a fairly solid basis, are forced to draw maps of their progress right on the ground, choosing forms and ways of development and adapting them to the changing reality along the way.

In parallel with the transfer to the Community of some functions that were previously the responsibility of individual states, a certain reverse process of decentralization is developing, accompanied by the expansion of local autonomy and the powers of institutions at the local level. The creation of such a hierarchical coordinated system that unites the interests and capabilities of various groups and strata of the population at the supranational level and ensures the distribution of responsibility for decision-making is justified today in our increasingly complex world, both from a political and functional point of view. In the conditions of Europe, such a restructuring leads to the creation of Europe des regions, which is essentially different from Europe des patries, that is, sovereign states. culture global humanity

The constructive influence of the experience of the European Economic Community affects far beyond the continent. The Community's cooperation agreements with Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as its economic partnership with forty-six countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, are opening the way for the world to new organizational forms cooperation. Under the shadow of such treaties, numerous non-governmental ties and contacts are established between groups of sovereign states in the economic, financial, technical and cultural fields. As a result of this close and viable interweaving of transnational interests, the sacramental principles of sovereignty fixed in various kinds of statutes and documents are gradually being forced out and practically doomed to oblivion.

The deeply innovative nature of these processes makes them the object of active resistance from various social groups and political forces. However, I believe that the future belongs to these processes. I think that tomorrow many countries, which are now connected with the European Economic Community by bonds of simple cooperation, will join it as full members. Agreements will be made with other countries, and the scope of the new solidarity will expand, giving good example to all countries and peoples. In particular, after a long pause, the regional integration of countries will finally develop further. Latin America. Based on the pragmatic principle of a la carte, the new formula of the Latin American economic system adopted by the countries of the Panama Canal Zone in August 1975. The project I have already mentioned, initiated by the Club of Rome in Venezuela, will help the Latin American countries to understand that the future of each of them is inextricably linked with the fate of the entire continent, depends on their ability to act together, regardless of national borders dividing them.

It can be confidently asserted that the consciousness of the need to solve a number of problems, bypassing the level of individual states and not making a fetish of their sacramental sovereignty, and to overcome the shortcomings of the national structure through the creation of regional and subregional unions is constantly developing, gaining more and more supporters. One of the evidence of the desire to escape from the snares of sovereignty is the formation of voluntary non-regional coalitions. Previously, coalitions of this kind were, as a rule, of a military nature. Now they have become absolutely necessary for solving problems common to various countries and regions of the world, requiring the abandonment of national prestige and national prerogatives in favor of joint, collective action. Such problems include, in particular, the management of the use of certain types of natural resources, the development of a number of technologies, certain aspects of environmental protection, the regulation of monetary and financial issues, etc.

The most widely known and best organized coalition of this type is currently represented by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries - OPEC. It has clear advantages over its alleged counterpart and antipode - the International Energy Association. Another example is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD, which, unlike those mentioned earlier, has a much more extensive base and a significantly different set of goals and objectives: it serves as an official forum, and sometimes as a spokesman for the interests market economy developed countries. In November 1975, the first ever economic summit was held. The Rambouillet Declaration, signed by the six major OECD industrial countries participating, focused primarily on the current severe economic crisis and the joint action needed to overcome it. In parallel, the idea of a permanent “directorate” of “capitalist” countries began to crystallize, the usefulness and effectiveness of which is difficult to foresee in advance: it will depend on what specific forms it will take and what forces will lead it. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the Group of 77, the coalition I mentioned earlier, which includes about 100 least developed countries. Apparently, the regional economic association of the Soviet Union and the countries of socialism, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, or CMEA, will continue to develop and improve.

All these tendencies testify to the obvious inefficiency of the old system of bilateral relations in the face of world problems. On the other hand, cumbersome international organizations that unite about 150 states are simply unable to function without resorting to the mediation of coalitions of one kind or another. And here again, reality turns out to be stronger than outdated principles and structures, forcing government circles and representatives of the political elite to create associations that ignore state borders and pursue a course of solidarity among peoples. These processes and trends are very encouraging; however, in order to prevent all this from eventually escalating into a confrontation between separate coalitions, now, more than ever, the active support of the broad world community is needed.

I think that regional communities and non-regional coalitions - different in nature, scope and tasks and existing in spite of their own and foreign national borders, which so severely divided the world into economic, political and ideological blocs and groupings - will play an increasingly important role in the future . One of their advantages is that, by their very nature, they are much less monolithic than nation-states, and therefore more receptive to new opportunities, new experiences, innovative and creative elements and needs, than formal bureaucratic institutions such as scientific academies. research institutes, religious and non-governmental organizations. Thus, in the historically established hierarchy of institutions and institutions, a new decision-making opportunity is being created to manage an increasingly complex and increasingly integrated world.

Another area where an equally bountiful harvest of ideas is ripening is related to the concept of interdependence, which is directly opposed to the principle of sovereignty. Supervisor International program Harlan Cleveland of the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies is absolutely right in arguing that the people of the world are “interdependent to a much greater degree than is reflected in current national and international institutions.” Considering that "the humanistic management of international interdependence is one of the most important political and moral problems of our time," he embarked on a major program to identify which international institutions and agreements could establish a system of multilateral management of activities related to the satisfaction of human needs.

Developing countries can be understood if, in advocating “selective” interdependence, they reject in advance solutions that stronger countries can impose on them. In fact, they are largely right. After all, the interdependence imposed by force in relations between unequals inevitably turns into its opposite, turning into dependence; here a situation arises similar to the case with a cutlet from one hazel grouse and one horse - the final product turns out to consist of solid horse meat. In this vein, in my opinion, the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, which unambiguously emphasizes the role of national sovereignty, should also be assessed. The guarantee of the rights of small and young states should not be the chimera of independence, but the assertion and collective guarantees of the absence of dependence on any other state. If we approach this condition from a more general position, it requires the establishment of more just and equal bonds of reciprocity and interdependence between all countries without exception, a fundamental transformation of international practice. Only then will the countries be united by bonds of truly mutual dependence. And we have no other way: the world system has now entered a phase of truly epoch-making transformations, and it is interdependence that is one of its defining foundations.

The most paradoxical thing is that even the United Nations - this forum of sovereign states - is gradually undermining the foundations of the principle of sovereignty. Its relatively less powerful members have for many years continuously complained about the dominance of the big countries in the UN, that sometimes there is an abuse of the right of veto, that the United States of America recruits a majority through bribery and other unseemly means. Recently, the situation has changed radically, and now it is the turn of the United States to express dissatisfaction with the "tyranny of the majority." However, whatever the beneficial consequences of these shifts in discontent, one thing is clear: the vices and causes of the lack of effectiveness of the UN are associated not so much with the organization itself, but with the behavior of its members, who are more than anything concerned about their own rights and sovereign interests and do not want to notice nothing else.

Everyone is unanimous in the opinion that the United Nations system needs serious reforms, in connection with this, a special commission was even created, and its proposals were discussed at the Special Session in September 1975. But after all, no reform of the United Nations that is at all realistic can run counter to the philosophy of sovereignty. It often happens with old structures that mini-reforms started in them lead to the need for deep maxi-reforms that affect the fundamentals. In this connection, I am reminded of the story of my friend, the owner of a beautiful seventeenth-century palace on one of the Venetian canals. Such palaces are said to be held together only by the fact that they are held together by electrical wiring. So, one day my friend decided to install a bathtub and called a plumber. The works somehow mysteriously affected the state of the doorways at the opposite end of the building, the strengthening of which changed the balance of the roof, and this in turn affected something in the very foundation of the palace. As a result, the friend had to renovate the entire building. I am sure that something similar can happen with the United Nations. Its restructuring will convince even the most inveterate conservatives that the root of many of the shortcomings of this and other similar organizations lies precisely in the principle and logic of sovereignty.

The United Nations system also played an important role in putting forward the idea of transforming the world community as a whole into a subject of legal regulation instead of individual countries. Starting with the UN World Conference, the word "peace" began to take on the meaning along with the word "nation" keyword in world politics. It is known that the main goal of the conferences is aimed at revising on a global scale the most acute problems of mankind, such as man and the environment (Stockholm, 1973), population (Bucharest, 1974), food (Rome, 1974), the use of the seas and oceans (Caracas - Geneva - New York, to be continued in the coming years), human settlements (Vancouver, 1976), employment (Geneva, 1976), water resources (Buenos Aires, 1977), science and technology (1979 year). This list, apparently, will be continued. It applies that, while attending these conferences, even the most conservative representatives of official governments, always preoccupied with their own own affairs and interests, cannot but see the comprehensive, truly global impact of the problems, the echoes of which, like an echo, are carried around the world, reaching its most remote corners.

We are already used to the fact that groups of progressive people from all over the world who are concerned about something or protest against something come together, organizing open discussions and free debates on various issues in parallel with intergovernmental conferences. Sometimes they make more noise than sense, but more often than not, they are much more useful than official forums, with which, by the way, they usually strongly disagree. The dialectic of the development of such movements is simple and understandable - this is an increasingly loud and inexorable Vox populj. Related to this is the continuous growth in the number of non-governmental organizations studying and trying to solve the unprecedented complexity of the problems of our time. Some of them play only an auxiliary or stimulating role, making up for the lack of effectiveness of government activities, but there are others that could be compared with the antibodies secreted by the body in times of danger. This is a kind of defensive reaction of our sick society to the poisoning of sovereignty, nationalism, ignorance, selfishness, short-sightedness, bureaucracy. The Club of Rome could rightfully be included in this category: without having an organizational structure, it really strives to cover contemporary issues in all its forms and manifestations. Similar useful and relevant organizations focus on the pressing issues of today. They are constantly revitalized with fresh, truly innovative ideas, and together they influence the official structure of governmental and international institutions.

Meanwhile, some governments are beginning to understand the need to harmonize their long-term national and regional plans in the global context. Just a few years ago, no one seemed to suspect that national interests should be realistically considered and evaluated only against the background of broader, universal interests. In the late 1960s, work began on the "Year 2000 Project" with the aim of exploring alternatives for the future development of Europe and choosing trends that would ensure its stable prosperity. The initiators of the project had noble intentions and broad plans, but they considered Europe as a separate, closed unit, without even discussing the possible impact on it (until the seemingly distant year 2000) of such factors as the situation in the world as a whole and its development. In the new project of the European Community - "Europe in 30 years" - Europe already acts as a part of the global environment, to which, willy-nilly, it must somehow adapt; the goal of the project now comes down to finding the best possible way to create a comfortable ecological niche within the external environment.

A similar story happened in the USA. In 1967, there was published a memorable report of the authoritative "Commission of the Year 2000", organized at the initiative of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. At the beginning of the study, forecasts were presented separately for each country, and prospects for economic development expressed in quantitative indicators up to the end of this century were presented. At the same time, it was tacitly assumed that the current division of the world is an inherent feature of it, which will remain unchanged until the end of time. However, the inscribed forecasts - with all their exceptional merits - after all the great labors were immediately and completely forgotten. The report went on to discuss America's future, making only cursory references along the way to the rest of the world as an appendage whose main function is to unquestioningly accept and support American reality. As far as I know, until recently, with all its rich and long planning experience, even the Soviet Union made such mistakes. I hope that Soviet specialists have already managed to develop a methodology long term planning taking into account the trends of world development. I think that sometime in the future, the United States will also succeed in this. But I am absolutely sure that today even such huge and powerful countries cannot afford the luxury of not realizing that any such plan - if it is really good for anything - must be guided by the expected trends of global development and that if in such a way If these two giant powers go, then all other countries and regions will certainly follow.

Understanding what political and ethical consequences entails the entry of a person into the age of his global empire necessarily implies a significant, qualitative leap in this area. It is quite logical that in the current conditions, each country, community or coalition seeks to pursue exactly the policy that, in their opinion, is in their own immediate interests. Techniques have already been developed - including the Mesarovic-Pestel modeling method - allowing decision makers to more comprehensively analyze possible prospects world development, evaluating in the global context the limits and conditions for the implementation of certain alternatives of national or regional development. The use of such techniques makes it possible to see firsthand that the planet is not so big and generous as to satisfy the expectations of all groups of the world's population without exception. And if each of them strives to snatch as much as possible, this will ultimately lead to a catastrophe of the entire system that ensures human life on Earth, and as a result, no one will receive anything that he wants and really needs. I think the most powerful and responsible groups of the human community - and first of all the European Economic Community, the United States of America, Soviet Union, China, Japan and OPEC, the time has come to mobilize their scientific and technical means and available information to investigate the true state of the global system. It will undoubtedly show that its condition is by no means as prosperous as we would like, that there is a noticeable tendency towards even greater deterioration, and that it is in the common interests of all mankind to preserve, and, to the extent possible, improve it. Leading groups should also set an example for others - I constantly emphasize that the example should come from the largest and strongest - by weighing and deciding what they themselves, together and individually, can do to achieve this goal and what practical steps they should take, to improve the current situation.

We are now approaching a period when we will have to find smarter ways to satisfy our own. interests. And here it is important to understand that the well-being of the whole world as a whole is necessary condition the well-being of its individual parts, while the opposite is not at all obvious and must be checked in each specific case. The well-being of human societies from time immemorial has been based on ethical and moral principles. And now one of the most important of these principles says: not a single - even the most powerful and prosperous - country or coalition can hope not only to succeed, but even simply to survive if a dangerous global situation is created that threatens the existence of all other groups of humanity. And then the most important conclusion follows: the higher the status or level of expectations that a given country associates with the future, and, therefore, the greater the share it hopes to receive from world renewal, the greater should be its own contribution to this renewal.

What general conclusion can be drawn as a result of a review of all these seemingly disparate, unrelated problems? As far as one can now imagine, the creation of a new society at the global level will require of us much more than just the establishment of the new order now being discussed; for this process to really begin, humanity - freed at last from the myth of growth - must now get rid of yet another trap lured in by national sovereignty. It is he who prevents humanity from fully understanding the logic of interdependence and preparing to become a global community. Feeling the growing danger and experiencing increasing difficulties, the people of the world are gradually realizing the necessity and inevitability of some favorable changes in the organization of social development, capable of changing and improving their current situation. They are even willing to make significant sacrifices to promote these changes, just to have a chance to raise their children, gain dignity, enjoy life and participate in its further improvement. If we can contribute to the development of these sentiments, broad horizons will open before us. But we need to get used to the idea that the sovereign nation-state will inevitably be at the center of social transformations. It is the change in the principles and nature of the nation state that will become the main condition for the success of Mankind.

The transformation of the international order and power structure will, in many cases, take place through a peaceful, albeit difficult, civil evolution; sometimes, however, it will acquire a rather turbulent character, sometimes even shifting the main line of conflicts now located on the borders between countries into the interior of the states themselves. I hope that these problems will become the subject of one of the future scientific projects of the Club of Rome, which, I am sure, will show that this revolution can be carried out without violence - provided, of course, that the citizens of the whole world gradually learn to look realistically at their problems and at their possibilities. And here again, the qualities and abilities of the people themselves will be decisive.

For more than half a century, the question of the situation of time has been raised more and more insistently; every generation has answered this question for its moment. However, if before the threat to our spiritual world was felt only by a few people, since the beginning of the war this question has arisen for almost every person...

The question of man's present situation as a result of his formation and his chances in the future is now more acute than ever. The answers provide for the possibility of death and the possibility of a genuine undertaking, but a decisive answer is not given.

What made a man a man is beyond the history that has been handed down to us. Tools in permanent possession, the creation and use of fire, language, the overcoming of sexual jealousy, and male partnership in the creation of a permanent society raised man above the animal world.

Compared with hundreds of thousands of years, in which, apparently, these steps, inaccessible to us, were made in order to become a man, the history we see of approximately 6,000 years takes an insignificant amount of time. In it, man appears spread over the surface of the earth in many different types, which are only very little connected or not connected at all with each other and do not know each other. From among them, the man of the Western world, who conquered the globe, helped people to know each other and understand the meaning of their interconnectedness within humanity, advanced through the consistent implementation of the following principles:

a) An unstoppable rationality based on Greek science introduced calculus and the dominance of technology into existence. Valid scientific research, the ability to foresee legal decisions within the framework of formal law created by Rome, calculation in economic enterprises up to the rationalization of all activity, including that which is destroyed in the process of rationalization, all this is a consequence of a position that is infinitely open to the compulsion of logical thought and empirical objectivity, which must always be clear to everyone.
c) The subjectivity of self-existence is clearly manifested in the Jewish prophets, Greek philosophers and Roman statesmen. What we call personality took shape in the course of the development of man in the West and from the very beginning was associated with rationality as its correlate.
c) In contrast to the Eastern rejection of the world and the associated possibility of "nothing" as a true being, Western man perceives the world as an actual reality in time. Only in the world, and not outside the world, does he gain self-confidence. Self-existence and rationality become for him a source from which he unmistakably cognizes the world and tries to dominate it.

These three principles were established only in the last centuries, the 19th century brought their full manifestation outside. The globe has become accessible everywhere; space is allocated. For the first time, the planet has become a single all-encompassing place for human settlement. Everything is interconnected. The technical dominance over space, time and matter grows without limit, no longer thanks to random individual discoveries, but through systematic work, within the framework of which the discovery itself becomes methodical and achievable.

After thousands of years of isolated development of human cultures, the process of conquest of the world by Europeans has been going on in the last four and a half centuries, and the last century marked the completion of this process. This century, in which the movement was carried out at an accelerated pace, knew many individuals who were completely dependent on themselves, knew the pride of leaders and rulers, the delight of pioneers, courage based on calculation, knowledge of the ultimate boundaries; it also knew the depth of the spirit preserved in such a world. Today we perceive this century as our past. A revolution has taken place, the content of which we perceive, however, not as something positive, but as a heap of immeasurable difficulties: the conquest of external territories hit the limit; the outwardly expanding movement, as it were, bumped into itself...

Since the time of Schiller, the deification of the world has been a specific feature of the new time. In the West, this process has been carried out with such radicality as nowhere else. There were unbelieving skeptics in ancient india and in antiquity, for whom only sensual data mattered, to the capture of which they, although considering it, however, to be insignificant, rushed without any remorse. However, they still did this in a world that, in fact, remained spiritualized for them as a whole. In the West, as a consequence of Christianity, a different skepticism became possible: the concept of a transcendental creator god turned the entire world he created into his creation. Pagan demons were expelled from nature, gods from the world. The created became the subject of human knowledge, which at first, as it were, reproduced the thoughts of God in its thinking. Protestant Christianity took this very seriously; natural sciences with their rationalization, mathematization and mechanization of the world were close to this variety of Christianity. The great naturalists of the 17th and 18th centuries remained believing Christians. But when in the end doubt eliminated the creator god, only the mechanized image cognized in the natural sciences remained as being, which, without the previous reduction of the world to creation, would never have happened with such sharpness.

This deification is not the disbelief of individual people, but a possible consequence of spiritual development, which in this case actually leads to nothing. There is a feeling of a never-before-experienced emptiness of being, in comparison with which the most radical disbelief of antiquity was still protected by the fullness of images of still preserved mythical reality; it also shines through in the didactic poem of the Epicurean Lucretius.

Modernity was compared with the time of the decline of antiquity, with the time of the Hellenistic states, when the Greek world disappeared, and with the third century after the birth of Christ, when ancient culture perished. However, there are a number of significant differences. Formerly, it was about a world that occupied a small area of the earth's surface, and the future of man was still outside its borders. At the present time, when the entire globe has been conquered, all that remains of humanity must enter the civilization created by the West. Formerly the population had dwindled, now it has grown to unprecedented proportions. Previously, the threat could only come from without, now the external threat to the whole can only be partial, death, if we are talking about the death of the whole, can only come from within. The most obvious difference from the situation of the third century is that at that time technology was in a state of stagnation, its decline began, while now it is making its unstoppable progress at an unheard of pace.

Outwardly visible new, which from this time should serve as the basis for human existence and put before him new conditions, is the development of the technical world. For the first time, the process of genuine domination over nature began. If we imagine that our world will perish under piles of sand, then subsequent excavations will not bring to light beautiful works of art similar to those of antiquity, we are still fascinated by ancient pavements - from the last centuries of modern times such an amount of iron and concrete will remain compared to the previous ones. which will become obvious: man has enclosed the planet in the network of his equipment. This step is of the same importance, compared with the past, as the first step towards the creation of tools in general: there is a prospect of turning the planet into a single factory for the use of its materials and energies. Man for the second time broke through the vicious circle of nature, left it in order to create in it what nature as such would never have created; now this creation of man competes with it in the strength of its influence. It appears to us not so much in the visibility of its materials and apparatus, but in the reality of its functions; based on the remains of radio masts, an archaeologist could not form an idea of the universal accessibility of events and information created by them for people all over the Earth.

However, the nature of the deification of the world and the principle of technization are not yet sufficient to comprehend the new that distinguishes our centuries, and in its completion, our modernity from the past. Even without a clear knowledge of people, we are not left with the feeling that they live at a moment when a milestone has been reached in the development of the world, which is incommensurable with similar milestones of individual historical epochs of past millennia. We live in a situation that is spiritually incomparably richer in possibilities and dangers, but if it is not given satisfaction, it will inevitably turn into the most insignificant time for a failed person.

Looking at the past millennia, one might think that man has reached the end of his development. Or, as a carrier of modern consciousness, he is only at the beginning of his path, at the beginning of his formation, but, having this time the means and the possibility of real memory, on a new, completely different level.

In the whirlpool of modern existence, it often becomes incomprehensible what actually happens. Unable to escape on the shore, which would allow us to view the whole, we rush in our existence as on the sea. The whirlpool creates what we see only when it pulls us along.

However, this existence is now taken for granted, as mass provision through rational production based on technical discoveries. When this knowledge of the comprehended process as a whole turns into an awareness of the existence of modernity, it is no longer a whirlpool that is incomprehensible in its possibilities, but an apparatus that operates in the course of the necessary economic development, becomes inevitable. In setting ourselves the goal of clarifying our spiritual situation, we proceed from the way reality is currently viewed. A condensed reproduction of the known should make the significance of this knowledge tangible: if the reality comprehended in it is powerful in itself, then this knowledge as such turns into a new, spiritual force, which, if it is not limited to a strongly justified rational application for a separate purposeful activity, but is absolutized in the overall picture of existence, is a belief that can only be accepted or rejected. While scientific research in its particularity is directed to the study of the nature and level of economic forces, for the spiritual understanding of the situation, the answer to the question is whether these forces and what they create should be considered the only human reality dominating everything.

Mass existence and its conditions. According to estimates in 1800, the population of the Earth was about 860 million, today it is 1800 million. This previously unknown increase in population over the course of one century was made possible by advances in technology. Discoveries and inventions have created: a new basis of production, organization of enterprises, methodical study of the highest productivity of labor, transport and communication, everywhere delivering everything necessary, streamlining life through formal law and police; and on the basis of all this, accurate costing in enterprises. Enterprises were created, systematically directed from the center, despite the fact that they employ hundreds of people, and they spread their influence to many regions of the planet.

This development is associated with the rationalization of activities; decisions are made not by instinct or inclination, but on the basis of knowledge and calculation; development is also connected with mechanization: labor turns into an activity calculated to the limit, connected with the necessary rules, which can be performed by different individuals, but remains one and the same. Where previously a person only waited, left the necessary to arise, he now foresees and does not want to leave anything to chance. The worker is compelled to become, to a large extent, part of the working mechanism.

The population cannot live without a huge apparatus, in which it participates as wheels, in order to ensure its existence in this way. On the other hand, we are provided for in a way that the masses of people have never been provided for throughout history. As early as the beginning of the 19th century, there were periods in Germany when people suffered from hunger. Disease catastrophically reduced the population, most children died in infancy, only a few people lived to old age. At present, in the regions of Western civilization, the occurrence of famine in peacetime is excluded. If in 1750 one person in twenty died in London every year, now it is one in eighty. Unemployment or sickness insurance and social Security do not allow a person in need to die of hunger, whereas earlier it was a matter of course for entire sections of the population and to this day it is such for a number of Asian countries.

Mass provision does not take place according to a definite plan, but also in an extremely complex interaction of various types of rationalization and mechanization. This is not a slave-owning economy, where people are used like animals, but an economy in which people, of their own free will, each in his own place, enjoying full confidence, participate in creating the conditions for the functioning of the whole. Political structure such apparatus of activity is democracy in one form or another. No one can any longer determine, on the basis of an invented plan, without the consent of the masses, what they should do. The apparatus develops in the collision of struggling and in accordance with acting volitional directions; the criterion of what an individual does is success, which ultimately determines the continuation or elimination of his activity. Therefore, everyone acts according to the plan, but not according to the plan of the whole.

In accordance with this, over the course of two centuries, it has developed as the main science political Economy. Since at this time the economic, technical and social processes more and more determined the historical course of things for the general consciousness, their knowledge turned into, as it were, a science of human things in general. Associated with this is the immense difficulty in implementing the principle of purposeful order in the provision of existence, a principle which in itself seems so simple. In this complexity, a whole world of permissible domination appears, which, being nowhere distinguishable as a whole, exists only in constant modification.

Consciousness in the age of technology. The consequence of the development of technology for everyday life is the certainty of providing everything necessary for life, but in such a way that the pleasure of this is reduced, because it is expected as a matter of course, and not perceived as a positive fulfillment of hope. Everything becomes just material that can be obtained at any moment for money; it lacks a touch of personally created. Useful items are produced in huge quantities, worn out and thrown away; they are easily replaceable. Technology is not expected to create something precious, unique in its quality, independent of fashion because of its value in human life, an object that belongs only to him, preserved and restored if it deteriorates. Therefore, everything connected simply with the satisfaction of a need becomes indifferent, essential - only when it is not there. As the scale of providing for life grows, so does the sense of scarcity and the threat of danger.

Among the objects of use there are expedient, completely finished types, final forms, the production of which can be standardized according to a certain plan. They were not invented by any one smart person; it is the result of a process of discovery and formation carried out by a whole generation. Thus, the bicycle developed over two decades, taking forms that now seem ridiculous to us, until it acquired, in a series of modifications, its final form, which it still retains. If now most of the objects of use in some detail and repel the discrepancy of form, curlicues and excess of details, the impracticality of devices, emphasized and therefore unnecessary technicality, the ideal as a whole is clear, and in a number of cases it is realized. Where it is carried out, attachment to any particular instance loses all meaning; only a form is needed, and not a separate instance, and, despite all the artificiality, there is a certain new closeness to things, as to something created by people, that is, closeness to them in their function.

Technology's transcendence of time and space in daily newspaper reports, travelling, mass production and reproduction through film and radio has created the possibility of contact between all and all. There is nothing more distant, secret, amazing. Everyone can participate in important events. People in leading positions are known as if they were met daily.

The internal position of a person in this technical world is called efficiency. What is expected of people is not reasoning, but knowledge, not thinking about meaning, but skillful actions, not feelings, but objectivity, not revealing the actions of mysterious forces, but a clear establishment of facts. Messages should be expressed concisely, plastically, without any sentimentality. Consistently presented valuable considerations, perceived as the material of education received in the past, are not considered worthy of attention. Detailedness is rejected, a constructive thought is required, not conversations, but simply reporting of facts. Everything that exists is directed towards controllability and proper organization. The reliability of technology creates dexterity in handling all things; the ease of communication normalizes knowledge, hygiene and comfort, schematizes what is connected in existence with body care and erotica. In everyday behavior, compliance with the rules comes to the fore. The desire to do like everyone else, not to stand out, creates an all-absorbing typing that resembles, on another level, the typing of the most primitive times.

The individual is divided into functions. To be means to be in business; where personality would be felt, efficiency would be violated. The individual person lives as the consciousness of social being. In the borderline case, he feels the joy of work without feeling his own self; the collective lives, and what would seem boring to an individual, moreover, unbearable, in the collective he calmly accepts, as if under the power of a different impulse. He thinks of his being only as "we".

Man's being is reduced to the universal; to vitality as a productive unit, to the triviality of enjoyment. The division of labor and pleasure deprives existence of its possible weight; the public becomes material for entertainment, the private - an alternation of excitement and fatigue and a thirst for something new, an inexhaustible stream of which is quickly forgotten; there is no duration here, it is just a pastime. Efficiency also contributes to an unlimited interest in the instinctive sphere common to all: this is expressed in inspiration for the mass and monstrous, the creations of technology, huge crowds of people, public sensations caused by deeds, the happiness and dexterity of individual individuals; in subtle and raw eroticism, in games, adventures, and even in the ability to risk one's life. The number of participants in the lotteries is astonishing; Solving crossword puzzles is becoming a favorite pastime. Objective satisfaction of spiritual aspirations without personal participation guarantees business functioning, in which fatigue and rest are regulated.

In decomposition into functions, existence loses its historical peculiarity, in its extreme expression, up to the leveling of age differences. Youth as an expression of higher vitality, capacity for activity and erotic delight is a desirable type in general. Where a man has only the meaning of a function, he must be young; if he is no longer young, he will strive for the appearance of youth. Added to this is the fact that the age of an individual is already initially irrelevant; his life is perceived only in an instant, the temporal extension of life is only an accidental duration, it is not stored in memory as a significant sequence of inevitable decisions taken in various biological phases. If a man has essentially no more age, he always starts from the beginning and always reaches the end; he can do this and that, today this, tomorrow something else; everything seems always possible, and nothing is essentially real. The individual is nothing more than a case out of millions of other cases, so why should he attach importance to his activities? Everything that happens happens quickly and then is forgotten. So people act like they're all the same age. Children become as early as possible as adults and participate in conversations of their own free will. Where old age itself tries to appear young, it does not inspire respect. Instead of doing what is proper for it, and thereby serving the young at a certain distance by a standard, old age takes on the appearance of a vital force that is characteristic of youth, but unworthy of old age. Genuine youth seeks distance, not disorder; old age seeks form and fulfillment, as well as consistency in its destiny.

Since common efficiency requires simplicity that everyone can understand, it leads to uniform manifestations of human behavior throughout the world. Not only fashions become unified, but also the rules of communication, gestures, manner of speaking, the nature of the message. The ethos of communication also becomes common: polite smiles, calmness, no haste and urgent demands, humor in tense situations, willingness to help if it does not require too much sacrifice, lack of closeness between people in personal life, self-discipline and order in the crowd - all this is advisable. for the joint life of many and carried out.

dominance of the apparatus. By transforming individual people into functions, the vast apparatus for ensuring existence removes them from the substantial content of life, which previously influenced people as a tradition. It was often said: people are poured over like sand. The system is formed by the apparatus in which people are rearranged at will from one place to another, and not by the historical substance that they fill with their individual being. An increasing number of people are living this disconnected existence. Scattered across different places, then unemployed, they are only a bare existence and do not occupy more than a certain place within the whole. The deep, pre-existing truth - let everyone fulfill his task in his place in the created world - becomes a deceptive figure of speech, the purpose of which is to calm a person who feels the chilling horror of abandonment. Everything that a person is able to do is done quickly. He is given tasks, but lacks consistency in his existence. The work is done expediently, and that's it. For some time the identical methods of his work are repeated, but they are not deepened in this repetition so that they become the property of the one who applies them; in this there is no accumulation of self-existence. What has passed does not matter, only what is happening at this moment matters. The main property of this existence is the ability to forget, its prospects in the past and future are almost compressed in the present. Life flows without memories and without foresight in all those cases when it is not a question of the power of abstracting, expediently directed attention to the productive function within the apparatus. Love for things and people disappears. disappears finished product, there remains only a mechanism capable of creating a new one. Forcibly chained to immediate goals, a person is deprived of the space necessary for seeing life as a whole.

Where the measure of man is average productivity, the individual as such is indifferent. There are no irreplaceable ones. What he was, he is the general, not himself. People are predestined to this life who do not want to be themselves at all; they have an advantage. It seems that the world falls into the power of mediocrity, people without destiny, without differences and without true human essence.

It seems that the objectified man, torn from his roots, has lost the most essential thing. For him, the presence of true being does not shine through in anything. In pleasure and displeasure, in tension and fatigue, it expresses itself only as a definite function. Living from day to day, he sees a goal that goes beyond the immediate performance of work, only to take the best possible place in the apparatus. The mass of those who remain in their places is separated from the minority of those who unceremoniously make their way forward. The former passively stay where they are, work and enjoy leisure after work; the second are driven to activity by ambition and love of power; they are exhausted, thinking up possible chances for advancement and straining their last strength.

The leadership of the entire apparatus is carried out by the bureaucracy, which is itself an apparatus, that is, by people who have turned into an apparatus, on whom those who work in the apparatus depend.

The state, the community, the factory, the firm - all this is an enterprise headed by a bureaucracy. Everything that exists today needs a lot of people, and therefore, an organization. Within the bureaucratic apparatus and through it, advancement is possible, which provides greater significance with functions similar in essence, requiring only greater intelligence, skill, special abilities, and active actions. The ruling apparatus patronizes people with abilities that allow them to advance: shameless individuals who can assess the situation, who perceive people according to their average level and therefore successfully use them; they are ready to rise to virtuosity as specialists, they are able to live without thinking and, spending almost no time sleeping, are obsessed with the desire to advance.

Next, you need the ability to win the location. One must be able to persuade, even bribe - to serve without fail, to become indispensable - to be silent, to cheat, a little, but not too much, to lie, to be tireless in finding reasons, to behave outwardly modestly, - if necessary, appeal to feelings - to work to the pleasure of the authorities - not to show any independence, except for that which is necessary in individual cases.

For someone who, by his origin, cannot claim high positions in the bureaucratic apparatus, is not prepared for this by education, but must achieve the appropriate position on his own, this is due to the manner of behavior, instinct, attitude to values, and all this is a danger to true identity as a condition for responsible leadership. Sometimes a fluke can help; however, as a rule, successful people are distinguished by such qualities that prevent them from putting up with the fact that a person remains himself, and therefore they, with unerring instinct, try by all means to force such people out of their field of activity: they call them presumptuous, eccentric, one-sided and unacceptable in business; their activity is estimated by a false absolute scale; they arouse suspicion, their behavior is seen as provocative, disturbing peace, peace in society and transgressing due boundaries. Since only the one who has sacrificed his essence reaches a high position, he does not want to allow another to save it.

The methods of promotion in the apparatus determine the selection of the right persons. Since only he who strives for success achieves something, but this is precisely what the r of a particular situation should never recognize, it is considered proper to wait until you are called: it depends on behavior how to achieve what you want, while maintaining the appearance of restraint. First, usually in society, as if imperceptibly, they direct the conversation in the right direction. As if indifferently expressed assumptions. They are preceded by such expressions: I do not think about it ... should not be expected that ... - and thus express their desires. If it doesn't lead to anything, then nothing has been said. If the desired result is achieved, then you can soon report the proposal, pretending that this happened regardless of your desire. A habit is being created to assert many things that contradict each other. Relationships should be established with all people in order to have as many connections as possible, using the one that is necessary in this case. Instead of a partnership of original people, a kind of pseudo-friendship arises of those who silently find each other in case of need, giving their communication a form of courtesy and courtesy. Not to violate the rules of the game of pleasure, to express one's respect to everyone, to be indignant when one can count on an appropriate response, never to question the common material interests, whatever they may be - all this and the like is essential.

The dominance of the masses. Mass and apparatus are connected to each other. A large mechanism is needed to ensure the existence of the masses. He must focus on the properties of the mass: in production - on the labor force of the mass, in his products - on the value of the mass of consumers.

The mass as a crowd of people not connected with each other, which in their combination constitute a kind of unity, as a transient phenomenon, has always existed. The mass as a public is a typical product of a certain historical stage; these are people connected by perceived words and opinions, not differentiated in their belonging to different layers society. The mass as a set of people arranged within the apparatus for ordering existence in such a way that the will and properties of the majority are of decisive importance is a constantly acting force in our world, as a public and as a crowd it acts as a transient phenomenon.

An excellent analysis of the properties of the mass as a temporary unity of the crowd was given by Le Bon, defining them as impulsiveness, suggestibility, intolerance, a tendency to change, etc. The property of the mass as an audience consists in a ghostly idea of its significance as a large number of people; she forms her opinion as a whole, which is not the opinion of any individual; countless others, unrelated many, whose opinion determines the decision. This opinion is called "public opinion". It is a fiction of the opinion of all, as such it appears, it is invoked, it is expressed and accepted by individual individuals and groups as their own. Since it is, strictly speaking, intangible, it is always illusory and instantly disappears - nothing, which, as nothing of a large number of people, becomes for a moment an annihilating and uplifting force.

The knowledge of the properties of the mass included in the apparatus is not simple and unambiguous. What a person is is shown in what the majority does: in what is bought, what is consumed, in what can be counted on when it comes to many people, and not in the propensity of individual individuals. Just as budget items in the private sector serve as a characteristic sign of the essence of an individual, so the budget of a state dependent on the majority serves as a sign of the essence of the masses. One can judge the essence of a person if one is aware of the funds available to him, based on what he has money for and what it lacks. To know in the most immediate way what can be expected on the average is the experience that comes from contact with many people. These judgments have been strikingly similar over the millennia. United in in large numbers, people seem to want only to exist and enjoy; they work under the influence of a stick and a carrot; they, in fact, do not want anything, they become furious, but do not express their will; they are passive and indifferent, endure their need; when there is a break, they get bored and crave something new.

For the mass included in the apparatus, the fiction of equality is of primary importance. People compare themselves with others, while everyone can be himself only if he is not comparable to anyone else. What the other has, I also want to have; what others can do, I could too. Secretly envy reigns, the desire to enjoy, to have more and mean more.

If in former times, in order to know what you could count on, you had to get acquainted with princes and diplomats, now for this you need to be aware of the properties of the mass. The condition of life has become the need to perform some function, one way or another serving the masses. The mass and its apparatus have become the subject of our most vital interest. For the most part, it dominates us. For everyone who does not deceive himself, it is the sphere of his complete service dependence, activity, worries and obligations. He belongs to her, but she threatens man with death in the rhetoric and fuss associated with her statement: "we are all"; the false sense of the power of this statement vanishes like nothing. The mass included in the apparatus is soulless and inhuman. It is existence without existence, superstition without faith. She is able to trample on everything, she has a tendency not to tolerate greatness and independence, to educate people so that they turn into ants.

As the huge apparatus for streamlining the life of the masses is consolidated, everyone must serve it and participate with their own labor in the creation of a new one. If he wants to live engaged in spiritual activities, this is possible only by participating in the pacification of any mass of people. He must show the significance of what is pleasing to the masses. She wants to ensure her existence with food, erotica, self-affirmation; life does not give her pleasure if any of this is missing. In addition, she needs a way to know herself. She wants to be led, but in such a way that it seems to her that she is leading. She does not want to be free, but she wants to be considered as such. In order to satisfy her desires, in fact, the average and ordinary, but not called such, must be exalted or at least justified as universal. What is inaccessible to her is called far from life.

Advertising is needed to influence the masses. The noise it raises now serves as the form that every spiritual movement must take. Silence in human activity as a form of life seems to have disappeared. In the mass apparatus, the representative office lacks true grandeur. There are no festivities. No one believes in the authenticity of the holidays, even their participants themselves. It is enough to imagine the pope making a solemn journey across the globe to the center of present power, to America, much as he traveled through Europe in the Middle Ages, and we will immediately see how incomparable the phenomenon of our time is with the past.

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