If Ian Bremmer’s analysis in his recent book Every Nation for Itself is correct, that we are entering a several-year period of zero global political leadership — creating a vacuum ripe for catastrophe — then there may be no better time to be honing in on another story we at Axiom News and others see happening — a worldwide economic and social transition of a different kind.
Axiom founder and CEO Peter Pula is even now pulling together a list of “spectrums” that make up this social and economic shift, as conversations with some of the world’s top thought leaders and his oft-proven foresight reveal. (Check back for more details on those in upcoming articles).
Our recent decision to focus on these shifts is resonating not only with our team but in pockets globally, as a recent, week-long visit from a small crew of European professionals underscored.
Griet Bouwen of Belgium in particular spoke of this new focus reverberating deeply within her. In a conversation one afternoon amongst a small group of us, she shared her view that this global transition narrative will be in large part about connectivity, describing the sadness she feels about the level of disconnection she sees in our world today.
“If we could establish again connection between people and their environment, their workplace or each other, for me that is the most important thing,” said Griet, who is in the process of creating an Axiom affiliate for Europe’s Dutch-speaking society.
“(It’s about) being connected to the whole, and then feeling the whole as something we have to take responsibility for.”
She added she feels this type of work we’re all committed to here — generative journalism — will be a key tool to show what is possible in connectivity and bring more of that into being.
During that same week, some of us envisioned regular conversations across the continents where we come with stories of different aspects of this transition afoot in our own regions. We talked of exchanging these stories from our diverse areas and then together making meaning, as well as exploring the possibilities in connecting them.
It’s all heady and at the same time sobering stuff.
As a Discovery Channel producer noted in my recent conversation with her, media is becoming more and more an extension of ourselves — not just something we use — but something inextricably linked to how we experience the world. She saw this as heightening the need to be more and more mindful of its use, to ensure we’re always harnessing its incredible power for our individual and collective well-being.
Tracking this social and economic transition is certainly something, I believe, that can contribute to our very individual and collective thriving. It will be especially so, I think, if it’s somehow linked at the same time to bringing more wisdom, more peace, more joy and more inner strength into the world.
Ian Bremmer isn’t all gloomy predictions in his book. He offers a potential solution for national governments in particular to take into account, but while they decide whether to respond or not, the rest of us don’t need to sit around biting our nails, anxiously awaiting the verdict.
Those of us looking to build this new transition narrative — whether that’s from Canada, Belgium or the Netherlands now — aren’t.
Contact us if you’d like to chat more about joining this effort.
