The post-covid_19 world and the role of the United Nations (UN): a manifesto.

The post-covid_19 world: what if the United Nations (UN) reinvented “normal”.

 

Decades have now elapsed since the world has been living beyond its limits. In fact, the Meadows report – the limits to growth – warned us about our model of economic development. An economic development that is unlimited, based on growth and expansion, which contrasts with the limited resources that the earth holds. Our normal, social way of life is a reverberation of this model of economic growth. Consumption emerged as a by-product of economic growth. It became our doxa. An unlimited economic growth that is escorted with a newspeak on its marketing strategy that gears our pathos. We are quasi-compelled to consume every product that results from the economic growth.

The United Nations (UN), as the global purview in different subjects, including economic, social and environmental ones, via its specialized agencies and organs must lead the reinvention of the world. The reinvention of normal. This leading role needs to emerge at the right timing. As the UN still owns its good reputation strengthened along the time, since 1945. Concretely, two or three elements show themselves as valuables to be tackled; elements that are not mutually exclusive; a contrario, they are complementary to each other. Besides the unlimited and unreasonable economic growth, which unbridle the bereavement of local health, economic, environmental and social values, over to the growing globalization, a solid political cooperation is needed.

Firstly, as expose above, the economic growth as it is pursued nowadays is unsustainable. Thus, the UN can engage itself in a more proactive role towards promoting a saner economic growth, i.e., reduce the unreasonable use of resources proved to contribute to damage the environment, ergo, to damage the earth. Thus, the UN can articulate with the developed countries, a compromise to reduce their environmental footprint, which is directly linked with the idea of eternal economic growth. However, with the developing countries, the UN can negotiate a more sustainable growth, that cannot be maintained by fossil resources only.

Furthermore, with both categories of countries there is a need to find room to compensations, cooperation and surveillance, as their characteristic are not symmetric. Lastly, it has been widely proven that the more contact humans have with wild animals, the more the chance the humans get to unleash various viruses, some of them whom may be dangerous, augmenting the risks of epidemies or worst, pandemics. And one of the prodigies that increases the contact between humans and wild animals is economic and social expansion. The “need” to build more fabrics, more cities, so on so forth.

Secondly, if the UN gets to advance the debate and agreements with both the developing and developed countries, we can improve the quality of local exchange. The agreements to materialize a saner way of production will contribute to reduce the faults of globalization. For the new normal should consist on empowering the wretched of the world. The underprivileged ones whose jobs and opportunities are somehow “taken” by the world economy and globalization, albeit the later has some benefits.

The world economy is somehow disrupting societies. Indeed, the saner way of production should be based on local consumptions of local productions. It shall be difficult, yes, but the UN has a long and solid experience furthering difficult debates and solutions. And let covid_19 be our Omen. Thus, the UN should lobby the various and different countries to reduce the delocalization and imports when and where possible and further “globalocalization”: accept the benefits of globalization while promoting localization – use of local products to local needs.

Finally, to reinvent the normal is a task for everyone. It is a task of changing representations and values. Yet, the UN has the tools and the platform to begin the discussion on the necessity to change our current way of life. This way of life that has led us to various problems, including the climate and sanitary emergency. We must bear in mind, nonetheless, as J.F. Kennedy expressed in 1961, that it shall be a gradual process, that the new normal shall not happen in a span of a year, maybe not in a span of a lifetime. But let us begin. We have the generational obligation to begin the reinvention of the normal.

We have the moral and ethical obligation to reinvent the normal. It shall be yet more complicate on developing countries, where during many years, the model of developing was that of the developed ones – unreasonable economic growth – which is now being contested. But complicated is not impossible. And the UN, as our legal representant should lead this process on behalf of the current and the future generations. Not to sublimate the actual economic model but to operate a change. The UN shall not fail us on this neue ordnung for a sober future.