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Defying The Grim Prophecies for 2012 Calls for a Charitable Approach

Four prophecies foretelling that a major event will occur in 2012 have been made at various times. The oldest came from the Mayans, whose empire in Central America collapsed more than 1,000 years ago. Next came Nostradamus, whose many prophecies appeared in 16th-century France. Then Irvin Laszlo of Hungary spoke of that year in his book, The Chaos Point: The World at the Crossroads. Most recently, Krungthep Turakij on June 2 reported a prophecy from Thitilabho Bhikhu, a 108-year-old Thai Buddhist monk who holds a degree from Harvard.

Of the four, only Mr Laszlo’s has detailed arguments. Different interpretations of the other three have been made: maybe a huge meteorite will hit the earth or perhaps a super-virus will create a pandemic, killing hundreds of millions of people. Since we do not know how to evaluate those three, there is no way we can take intelligent action to avoid whatever will happen. We should, therefore, focus only on Mr Laszlo’s prophecy.

Mr Laszlo cited major trends, as they appeared when he was writing in 2005, and concluded that in 2012 humanity would reach a tipping point, after which we would either evolve towards a safer, more sustainable world or toward global breakdown resulting from social, economic and ecological stresses.

In his own words, the trends related to “increasing population pressure and poverty; growing potential for social and political conflict; escalating maverick and organised warfare; accelerating climate change; food, water and energy shortages; worsening industrial, urban and agricultural pollution; further destruction of the ozone layer; accelerating reduction of biodiversity; and continued loss of atmospheric oxygen. We also run the risk of mega-disasters caused by nuclear accidents and leaking nuclear waste, devastating floods and tornadoes due to climate change, and widespread health problems owing to natural catastrophes as well as to such human factors as the accumulation of toxins in soil, air and water.” (The Chaos Point, page xix.)

These trends are serious indeed. But, according to Mr Laszlo, they are not destiny; they can be changed. It is obvious that changes must come quickly if we are to evolve towards a safer and more sustainable world, for 2012 is just around the corner.

At present, it seems that none of those trends has changed significantly for the better since Mr Laszlo wrote his book. That means, barring a miracle, we are heading towards a global breakdown. That may well be, but if we believe that it is too late to do anything and despair, we only make it inevitable.

I prefer to think differently: there is still time, but not for procrastination. I believe that a lot of people agree with me and are taking actions. This is partly shown by the continued emergence of volunteerism and charitable movements, with charity organisations popping up all over the world. And it is volunteerism and charitable movements that will save us, according to the late Professor Peter Drucker, who believed that it would become the “third sector” counterweighting the other two: the government and the profit-seeking private sector.

This third sector will play a significant role in traditional areas like helping the poor, the disabled and the victims of conflicts, as well as in the emerging area of restoring the sense of community and citizenship lost due to changes in political, economic and social structures. His belief, summarised in his book, The Essential Drucker, led him to devote much of his time late in his long life helping charity organisations increase their efficiency through modern management methods.

I also think that billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett believe that their charities will also make a real difference. For this reason, they are donating tens of billions of dollars. Bill Gates retired last year from Microsoft at 53 to work full-time for charity. He is joining the efforts to combat hunger, disease and ignorance. I believe we all should do more, both to help reverse the trends cited by Mr Laszlo and to join movements doing work as outlined by Professor Drucker or similar to what Bill Gates is doing.

We should, however, exclude the kind of charity advocated by some Buddhist monks, such as building the world biggest Buddha statue or ever-larger convocation halls.

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The Article by  Sawai  Boonma
First Published : Bangkok Post, June 06,2009.
Newspaper section : Business

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