Politicians' Role in a Global Civilization

I want to focus today on the source of the dangers that threaten humanity in spite of this global civilization, and often directly because of it. Above all, I would like to speak about the ways in which these dangers can be confronted.

We now live in a single global civilization. The identity of this civilization does not lie merely in similar forms of dress, or similar drinks, or in the constant buzz of the same commercial music all around the world, or even in international advertising. It lies in something deeper: thanks to the modern idea of constant progress, with its inherent expansionism, and to the rapid evolution of science that comes directly from it, our planet has, for the first time in the long history of the human race, been covered in the space of a very few decades by a single civilization-one that is essentially technological.

The world is now enmeshed in webs of telecommunication networks consisting of millions of tiny threads or capillaries that not only transmit information of all kinds at lighting speed, but also convey integrated models of social, political and economic behavior. They are conduits for legal norms, as well as for billions and billions of dollars crisscrossing the world while remaining invisible even to those who deal directly with them. The life of the human race is completely interconnected, not only in the informational sense but in the causal sense as well.

But haven't we so lost control of our destiny that we are condemned to gradual extinction in ever-harsher high-tech clashes between cultures? This may be so because of our fatal inability to cooperate in the face of impending catastrophes, be they ecological, social, or demographic.

I have not lost hope because I am persuaded that lying dormant in the deepest roots of most, if not all, cultures there is an essential similarity, a genuinely unifying starting point for that new code of human co-existence that would be anchored in the great diversity of human traditions.

We must come to understand the deep kinship between the various forms of our spirituality. We must recollect our original spiritual and moral substance, which grew out of the same essential experience of humanity. I believe that this is the only way to achieve a genuine renewal of our sense of responsibility for ourselves and for the world. And at the same time, it is the only way to achieve a deeper understanding among cultures-one that will enable them to work together in a truly ecumenical way to create a new order for the world.

There is no way back. Only a dreamer can believe that the solution lies in curtailing the progress of civilization in some way or other. The main task in the coming era is something else: a radical renewal of our sense of responsibility. Our conscience must catch up to our reason; otherwise, we are lost.

It is my belief that there is only one way to achieve this: we must divest ourselves of our egotistical anthropocentrism, our habit of seeing ourselves as masters of the universe who can do whatever occurs to us. We must discover a new respect for what transcends us: for the universe, for the earth, for nature, for life, and for reality. Our respect for other people, for other nations, and for other cultures, can only grow from a humble respect for the cosmic order and from an awareness that we are a part of it, and that nothing of what we do is lost, but rather becomes part of the eternal memory of Being, where it is judged.

A better alternative for the future of humanity, therefore, clearly lies in imbuing our civilization with a spiritual dimension. It's not just a matter of understanding its multicultural nature and finding inspiration for the creation of a new world order in the common roots of all cultures. It is also essential that the Euro-American cultural sphere-the one which created this civilization and taught humanity its destructive pride-now return to its own spiritual roots and become an example to the rest of the world in the search for a new humility.

General observations of this type are certainly not difficult to make, nor are they new or revolutionary. Modern people are masters at describing the crises and the misery of the world for which we are responsible. We are much less adept at putting things right.

So what specifically is to be done?

I do not believe in some universal panacea. I am not an advocate of what Karl Popper called "holistic social engineering," particularly because I had to live most of my adult life in circumstances that resulted from an attempt to create a holistic Marxist utopia. I know more than enough, therefore, about efforts of this kind.

This does not relieve me, however, of the responsibility to think of ways to make the world better.

It will certainly not be easy to awaken in people a new sense of responsibility for the world, an ability to conduct themselves as if they were to live on this earth forever, and to one day be held answerable for its condition. Who knows how many horrific cataclysms humanity may have to go through before such a sense of responsibility is generally accepted? But this does not mean that those who wish to work for it cannot begin at once. It is a great task for educators, intellectuals, the clergy, artists, entrepreneurs, journalists, people active in all forms of public life.

Above all, it is a task for politicians.

Even in the most democratic of conditions, politicians have immense influence, perhaps more than they themselves realize. This influence does not lie in their actual mandates, which in any case are considerably limited. It lies in the spontaneous impact their charisma has on the public.

The main task of the present generation of politicians is not, I think, to ingratiate themselves with the public through the decisions they make or their smiles on television. It is not to go on winning elections and ensuring themselves a place in the sun till the end of their days. Their role is something quite different: to assume their share of responsibility for the long-range prospects of our world and thus to set an example for the public in whose sight they work. Their responsibility is to think ahead boldly, not to fear the disfavor of the crowd, to imbue their actions with a spiritual dimension (which of course is not the same thing as ostentatious attendance at religious services), to explain again and again-both to the public and to their colleagues-that politics must do far more than reflect the interests of particular groups or lobbies.

After all, politics is a matter of serving the community, which means that it is morality in practice. And how better to serve the community and practice morality than by seeking in the midst of the global (and globally threatened) civilization their own global political responsibility: that is, their responsibility for the very survival of the human race?

I don't believe that a politician who sets out on this risky path will inevitably jeopardize his or her political survival. This is a wrongheaded notion that assumes the citizen is a fool and that political success depends on playing on this folly. That is not the way it is. A conscience slumbers in every human being, something divine. And that is what we have to put our trust in.

I find myself at perhaps the most famous university in the most powerful country in the world. With your permission, I will say a few words on the subject of the politics of a great power.

It is obvious that those who have the greatest power and influence also bear the greatest responsibility. Like it or not, the United States of America now bears probably the greatest responsibility for the direction our world will take.

What is now at stake is the saving of the human race. In other words, it's a question of what I've already talked about: of understanding modern civilization as multicultural and multipolar, of turning our attention to the original spiritual sources of human culture and, above all, of our own culture, of drawing from these sources the strength for a courageous and magnanimous creation of a new order for the world.

The most important world organization is the United Nations. I think that the fiftieth anniversary of its birth could be an occasion to reflect on how to infuse it with a new ethos, a new strength, and make it the truly most important arena of cooperation among all cultures that make up our planetary civilization.

But neither the strengthening of regional structures nor the strengthening of the U.N. will save the world if both processes are not informed by that renewed spiritual charge which I see as the only hope that the human race will survive another millennium.

In conclusion, allow me a brief personal remark. I was born in Prague, and I lived there for decades without being allowed to study properly or visit other countries. Nevertheless, my mother never abandoned one of her secret and quite extravagant dreams: that one day I would study at Harvard. Fate did not permit me to fulfill her dream. But something else happened, something that would never have occurred even to my mother: I have received a doctoral degree at Harvard without even having to study here.

More than that, I have been given to understand how small this world is and how it torments itself with countless things it need not torment itself with if people could find within themselves a little more courage, a little more hope, a little more responsibility, a little more mutual understanding and love.

I don't know whether my mother is looking down at me from heaven, but if she is I can guess what she's probably thinking: that I'm sticking my nose into matters that only people who have properly studied political science at Harvard have the right to stick their noses into.

I hope that you don't think so.