Why Are We Like This?

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Almost three years ago, on the 24th of February 2022, Russian armed forces crossed into Ukrainian territory through the borders of Russia and Belarus with one aim: the destruction of Ukraine and, subsequently, the current world order. The Ukrainian people defied all expectations with their bravery and resilience, but they are still fighting their ruthless, evil invader at a tremendous personal cost.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the first event in recent times that symbolizes an overall descent into global chaos. The ongoing genocide of Ukraine is a grim reminder of the human appetite for accepting anything as normal. But the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, the kidnapping of small children, and the torture chambers in Russian-occupied territories should not be considered anywhere near “normal.” The invasion followed years of escalating tensions and Kremlin propaganda that fueled hatred and desensitized the Russian public. This event marked a turning point, accelerating the destruction of an already fragile global order and highlighting the dangers of apathy, propaganda, and unchecked disinformation.

The Media and Information Bubbles

As more authoritarians got elected and new wars broke out in different parts of the world since then, our news moved on to the current hot crisis instead of what sparked the visible changes in the world. It leaves us questioning: What the hell is happening worldwide? War, pandemics, and economic instability have become the new normal. These trends prompt deeper questions about our appetite for violence and hate and why our political and legal systems seem ill-equipped to address these modern challenges.

Propaganda and selective news coverage are very much around us, like the Russians who believe that Ukraine should be their colonial subjects. Convenient harmful narratives go unchallenged in media, and news networks curate information to reinforce our existing biases instead of providing us with new information to think about. The information bubbles seldom leave us questioning the motives of the news sources. Such bubbles discourage critical thinking and allow powerful entities, like governments, oligarchical corporations, and media networks, to manipulate public perception designed for their target audience. The narratives we accept are less about uncovering truth and more about serving the interests of those who control the information flow.

The Cycle of Political Polarization

The democracies in the world are mainly divided into leftist and conservative policies—increasingly polarized, drifting away from each other. However, the conservatives worldwide have a lot in common if we look closely: discrimination against local minorities, the usage of social media platforms to radicalize people, an anti-immigration voter base, and economic ties to Russia, to name a few characteristics.

It is easy to be anti-establishment as a self-aware person and hate the radicalism around us. But the hate doesn’t solve the core problem we have. We elect conservatives; then we elect incompetent chaos when we want to get rid of the conservative populists. This prompts more radicalism in the long run because chaos is always uglier than a strong man saving us all or at least pretending to be the one true savior. The cycle repeats itself. The incompetence of liberal politicians allows the authoritarians to rule with an iron fist.

Lack of long-term thinking is a significant flaw in current liberal democratic systems. The future is uncertain, and the government managers we all elect are not equipped to think beyond their designated ruling terms. The post-World War world-building approach to politics is not practical anymore. Prioritizing the government’s short-term efficiency at the cost of the larger future vision is shortsighted and dangerous. Not thinking about the current world’s problems won’t make the problems go away. It will just make the problems bigger and worse for the next generation.

Whether left-wing or right-wing, the current system is incapable of smart, bold decisiveness, leaving critical issues unaddressed and creating a vacuum of effective leadership on the world stage. Autocracies like Russia and China are too eager to fill this vacuum. Do we want that world for us?

The Psychological Toll of Uncertainty

Current trends like radical information spaces and the rise of conspiracy theories reflect a desperate search for the world’s coherent future. The fear this sets within us all takes a profound psychological toll on society. The anxiety about an uncertain future and a sense of helplessness among us is a significant symptom of this issue. Another symptom is the lack of capacity for hearing alternate points of view (within reason). We want to be sure about the future, even if we know that the future is increasingly dangerous as we go deeper into this global chaos.

Hope For the Future

What can we do about this? I advise myself and others to balance staying well-informed and empathetic and take time out for self-care. Democratic governments need to be more practical about fighting misinformation and creating policies that can tackle the current media environment with the urgency it requires. On a personal level, we can all decide to use our critical thinking, not trust hateful clickbait news, and try to understand what others who are not like us might think about a particular issue. Just because something looks lucrative doesn’t mean it suits everyone.

Keeping our humanity alive is another key. The challenge of the future is created by the choices we humans have made in the past few decades, and we will have a choice about how we act in the current world. We must avoid succumbing to cynicism or apathy. While we face extraordinary challenges, the resilience of human civilization is what kept us alive till now, and that is precisely what will keep us alive going forward. Fighting for the right thing is what I will do, and that is what I also recommend to others.