The world we live in today is not only a world of wars, although there are currently around 130 armed conflicts across the globe. Neither is it a world in which democracy thrives. On the contrary, according to the Bertelsmann Stiftung, 56% of countries are governed by authoritarian regimes. And it is not a world of hope: data from the World Economic Forum shows that 52% of the global population expects an unstable future, while nearly a third anticipate turbulence ahead.
More troubling still is the apparent decline of basic human values. According to Nature magazine, in at least 60 countries, people believe morality is deteriorating. Participants of the PERSPECTIVA show share this concern. Nearly ten years ago, Ena said:
“In the society we live in, everything feels quasi. We are not merely a collection of labels; we are far more complex than that. Our values are not defined by being Serb, Croat, or Bosniak, nor by a state, an entity, a color, or a race, or anything that is nominally assigned to us and that we nominally accept. Only when a person is exposed as they truly are, without labels, do real values emerge: a smile, a kind word, a good deed, knowledge, and more. I genuinely wonder whether people ever question what has been imposed on us, whether they see how these divisions are used to confine us, to separate us further, to label us endlessly as ‘us’ and ‘them,’ no matter the basis.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLk2aqHFblQ
“You cannot expect those at the highest levels of government to uphold values that you do not practice in everyday life. That is both social and personal hypocrisy. Until we truly commit to raising our children with those values, even when it is difficult or uncomfortable, we cannot justify accepting less. Without that foundation, we cannot demand meaningful change from political leadership.“
“It is not human values themselves that are in question, but rather people’s strength and willingness to live by them.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3QwilXtCn4
“It is not human values themselves that are in question, but rather people’s strength and willingness to live by them.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6LJR8gXI3c
“Today, if you help someone without expecting anything in return, you risk being marginalized. You can quickly find yourself pushed out of the system.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufgqZg-AOWo
“Unfortunately, our society has strayed far from those values. This, perhaps, is what reinforces a kind of moral relativism – as if everything were acceptable, as if nothing were inherently good or inherently bad, but rather that anyone can do whatever they please, and anything goes.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6LJR8gXI3c
Some see politicians as the reason for the erosion of values; others point to the media, nationalism, or the system itself.
“My problem is that any coherent system of values in our country has collapsed, and what remains is completely inverted.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcmN_sGcqYc
“Lately, we’ve become overly obsessed with symbols, especially flags, while neglecting everything else.”
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-u-podgorici/32824642.html
“Our system is built on valuing the connections we have, the connections our family has, not valuing what we have, not valuing our work, not valuing our efforts.“
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ65kn67rgk
Perhaps we should admit that when the basic rights of people and the state are not respected, we live in the wilderness, without rules. In the wilderness, of course, the values of savages reign. Will recognizing this reality be enough to move the world forward?
