A Planetary Brotherhood of Mankind Means
Cooperation Between Different Civilizations
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Humanity does not create problems that it cannot solve. Every form of ignorance disappears in due time, but the search for wisdom remains.
We created Nazism, and we defeated it. Our countries created the nuclear nightmare – whose origin, by the way, is Nazi – and we will leave this nightmare behind, too.
The existence and continuous production of new nuclear bombs in arsenals which are capable of destroying life on Earth deeply affects our subconscious perspective of the future. Who can fully enjoy life, and raise a family, and educate his children in peace, while being surrounded by weapons which could eliminate human life in a few hours, starting any time?
Julius Nyerere, the legendary African leader, wrote in the 1980s:
“In the modern world, peace is indivisible. Technology has made it so. A war in which just a fraction of nuclear weapons were used would cause a nuclear winter and make life impossible throughout the Earth. All life would cease in Tanzania, Sweden, Argentina, Mexico and Greece – none of which possess nuclear weapons – just as it would in the states which do hold nuclear weapons.” [1]
Recent researches and production of “tactical” nuclear weapons seem to be an attempt to make the atomic suicide feasible, by giving it a modest and gradual starting process. But the basic facts remain. It is not possible to live in peace in the presence of nuclear arsenals.
A former President of Brazil, Mr. Michel Temer, was representing his country as he said, in 2014 during an international summit on nuclear security:
“A world that accepts nuclear weapons will always be insecure. It is essential to eliminate such weapons, which, because of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of their use, remain a permanent threat to humanity.” [2]
How then can we get rid once and for all from the suicidal atomic nightmare?
We did our best after we had the appearance of an end to the Cold War in the beginning of the 1990s. We tried a unipolar system. We would have one and only superpower. Such an extraordinary country would kindly lead and manage the world for us. It would help the United Nations preserve the balance and equilibrium, and mutual respect among nations. Such a country, of course, would not behave as an aggressive nation abusing the rights of other countries, fomenting wars, transferring to others its own economic failures, or conspiring to promote regime change in sovereign states. It would not behave as a brutal and corrupt kind of world police. No. Not at all. It would be a loyal, respectful nation.
But we failed.
In the 2020s, it is clear to a growing number of citizens worldwide that we need a multipolar world, and not one nation which has the monopoly of global leadership.
Living under the “diktat” of one single country is not a great idea after all. We need a system of checks and balances in the planet. This can only be provided by a multipolar and multidimensional process of leadership, based on equilibrium, open to change, capable of promoting religious and cultural diversity among nations, instead of fighting diversity. How can this take place by nonviolent means?
BRICS is the emerging global proposal of peace and cooperation. It is a practical process slowly started several years ago, and not a theoretical idea. It is a down-to-earth bridge to the future, and it excludes no one.
In April 2023, a new idea became visible to everyone around the globe:
“Brazil’s [President] Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on BRICS nations to come up with an alternative to replace the dollar in foreign trade, supporting China’s crusade against US [unilateral] global dominance.” [3]
BRICS is a coalition of contrasting nations. It celebrates diversity and mutual help.
The name BRICS stands as an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. These five countries have a combined area of some 40 million square kilometers, or about 26% of the world’s land surface and more than 40% of the global population. But several influential countries in Latin America (as Argentina) and other continents (as Saudi Arabia and Iran) are already closely cooperating with BRICS.
There is no room in the BRICS for racism or antisemitism.
A planetary brotherhood needs mutual respect, good will and cooperation among contrasting civilizations.
The goal of the theosophical movement is to form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, opinion, sex, religion, caste or color. And brotherhood begins in the realm of good will. It has nothing to do with uniformity.
In spirituality and social life, just as in Nature, diversity is healthy, but monoculture is suicidal. A key rule to be established and followed among civilizations, starting from the 2020s, is “live and let live, respect life, preserve cultural contrast”.
Other useful ideas:
* Give up the sick vicious circles of violence, and remember they begin in thought.
* Abandon the nightmare of continuous wars and ceaseless preparation for war.
* Learn to live in peace with yourself, and with others.
* Preserve the natural environment everywhere, for the planet is small, and your grandchildren deserve a safe globe to live.
NOTES:
[1] “The Gaia Peace Atlas”, Survival into the Third Millennium, Foreword by the UN Secretary General, General Editor Dr. Frank Barnaby, PAN Books, London, Sidney and Auckland, copyright 1988, 272 (large size) pages, see page 78.
[3] See the news here (retrieved 22 August 2023).
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The above article was first published in April 2023 at the theosophical blog in “The Times of Israel”. Since 22 August 2023 it is available at the websites of the Independent Lodge of Theosophists.
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