Abroad Thoughts Mark Penhallow

Change is inevitable and incurs risk. But as the collapse of the former Soviet system demonstrated, not changing is riskier, as eventually it will result in revolutionary rather than evolutionary change, causing greater suffering and damage. How should individuals, organisations and political and business elites respond to this constant pressure for change and what may happen if they don’t rise to the challenge?

In the longer-term, what really matters or is important to us, as individuals and for societies as a whole? As we suffer from the law of diminishing returns in many wealthier countries, how do we figure this out and how can we reflect our changing priorities in ourselves and our societies? If we no longer believe in profits, what prophets can we believe in? And as we judge past generations, how might our children and grandchildren judge our current priorities and values?

Societies need a sufficient number of well-educated people who understand and value the wider implications of their actions on their societies and environment. Societies also need a sufficient number of well-off people who can think beyond putting food on their own table tonight. The global challenges we face now highlight our current inadequacies on both fronts. Tackling them effectively requires us to think differently.

Collectively, the attitudes of individuals have major impacts across the whole of society; impacts that are not always obvious, direct, nor immediate. Sometimes these causes and effects only become apparent following a traumatic event or change. But we need to understand and acknowledge the broader effects of our own behaviours (and those of others) if we are to create successful, well-balanced societies.

The collapse of communism across Central and Eastern Europe 30 years ago left a common and serious psychological legacy, which was always going to take a lot more than simple money to rectify. But there are ongoing lessons for all of us, even now, if we are to avoid the same constant threats, dangers and tendencies.

How travel (and learning another language) can change our basic assumptions and thinking; and how this can promote mutual trust and result in better solutions to the challenges we face today, wherever we come from.