The Role of Complexity as a Catalyst for Change
By Sarah Morley
It is difficult to understate the magnitude of all that has transpired over the past ten months. 2020 has unveiled social inequalities in a capacity that has pierced society’s collective consciousness, placing the systems we exist in under immense scrutiny. “We’re all in this together”, so goes the baseless mantra of 2020. But while celebrities deliver words of faux compassion from their Hollywood mansions, Melbourne’s public housing residents are denied the most basic of democratic rights and dignity. By now, many of those who were not previously cognisant of the fact have come to understand that in reality, such vacant sentiments of solidarity could not be further from the truth.
2020 has endured the inevitable consequences of unsustainable socioeconomic structures, facilitated predominantly by colonial powers. It is no surprise that we have exceeded the limits of a system founded on the commodification of nature, unparalleled material consumption and the many interrelated demands of globalised capitalist norms which depend on the exploitation of marginalised communities. Never in our lifetime has the fragility of Westernised ‘business as usual’ been so apparent; an accumulation of fractures across our systems has resulted in more turbulence than the ‘developed’ world has experienced since the Great Depression. Whilst the hardships faced throughout the year are far from new or even unanticipated, it is a truly unique moment owing to rapid technological advancement and opportunity for corresponding social discourse. Significantly, even society’s most privileged have endured the ramifications of our collapsed system, and consequently, levels of engagement at the constituent level have risen. Of course, motivation behind this rise in democracy is deeply flawed; it demonstrates that until the comfort of privileged lives are disrupted, the majority of society performs the role of bystanders as they continue to benefit from the oppression of others. And at the epicentre of it all – extreme bushfires, COVID-19, economic downturn and its synonymous gendered consequences – is chaos. It is, however, a welcomed chaos; a chaos that confronts and disrupts our ‘business as usual’. A chaos with ripple effects so pervasive that even society’s most privileged can no longer enjoy complete immunity.
Despite the challenges that have unraveled, however, I sincerely believe that this year is one we desperately needed. It has been messy, uncomfortable and devastating; but ultimately, 2020 has forced us down the path of change and away from complacency. And in the context of our neoliberal world which rewards the exploitation of land, the rich and the West, complacency is the enemy of social progress. 2020 confirms that the current model is not working; therefore, it is imperative that we reframe 2020 as a critical opportunity for transformation, rather than as one that is purely focused on loss.
Identifying where and how to begin rebuilding is daunting, and there exists no singular protocol for recovery with so many variables at play. Personally, I hold the belief that reconceptualising our social structures through expanding our knowledge to accommodate for the complexity of our globalised world is a crucial step towards moving forwards; both individually and collectively. Reconceptualisation must include the fostering and prioritisation of creativity and innovation to problem solving with a focus on preventative (rather than reactive) measures at the national, corporate and local level. Currently, conceptualisation of our world is overwhelmingly limited and confined to the boundaries of simplistic binaries; the politically left/right, male/female, moral/immoral, rich/poor. But the reality is that the complexities of our systems greatly exceed such binary modes of thinking. Conceptualising the difficulties we face through the binaries that we were taught during childhood severely limits our capacity for progress in our globalised world, local communities and all the spaces between. In order to move towards a more sustainable world, reevaluation is required at all levels of society to prioritise nuanced modes of thinking that pave way for a collective intersectional social lens.
To very simply express the complexity of our social structures and illustrate why new ways of thinking are required, I draw upon a quote from none other than the dystopian comedy television series, ‘The Good Place’.
“These days just buying a tomato at a grocery store means that you are unwittingly supporting toxic pesticides, exploiting labor, contributing to global warming. Humans think they are making one choice, but they are actually making dozens of choices they don’t even know they’re making”
At many points throughout 2020, it feels as though much of society has been having this revelation collectively; that our social systems are so innately convoluted, corrupt and disorienting that we have finally sustained the shock caused by our own failure to accept the complex reality of our own existence. The only certainty is the inability for social injustices and corresponding challenges to exist within vacuums. All our socioeconomic drawbacks – from climate change, to COVID, to racial discrimination – continuously weave into one another as they are perpetuated by neoliberal agendas that stipulate capital gain and hegemonic masculinity. If we hope to transcend the chaos of 2020, we must do so with openness to nuance that deviates from such problematic norms. Nuance that considers contextual factors, dismantles social and conceptual binaries, and instead, embraces our social intricacies and continually evolving complexities.
2020 presents a rare opportunity to shift towards a place of nuance where positive social transformations towards an increasingly sustainable world have potential to be facilitated. This adjustment is unlikely to transpire overnight; changing human behaviour is a complex process and is widely recognised to be a key barrier to implementing sustainable initiatives. However, aspects of 2020 that I initially observed with resentment have demonstrated what I now consider to be largely positive takings. In particular, I note Australia’s response to COVID-19. Having been involved with various sustainability projects and education over the years, I was initially confronted by our government-induced disruption to ‘business as usual’. Following decades of committed environmentalists being undermined by the political rhetoric of ‘not now’ or ‘later if the economy is secure’ when demanding climate action, government officials undermined their own narrative by inducing extreme measures in the face of a pandemic that was partially triggered by the very environmental inaction world leaders have failed to adequately acknowledge. However, there is hope in that we now possess empirical evidence proving that contrary to previous messages from government, extreme action in the face of extreme circumstances is possible. This signals potential for the lessons learned through COVID-19 to be likewise applied to the interconnected climate crisis. For example, economists including Bob Pollin have calculated that with a mere fraction (approximately 2 to 3 percent of GDP) of the money spent by the USA to sustain the economy during COVID-19, our global community has legitimate capacity to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement (The New Republic, 2020). Moreover, this vital transition is already occurring outside the mainstream’s spotlight. This is evident across a number of Australian innovations; Beyond Zero Emissions formulating evidence based strategies to mitigate climate change and promote sustainable jobs in their ‘One Million Jobs’ initiative, millions of funding into renewable startups like Amber Electric, and influential retailers (including Bunnings) discontinuing to stock unsustainably sourced wood fibre based products. Naturally, it is problematic that this change is driven by the private sector; but it nonetheless indicates genuine promise given that corporate trends significantly influence public policy. And frankly, imperfect efforts to build a sustainable nation is preferable to the complacency and social stagnation that has landed us in the circumstances we face today.
2020 has confronted the essence of ourselves, forcing us to reflect on the mess collectively conceived by the world’s most privileged. It is the year and the consequences that were not only inevitable, but necessary for social transformation. 2020 has betrayed the façade of limitless growth, evidencing that security does not exist within an exploitative system built on the fragility of injustice. But 2020 is undoubtedly an opportunity for change and for political hope; when observing critical transformations throughout history, constituent engagement and social disruption laid the foundations of progress. It is primarily within contexts of social friction that monumental transformations have been triggered: female voting rights, marriage equality and civil rights amongst others. And although these connotations may present as naively idealistic, idealism founded on research, science and other sources of indisputable evidence is indispensable at the current moment. Rather than focusing on what divides us, focus must be redirected to what connects us in efforts to cultivate a shared future where intersectional thinking is commonplace and polarising binaries no longer hold extensive weight.
In truth, 2020 has evidenced that we are far from being “all in this together”. But I have faith that after all the chaos we have watched unravel, 2020 will serve as a catalyst for change that aims towards a future that is.
