Written by Jekonia Tarigan
Life on Earth is going through an unprecedented environmental crisis because human activities, such as the exploitation of natural resources, the degradation and fragmentation of natural habitats, global deforestation and defaunation, and the acidification of oceans affect the entire planet. [i] However, according to Nadarajah ‘Nat’ Manickam, most people are unaware of this crisis. Their consciousness only emerges when global mainstream media decide to feature it before another feel-good news segment takes over. In fact, human life faces critical problems, globally and locally, across the board. Although a sense of urgency should govern our behavior, most of us are quite relaxed and go about ‘business as usual’.
Manickam presented his thoughts at Wednesday Forum, a weekly discussion forum organized by the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) and the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies (CRCS) on March 16, 2022. His presentation was entitled Living in a Broken World: Prophetic Anger and Public Compassion. Manickam is a sociologist who has worked over the past four decades in many capacities and positions in multifaceted and interconnected projects and initiatives. Manickam was invited by Xavier University Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, to set up the Centre for New Humanities and Compassion Studies. At present, he serves as an educational consultant setting up the Multiversity Platform at Loyola Extension Services, Loyola College of Social Sciences, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
Regarding the title of his presentation, Manickam argues that he wants to share a guilt because he is not able to do as much as he would to restore the broken world. According to Manickam, the world is physically, socially, and internally broken. Furthermore, he explains that the damage to the world is not realized by most people. For him, today's global eco-footprint gets larger and larger every year as the eco-planetary limits are now surpassed, and the world loses species after species. Every day, 150 species go extinct. More than five hundred young people die in India each day. There is also global modern slavery that traps 40 million people across the world. Moreover, the danger of global temperature increases the threat the future will have on all life on Earth. Ironically, this broken world is inherited by the next generation. Thus, young generations are now experiencing a syndrome called nature deficit disorder. They are concerned about their future due to the fact that the world is now broken. Manickam argues that it is normal that the younger generations are concerned. .
However, all these events do not show that compassion governs much of our private and public life. Manickam realizes that he is a part of a system that has contributed consciously or unconsciously to a situation that is difficult for many people in this world. Therefore, according to him, the important thing is to remember that all people in this world are stuck in the system, but all have to take responsibility to acknowledge that the resources that we are consuming today are not ours.
The exploitation and consumption of resources is followed by climate change. Today climate change is the biggest problem humans are experiencing all over the world. The response to what is happening to our environment should encourage us to protect nature. Manickam said: “If we do not take care, it is our own demise of humanity and within other species. If humans protect nature, it means that they protect themselves. Nature does not need protection, but we need it.” He believes the only way to turn this around in the long term lies not in ‘technology-infatuation’ and economic performance. It lies in a local and global sense of urgency guided by prophetic anger and public compassion. Manickam criticized several parties for this brokenness. In addition to the government, Manickam also criticizes the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which has not produced substantive change. The facts show that the situation is getting worse. Interestingly, Manickam also criticizes universities. According to him, there are more than forty thousand universities in the world, but they do not teach compassion and love for nature. The students are taught to support industries and make money in the name of economic growth.
Therefore, according to Manickam, it is the right time to develop compassion toward nature. All the things, knowledge, and value that we need are already available. It is taught by our ancestors and religions taught that every person should ask themselves, ‘Why are we here and what can we do?’. Manickam found it interesting to see the concept of Kintsugi from Japan, which can simply be conceived as the art of repairing what is broken. Kintsugi is a type of art that is quite unique in the land of cherry blossoms. Instead of making handicrafts, this branch of art repairs damaged handicrafts in an unusual way. In most cases, cracked glassware is put back together with glue. The fainter the crack, the better. However, Kintsugi uses gold to make the crack pattern more obvious. The use of materials with striking colors aims to make the damage part of the history of the object itself. For Manickam, this concept is appropriate to be applied in restoring the broken world, and it is even getting better, if people also develop their spirituality that strengthens their interconnectedness and love toward nature.
[i] Hamilton, Bonneuil, and Gemenne, The Anthropocene and the Global Environmental Crisis. p. 123
https://www.routledge.com/The-Anthropocene-and-the-Global-Environmental-Crisis-Rethinking-modernity/Hamilton-Gemenne-Bonneuil/p/book/9781138821248
Recorded Discussion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH7E5XaLdnY&list=PLnlQ3m1p5a0rQNPDJ8nrQ2YPhJ6ObgInm&index=5&t=4283s