#02: I am waiting for a new era to be born, an era of global health

Great Grandmother – in the following, I will call her by her short form, Great G – lifts her head, which feels too heavy to bear.

For the past hour, she has stared out of the window, out in the dark cold street, her chin resting in her right hand, lost in the endless labyrinth of her thoughts. She hadn’t even noticed that a tear came out of her eyes and rolled down her wrinkled skin. It drops down to the happily flickering candle next to her, her only companion in this night and living room. The room is otherwise cloaked in heavy darkness and stillness.

Yes, she had reasons to feel depressed. Youth around the world have mobilized to protest against global leaders and a world economic system that has proven to fail to combat the most existential threat humanity faces: climate change. Yet, nothing has changed. In the headlines of newspapers, and the articles of scientific journals, she still reads about unbroken monopoly powers,[1] contemporary forms of slave labour,[2] rising temperatures and environmental degradation,[3] increasing military spending,[4] a looming debt crisis in almost a dozen developing countries,[5] and underfinanced health care systems around the globe.[6] She sighs and shakes her head. I know I focus a lot, maybe too much, on the bad things out in this world, she thinks. But still… There is no departure into a new era… Business continues as usual, putting profit maximization first…

Worst, coming closer and closer to the end of her life, she has the feeling of regret. Of failure. Of lost time. She doesn’t have the feeling that she achieved any satisfying contribution to sufficiently tackle any of the problems out in this world. She often wishes that she could turn back time. Yet, how could she have done more? In her younger ages, she closely escaped burnout several times…

The birth of a new era, an era of global health, where the financial system and real economy prioritize the well-being of people and the planet, is what she has been waiting for. When will this new era arrive? This deep desire for global betterment, the era of a happy child in every part of the world, that she hopes will be born at some point in the future, was probably the reason for the tear that left its trace on the wrinkles of her cheek minutes ago.

Suddenly, some movement out in the dark catches her attention. She moves closer to the window, its cool surface touching the tip of her nose. ‘There is something on the ground… Moving… In the light of the streetlamp… Now it is sitting up… Looking around… My Good…’

This deep desire for global betterment, the era of a happy child in every part of the world, that she hopes will be born at some point in the future, was probably the reason for the tear that left its trace on the wrinkles of her cheek minutes ago.

She gasps as she recognizes to whom the contours and moving shadows belong. ‘It’s a little girl! Just ten or twelve years old… What the heck is she doing out there? Alone like this?’ She freezes in her observing position, hesitates, thoughts rushing through her mind. Then she makes a decision. She takes her cloak and runs outside.

Suddenly, Cheeky C hears hurried steps coming closer. Before she can finish thinking about her options for hiding somewhere, long legs appear in her field of view. Her heart jumps in horror.

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Sources:

[1] See: LobbyControl. 2024. “Taken, not earned.” Available online from: https://www.lobbycontrol.de/wp-content/uploads/Taken-not-Earned-Report-2024_Davos-WEF.pdf, accessed 26 February 2024.

[2] See: The Global Slavery Index 2023. Available online from: https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/downloads/, accessed 26 February 2023.

[3] Cf: IPCC. 2021. “Climate change widespread, rapid, and intensifying – IPCC.” Available online from: https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/; accessed 15 December 2023.

[4] See: Institute for Economics & Peace. 2023. “Global Peace Index 2023: Measuring Peace in a Complex World.” Available online from: http://visionofhumanity.org/resources; accessed 15 December 2023.

[5] Cf: Reuters. 2023. “IMF-World Bank meetings: Which developing countries face debt crisis?” Reuters. Available online from: https://www.reuters.com/markets/developing-coun tries-facing-debt-crunch-2023-10-04/; accessed 29 November 2023.

[6] Cf: Mills, Anne. 2024. “Health Care Systems in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.” The New England Journal of Medicine. Available online from: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmra1110897; accessed 15 December 2023.