Aug 24, 2023 By Nick Jacobs 4 min read

Some mornings I wake up early and think about the things that will most profoundly influence the future of both our children and grandchildren.

First and foremost is climate change. Regardless of your beliefs, climate change has accelerated so quickly that without serious intervention, our planet could become uninhabitable.

My next concern comes from the fact that this country was built on different ethnicities, religions, and races. Because of that diversity, what benefits some will not necessarily benefit all. Committing to one’s beliefs should be sacrosanct. That’s the freedom upon which this country was founded. If you’re against it. Don’t do it, but don’t make laws to force others not to do whatever it is.

Ever since organized religions first appeared, we have witnessed the duality of their presence. These religions have contributed significantly to social welfare and charitable activities, a sense of community and unity. They have provided moral and ethical guideposts that include humility, compassion, honesty, and the promotion of forgiveness.

History has also shown us the dark underbelly of these same religions with the Crusades, where Christians were pitted against Muslims; the Thirty Years’ War between Protestants and Catholics in the 1600s; and the split between Pakistan and India in 1947 which resulted in incredible loss of life between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. Later came the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, and most recently the genocide in Rwanda, fueled by religions conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes, which resulted in the death of 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis.

The “My God is better than your God” syndrome continues to persist.

The author and scholar Reza Aslan has pointed out, “The mixing of religion and politics can be dangerous. It’s when the power of the religion and the power of the politics blend, the result is often not democracy, but religious oligarchy.” Former President Jimmy Carter echoed this sentiment. He said, “It’s problematic when religious values are used to justify political positions. When religious leaders get involved in partisan politics, it can undermine the broader principles of democracy.”

We’ve all seen countries like Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran where religion dictates the laws of the country. Is that our future?

I’m also worried about democracy because, when a small number of people assert disproportionate influence over the majority, societies can be torn apart. According to oft-quoted American journalist Sydney J. Harris, “Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.”

We all know that democracy is not perfect, but it still stands as a far superior system when compared to nations like Russia, Iran, North Korea, and dozens of other countries that have governments built around oligarchic or theocratic models.

Another topic of concern is the gradual devaluation of the dollar internationally, which means shifting away from the United States as the world’s currency provider. This shift might become extremely challenging. Jim Rogers, an American businessman, investor, financial commentator and author said, “I believe the dollar is going to be weaker and weaker as the world’s currency, and there has to be something else to replace it.” Yet the question remains, “What will that be?”

Finally, what I believe is the most pressing issue beyond climate change is identifying the true puppet masters, the architects of potential world dominance: the IT billionaires. Elon Musk purchased Twitter, (now X), with the help of Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Company, (KHC) and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The Chinese company Bytedance owns TikTok, and Yuri Milner, a Russian oligarch has major investments in both Facebook and Twitter. These mixed political influencers all point to the challenges we face from social media in the future. It has already displayed its power in numerous election cycles to destroy democracy on the world stage.

We need to work together toward a common good.

Nick Jacobs is a Windber resident.