Community, but for Its Absent Presence

Abstract

It has taken humankind a brief span of twelve millennia to bring itself to the doorstep of an epoch of the Anthropocene where, on the one hand, as we are positioned today, there is spectacular technological prowess while on the other there is the unprecedented wearing-down of its social fabric. The situation is alarming as it unfolds at the backdrop of multiple crises of planetary dimensions with the climate crisis at the top of the list. The question pressing for an answer is: Will humankind live to tell the tale? Is a course correction possible? This essay skims over the evolution of human bands for an historical perspective on the matter, going on to then argue in favour of possible solutions that may be found in what we refer to as community. Further, it suggests actions that expect us to rise above the mundane to follow the diligent directives set down for us by Nature.

Nyla Coelho, Belagavi, Karnataka; E-mail: nylasai@gmail.com