Georgia’s current geopolitical stance, giving preference to the unaffected sovereignty of the country, sounds attractive and deserves admiration, with the hope that national freedom and independence will be enjoyed as a sustainable socio-political position. On the other hand, Georgia is an integral part of the flagrantly globalized world, which exudes permanent and unmitigated influence on any nation on our planet, including Sakartvelo. Meanwhile, a global tendency is becoming clearly noticeable: the youth are loath to have families of their own because family is no longer seen as a value, as it is believed to hamper personal freedom and stunt self-development. If this kind of attitude persists in our society, Georgia’s future might become a little murky, because a strong traditional family is a powerful prerequisite for a demographic boom, without which our ethnic and cultural survival is merely impossible. Thinking more optimistically, panicking about demography as something catastrophic and describing the situation as unmanageable is not quite healthy—as the saying has it, if there is a will, there is a way.
Here goes another issue of acute concern: The West is broken up into hundreds of groups, each having its own values and its own truth, because there is no unified understanding of good and evil in a fragmented world. Speaking in more general terms, modern social culture emphasizes individualism and materialism, leading to feelings of loneliness, isolation, and nervous breakdowns due to unshared moral standards. Moreover, there is growing concern about a sharp increase in the number of older people and a decrease in the number of working-age individuals, economic strain, population decline, rising mental health issues, increased rates of anxiety and depression, the pressures of modern life, and a general tiredness of life, all of this accompanied by political polarization and economic inequality, loss of traditional or foundational values, and a shift toward consumerism, all of which have the potential for a pernicious impact on our people.
At the same time, Western society, which we tend to consider ourselves part of, is still suggesting longer life expectancies as well as continued scientific and technological advancements. The West is still upheld as a beacon of democracy and human rights, with continuous progress in areas such as civil rights, gender equality, and the reduction of racism and sexism. The continued global influence of Western ideas remains in place, and the desire of many nations to align with the West and emulate it is still strong, all of which can be beneficial to us too, provided we are capable of adopting these ideas and attitudes. In a word, the situation is a complex structural challenge with both severe risks and potential opportunities—and this is not all.
Research identifies several interconnected factors that contribute to a lack of confidence in the future among youth worldwide, which also has a certain bearing on the life and overall stance of the younger generation of this nation. Among these factors can be counted economic issues such as rising prices for products, services, and housing, education and healthcare, combined with stagnant wages and unwarranted scarcity of jobs. Climate change is a major source of stress, especially in the West, with many young people suffering from feelings of worry, powerlessness, and hopelessness regarding the planet’s future. Social and digital pressure is also a factor, such as the intensive use of social media, triggering depression and loneliness, persistent feelings of sadness, or hopelessness. Some recent reports indicate that young people are less happy than older generations in many Western nations, which could be true in this country too. According to other research, children and adolescents around the world fear that current global crises will persist, making their lives worse. As a consequence, the trend of self-harm among young people tends to increase in many developed regions.
Debates on these issues are regular and ubiquitous, and Sakartvelo is not lagging behind. This nation is speaking loudly about any issue that the world has adopted as a topic of controversy, although not every new norm is taken for granted. For instance, gender-neutral parenting and egalitarian and non-binary family structures are not readily accepted by our society, which decidedly refuses to reject traditional gender ideology, although we might sporadically hear arguments that gender neutrality could be a logical progression of modernization. Many Georgians would still insist that Western culture is simultaneously distorting gender perceptions, sometimes to the detriment of masculinity.
Finally, the entire narrative above leads to the viewpoint that globalization encourages a shift toward so-called World Citizenship, a.k.a. cosmopolitics, which is not quite accepted or recognized by the majority of our people. Western intellectuals tend to emphasize global justice, environmental stewardship, and human rights over what they see as the narrow-minded indigenous interests of the nation-state, but this perspective faces strong resistance from those advocating national sovereignty and tradition. Opponents believe that the cosmopolitan attitude often imposes a Western style of life and ignores cultural differences, arguing that the nation-state remains the only valid political and administrative unit. Yet what can one do with the fact that individuals now connect globally thanks to modern technology, meaning that digital cosmopolitanism is taking the world into its hands? Thus, a very tricky question may arise: what is left for Sakartvelo to do—succumb or continue resisting?
Op-Ed by Nugzar B. Ruhadze
