Why is a proactive society so much better than a reactive one?

If you frequently wonder why our society is so reactive, you are not alone! Most of the working time spent by, for example, politicians, NGOs, social researchers and technicians is focused on trying to fix problems that should not have existed in the first place, or should have been considerably smaller, in a well functioning society. In fact, if we add all the costs and working time spent on global challenges and societal problems, they stand for a large part of the world activity. Further, all these problems create enormous individual suffering.

I suppose that few people take the time to distance themselves from their life, and try to understand our civilization from an outside position. When you are doing this you notice how absurd a lot of things are. I will not describe them here because you have heard them time after time. They cover subjects such as inequality, criminality, violence, oppression, obesity and overweight, drug addiction, welfare diseases, mental illness, poverty, environment, climate, speculation, exploitation of resources, overconsumption, and hundreds of others. Some of them are so absurd that you seriously question if humans should rule this planet. Take one example. We know with certainty that our planet will, perhaps tomorrow, be hit by a super strong solar storm that has the capacity to destroy all or a majority of transformers in the electricity grid as well as circuit boards in all vehicles, tools, machines, computers and other appliances. According to a military report from 2011 (Electromagnetic Pulse - A catastrophic threat to the homeland) quote "two-thirds of the population would die from starvation, disease, and societal breakdown" in such an incident. Despite this huge risk humanity is electrifying every area of society.

So, what does a proactive society mean? It means that people make wise decisions, regardless if the issue concerns yourself, your family, your peer group, your city, your region, your nation or the whole planet. It means that society is designed in a way that eliminates or substantially reduces social problems and global challenges. It means that people have a high capacity to foresee, understand and act upon all kinds of issues in a way that is long-term and favorable for all involved.

A proactive society saves trillions of dollars a year on a planetary scale and hours of working per individual each day. A proactive society leads to a happy and thriving population. And a proactive society creates a truly sustainable and resilient society.