Collins Dictionary chose 'Permacrisis' as 2022 word of the year

The definition of "permacrisis" is “an extended period of instability and insecurity.” The Collins Dictionary chose it as its word of the year for 2022. It's one of a few words they've highlighted that refer to the ongoing crises. We all know what they are: political instability, the Ukraine war, climate change and climate activism, not to mention inflation, energy and the rising the cost of living. This isn't actually a full-out crisis yet. This permacrisis is giving us a taste of things to come. The real real crisis is still a few years off. But clearly the decline is well underway.

We could prevent the crises if we really wanted to. But since we only care about our own interests, we can't agree on comprehensive solutions.?

We could prevent the crises if we really wanted to. But since we only care about our own interests, we can't agree on comprehensive solutions. When the real crisis emerges a few years down the road, it won't distinguish between the people who tried to prevent the crises and everyone else - it will hit us all equally.

The wealthy parts of society have the means to prevent all this from happening - but they're not suffering. They understand that there are clouds on the horizon, but since there's no immediate danger, they just go with the flow. No one asks too many questions, such as where are we headed? No one knows the answer but it's clearly not going to have a happy ending at this rate.

Cohesion Is The Key Word

We don't need any special skills or knowledge to solve the crises. We don't even need a lot of money. All we need is to agree to work together to come up with a suitable plan for actually solving all these crises. It's time to finally accept that since division is our main problem, cohesion is the solution. We can continue to keep our heads in the sand but it will cost us.

It's time to finally accept that since division is our main problem, cohesion is the solution.

It's incredible that you don't see anyone really panicking about all the crises. It's human nature to wait for the last minute, to hang on to the familiar and hope for the best. But when we say “best”, what we really mean is “best for me” - while life promotes what is best for everyone.

If we learned to care about others and wanted to improve everyone’s lives, we would align ourselves with reality instead of fighting it. That's the key to eliminating all the crises. Our personal and local crises would disappear since all the crises around us would be gone. They're all mainly due to our stubbornness, so just imagine what will happen when we learn to balance each other out.

The "permacrisis" is not about climate change, a local war, or inflation. It's the result of our narcissism. When we stop trying to improve things only for ourselves, and start searching for ways to help everyone, we will help ourselves as well. Instead of living in a state of permacrisis we'll discover how to prosper in the new era.