The System is Cracking:
A Global Call to Reclaim Our Humanity
By Farhad Omar | Perth, Western Australia
The world feels like it’s tilting on its axis. Not just geopolitically, but morally. In boardrooms and battlefields, in the silence of censored voices and the noise of manipulated media, something is breaking. Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, recently uttered a chilling yet hopeful phrase during an interview with Middle East Eye: "The system is cracking." Her words weren’t meant to shock. They were meant to wake us up.
She wasn’t speaking from an ivory tower. Albanese, working in a pro bono UN role, had faced sanctions and political targeting for doing what should be a basic duty of any official entrusted with human rights: asking powerful nations and corporations to obey international law. For pointing out war crimes and genocide, she became an economic “threat.” A lone voice calling out in an ecosystem that thrives on silence.
This tells us something. The ones who profit from suffering fear the truth more than anything else.
A System Engineered for Exploitation
Let’s be blunt: the current global system is not dysfunctional; it’s functioning exactly as intended. It is engineered to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a few, often at the expense of the many. From the halls of financial institutions to the architecture of global trade, this system is rooted in historical patterns of colonialism, extractive capitalism, and geopolitical dominance.
At its core lies a compact between ultra-wealthy oligarchs, multinational corporations, and state institutions. The engine that drives it is profit, and that profit is largely indifferent to human suffering, ecological devastation, or social disintegration.
The Arms Trade as Economic Policy: The international arms industry exemplifies how violence becomes a profitable business. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global military spending reached $2.24 trillion in 2022, with the U.S. alone accounting for over $877 billion (SIPRI Fact Sheet, 2023). Major arms manufacturers like Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, and Raytheon supply weapons to nations on opposing sides of conflicts, such as in Yemen and Syria. These companies receive government contracts, lobby policymakers, and in return, help perpetuate a state of constant militarisation. War is not a failure; it is a market strategy.
Big Tech and the Algorithmic Control of Truth: The digital age was once seen as a democratising force. Instead, it has become a vehicle for surveillance capitalism. Tech giants like Meta (Facebook), Google, and TikTok have constructed ecosystems where engagement metrics override ethical responsibilities. Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, exposed internal documents showing how the company’s algorithms prioritised divisive and harmful content to maximise user engagement (Haugen Testimony, U.S. Senate, 2021). Meanwhile, these same platforms collaborate with governments to suppress dissenting voices, as seen in the algorithmic censorship of Palestinian content during the 2021 Gaza bombardment (Human Rights Watch, 2021).
Climate Catastrophe and Greenwashing: Fossil fuel giants continue to rake in profits while the world burns. ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell posted combined profits exceeding $100 billion in 2022, even as wildfires, floods, and climate refugees displaced millions globally (Guardian, Feb 2023). Rather than transition meaningfully toward renewable energy, these companies invest in carbon offset markets and rebranding campaigns, classic greenwashing tactics that preserve business-as-usual. According to a report by InfluenceMap (2022), over 90% of climate-related corporate lobbying by oil and gas majors is still directed at weakening environmental regulation.
Financial Colonialism through Debt and Austerity: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, originally conceived to stabilise global markets, have often imposed austerity and structural adjustment programs that decimate public services in the Global South. A 2018 study by Oxfam revealed that 63% of IMF loans required recipient countries to cut public sector wages, pensions, or health and education funding. In countries like Ghana and Tunisia, these conditions have sparked public protests and widened inequality, reinforcing a cycle of debt dependency and economic subjugation.
Commodification of the Human Body: From big pharma monopolies to the surrogacy industry, human life and wellbeing are increasingly treated as commodities. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the monopoly of pharmaceutical giants over vaccine patents, as companies like Pfizer and Moderna posted record profits while blocking proposals to waive intellectual property rights for low-income countries (WHO & MSF joint statements, 2021). Meanwhile, underregulated industries such as cross-border surrogacy or gig work economies exploit vulnerable populations for minimal pay and legal protection.
This system isn’t simply flawed; it is exploitative by design. It thrives on manufactured scarcity, weaponised inequality, and institutionalised impunity. The beneficiaries are not nations but networks: financial speculators, military-industrial actors, data brokers, and political elites.
Yet exposure is increasing. Movements like Occupy Wall Street, #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion, and global solidarity for Palestine have revealed that public consciousness is no longer willing to remain passive. The more this system doubles down on control, the more visible its moral bankruptcy becomes.
To dismantle it, we must first name it. And then, we must refuse to be complicit in its logic.
The call for a new global order is not utopianism; it is survival. A survival that depends on uprooting exploitation and planting the seeds of justice, equity, and collective dignity.
The World Is Pushing Back
Despite the dominance of entrenched systems, a growing number of states, communities, and movements around the world are challenging the unipolar order. The long-standing dominance of the Western-led economic and political model anchored in the Washington Consensus and enforced through the IMF, World Bank, and NATO-aligned foreign policy is being actively contested.
This pushback is not a descent into chaos but a rebalancing of power, a recalibration driven by a demand for sovereignty, dignity, and new developmental paradigms.
China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the most visible signs of a shifting global order. With over 140 participating countries, the BRI has reconfigured trade routes and created new infrastructure corridors across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. This project bypasses traditional Western institutions, offering alternative financing and investment that aligns more closely with local priorities (World Bank, 2021). While not without criticism over debt diplomacy, it reflects a significant pivot in global partnerships.
BRICS Expansion and Economic Strategy: The BRICS bloc, originally Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has evolved into a political and economic counterweight to the G7 nations. In 2023, BRICS expanded to include six new members, including Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Their goal: to promote a multipolar financial system and reduce dependency on the U.S. dollar. The bloc is developing its own payment systems, proposing an alternative currency, and strengthening intra-BRICS trade, which now accounts for over 31% of global GDP (IMF, 2023).
De-dollarisation Efforts: Countries such as Russia and China are settling more international trade in local currencies, bypassing SWIFT in favour of systems like CIPS and SPFS. In 2022, the China-Russia yuan-rouble trade more than tripled. Malaysia and Indonesia have also explored local currency settlement agreements. This trend signals a deeper strategic move to avoid sanctions and U.S. financial oversight.
African and Latin American Sovereignty Movements: Across the Global South, nations are asserting economic and political independence. Bolivia’s lithium nationalisation policy under President Evo Morales, and later Luis Arce, aimed to prevent foreign extraction without national benefit. In Africa, regional blocs like ECOWAS and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) are building new cooperative frameworks. Senegal, under President Macky Sall, has advanced oil and gas resource sovereignty by renegotiating contracts with multinational firms.
Digital Sovereignty and Tech Independence: India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) model, including Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker, has become a template for low-cost digital empowerment. India now exports DPI frameworks to countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, countering dependency on Western Big Tech platforms. Meanwhile, countries like Russia and China have developed sovereign internet infrastructure, raising questions about the future of information control, but also marking a desire for digital independence.
This global awakening isn’t only about geopolitics it reflects a deeper desire for pluralism in values, governance styles, and economic strategies. Multipolarity allows civilisations with rich histories Islamic, Confucian, Indigenous, African, and others to contribute perspectives that have long been marginalised by Enlightenment universalism.
As the Western model reveals its internal contradictions growing inequality, ecological collapse, and rising authoritarianism the world is demanding alternatives. This doesn't mean replacing one empire with another. It means decentralising power itself.
And in this decentralisation lies the potential to revive ancient values like amanah, shura, and khilafah values that can guide societies toward a more humane, balanced, and spiritually grounded world order.
The pushback is no longer coming. It’s here. And it’s not chaos, it’s the birth pangs of a more multipolar and morally grounded world.
Reclaiming Vicegerency: Humanity as Stewards
The Quran declares: "Indeed, We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and feared it; but man undertook it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant" (Surah Al-Ahzab 33:72).
This verse serves as both a spiritual metaphor and a piercing critique of human arrogance. In Islamic theology, this "Trust" (Amanah) symbolises a divine responsibility entrusted uniquely to humankind to act as caretakers of the earth, upholding justice, mercy, and stewardship. But the modern world has largely rejected this sacred duty. Instead of stewardship, we see domination; instead of accountability, exploitation. The amanah has been substituted by material greed, systemic oppression, and environmental degradation.
Reviving the principle of vicegerency (khilafah) means restructuring the way we relate to each other, to power, and to the planet. Here’s what that could look like:
In governance, vicegerency reorients leadership from power accumulation to ethical guardianship. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) warned that leadership is a trust and a burden, not a privilege (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1825). Participatory models such as shura (consultative governance) promote collective decision-making, accountability, and inclusion. For example, post-revolution Tunisia experimented with citizen-led constitutional dialogues, demonstrating how public input can reframe policy.
In economics, reviving the khilafah demands an economy based on equity and mutual benefit. Islamic finance prohibits exploitative interest (riba) and encourages risk-sharing models like mudarabah (partnership) and musharakah (joint venture). Countries like Malaysia have created thriving Islamic banking sectors that balance faith-based principles with modern regulation. According to the Islamic Financial Services Board, global Islamic finance assets exceeded $2.5 trillion in 2022, proving that ethical finance can be both principled and practical.
In environmental policy, vicegerency reflects a profound ecological ethic. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) advised moderation in resource use, even when abundance is available (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 425). Islamic environmentalism, as practiced by groups like the Global Muslim Climate Network, promotes initiatives such as green mosques, sustainable farming, and zero-waste pilgrimages. Morocco’s Noor Solar Project one of the largest in the world is a state-level example of Muslim-majority countries investing in sustainable energy aligned with stewardship ideals.
In daily life and community, vicegerency inspires a culture of empathy and shared responsibility. From supporting local cooperatives to reducing consumerism and investing in youth education, individuals can live out the trust in small but meaningful ways. Grassroots movements such as Indonesia’s Pesantren Hijau (Green Islamic boarding schools) are integrating environmental sustainability with Qur’anic teachings for future generations.
Reviving the role of human beings as khalifah on earth is not a nostalgic return to premodern systems. It is a forward-looking vision rooted in ethical consciousness, collective accountability, and spiritual purpose. As Muslim scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr often argues, without a sacred cosmology, modernity becomes detached from its moral centre. Vicegerency, therefore, is not just an Islamic responsibility; it is a universal framework for healing our broken relationship with the world.
The future will not be saved by economic recovery alone. It will be saved by moral recovery.
Real Solutions Already Exist
We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Around the world, community-driven alternatives and systemic innovations are challenging the dominance of extractive capitalism and centralised governance. These initiatives reflect different worldviews, but share common values of cooperation, justice, and sustainability:
The Zapatista Movement in Mexico: Since 1994, indigenous communities in Chiapas have built autonomous governance based on dignity, land stewardship, and participatory democracy. Their "Juntas de Buen Gobierno" (Good Governance Councils) reject neoliberalism and emphasise collective decision-making, education in native languages, and local agriculture. Despite limited resources, they’ve maintained autonomy for nearly three decades (EZLN, communiques).
Well-being Budgets in Scotland and New Zealand: These governments have redefined national success not by GDP but by indicators such as mental health, environmental quality, and social cohesion. New Zealand’s 2019 "Wellbeing Budget" prioritised mental health services, indigenous Māori initiatives, and environmental resilience (New Zealand Treasury, 2019). Scotland, part of the Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo) partnership, embeds these metrics in policy-making (Scottish Government, 2022).
Takaful Systems in Southeast Asia: Islamic cooperative insurance models, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia, have grown as ethical alternatives to conventional insurance. Takaful operates on shared risk and mutual responsibility, prohibiting riba (interest), gharar (excessive uncertainty), and unethical investments. These systems are also gaining ground globally, with standards issued by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) and supported by Bank Negara Malaysia.
Decentralised Community Economies: In Indonesia’s Banyuwangi Regency, the government has empowered rural tourism villages to manage their own micro-economies and infrastructure, increasing both income and cultural preservation (World Bank, 2020). In Kerala, India, the Kudumbashree mission has organised over 4 million women into self-help groups, driving poverty reduction and social empowerment through grassroots enterprise. Meanwhile, parts of sub-Saharan Africa have turned to cooperative savings groups (ROSCAs) to build economic resilience where formal banking fails.
These models may appear modest beside the towering financial hubs of New York or the data servers of Silicon Valley, but their quiet persistence holds deep significance. Cracks in unsustainable systems often begin from the ground up. The challenge now is to amplify, replicate, and adapt these models to wider contexts, encouraging states and societies to realign toward values of trust, equity, and stewardship.
As history has shown, transformative change often germinates in the margins before entering the mainstream.
What Comes Next Depends on Us
We are living through a rare historical moment. A time when truths once whispered in corners are now being broadcast on global stages. When those who speak up like Francesca Albanese pay a high price, not because they’re wrong, but because they’re right.
The system is cracking. We can either stand on the sidelines, paralysed by fear, or we can step into our collective role as stewards of a better world.
Let this be a century of repair.
Let it be the age when vicegerency replaces greed, when balance overrides empire, and when humanity finally matures into its trust.
Because history is watching.
And our grandchildren will ask us: when the system cracked, did you help it fall, or did you help something new rise in its place?
Farhad Omar is a writer, educator, and cybersecurity professional exploring the intersection of faith, ethics, and global justice in a rapidly shifting world.
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