Saad Khurshid
The concept of social contracts started in the Renaissance. Philosopher Thomas Hobbes stated in his book, Leviathan (1651), about the mandatory need for social contracts to establish rules and regulations against the state of nature. These mandatory prerequisites established absolute monarchies in Europe.with the passage of time society evolved from simple to complex structure where it has posed new frontier of potential dynamics.In the age of digital technologies, climate change, data colonies and a multipolar world, we need a new social contract based on the structure and context of 21st century society. As Humanity has reached its climax. This climax is most volatile. We don’t know how economies will change in the next day, or how political systems will evolve in The Big Bang of Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, and the changing ecosystem demonstrates the continuously changing nature of our society. It is one of the most dangerous times we are living in. Stability in thought, cognitive dissonance and an unsustainable future are the agenda of today’s writing. At the same time, we expect a sustainable and resilient future. The equation to ensure sustainability demands speculative thinking which is characterised by imaginative powers, counterfactual instincts, future visions and emotional enablement. Speculative thinking requires creative abilities, an innovative mindset, and empathy. We live in an age of climate disaster. Climate change is creating unprecedented and undeniable challenges for everyone. July was the hottest month in the last 120,000 years, according to published data in Foreign Affairs in August 2023. About 42% of the world’s calories come from rice, wheat and corn. Yields of these crops will probably decline as temperatures increase and drastic circumstances become more frequent, such as the flooding in Pakistan in 2022 that left a third of the nation underwater, destroying its rice and cotton yields. To shore up its protection against overall hunger, we need to invest more in the growth and diffusion of climate-resilient grains and less water-intensive harvests. The state must also operate to diversify supply chains, providing that if one agricultural hub suffers, alternative bases for food are functional. The provision of clean air and a good environment should be the priority of the state for all subjects. These challenges require a new social contract that must be based on curing the coming age of climate disasters. Pakistan’s relevance in the digital realm is minimalist. In the age of digital identities, AI and machine learning, the common individual of the Pakistani state is becoming irrelevant in the global world. The Big Bang was the revolutionary point in the creation of our universe. AI is the new big bang in the 21st century. It will create a new world, from the political to the social realm. The state should be responsible for equipping individuals in such a way that they can cope with the coming mechanisms of AI. The idea of a new social contract is based on the fact that we need a new contract with the state in the digital world. Primary and secondary education should be mandated to include AI knowledge.In the 21st century, Internet is crucial for expansion and economic fortune. However, in areas like KP, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan, connectivity problems hinder income, freelancing and digitization, which are important for economic exuberance. The absence of Internet, even 3G, in Pakistan, poses a challenge. Access to Internet should be a basic right in a new social contract for the current era. Our focus is just on the physical economy extracted from earth sources. There is huge potential for a blue economy in Pakistan. Different natural rivers, lakes and sea coastal areas have tremendous untapped potential to contribute to economic performance. It is needed to divert the thinking abilities and channel the procedural research and development mindset for diversification of the economy. Speculative design in which future thinking and employing for meaningful contribution is a matter of discussion can be utilized for blue economy. Another steps must be include that harnessing everyone talent is not just an issue of fairness;it is also good for the economy.fir instance better use of all the talent in society explain between 20 t 40 percent of the productivity gain in the US economy between 1960 to 2010. by giving opportunity to citizen a state can save the jobs with precarious skills.for example AI is the job dis-placer we need to make a new social contract where humans could have security from displacement in jobs , they need to be re skilled for the futuristic sustainability. The coming decade is all about markets volatility, climate disruptions, employment displacement, innovative changes, and emotional instability. We need to develop social safety nets around these issues, and enable our youth with opportunities and accessibility to new markets and models with creative and active learners. In short, we need new educational policy to sustain new paradigms of thinking, expressing and adjusting. New educational policy should premise over the Social Innovation Education, Speculative Design and Sustainability. Pakistan needs to adapt speculative thinking at domestic level from policymakers to coming researchers so that we can deal with future challenges. A new social contract is not about higher taxes,more redistribution, and the bigger welfare state. It is about fundamentally reordering and equalizing how opportunity and security across society.This would increase productivity and share risk about climate, economy and social dynamics we should tex the things we want less of like carbon and smoking , and subsiding thing we want more of we want more like education and green economy , giving everyone the opportunity to use their talent and contribute reduces the need for redistribution later..
