Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Note
The last few posts have all been on related issues and have been of a quite serious nature. So as to not bore to death the few readers I have (I think there are a few), I'll try to make the next one completely different from these on both those counts.
"They"
I guess shifting blame and shirking responsibilities comes naturally to all of us. We're so good at it that even we don't catch ourselves doing it. There are some commonly used expressions that I wish to discuss in this context.
The first two are expressions that refer to those who are the cause of all of the world's misery - 'THEY' or 'PEOPLE'. The mysterious 'THEY' are everywhere and at the root of every problem but are surprisingly invisible to us, or so it would seem. We are quick to blame everything from bad roads to global warming on 'THEIR' apathy. Yet if any of us should be asked to name 'THEM', we'd be hard pressed for answers. The fact of the matter is that 'THEY' is a subconscious euphemism for 'WE'. It's a means of dissociating ourselves from wrongs and therefore from the responsibility of righting those wrongs.
Another commonly misused expression is "in the good old days". Truth is there were never better or worse times. In the larger context of human history, the world has always been just as bright/dark a place as it is today. Granted that there were fluctuations now and then but those are merely temporally localized events...a product of the randomness that characterizes the universe (of course, I'm glad to have skipped the historical times of the world wars and other such world-shaping disasters). However we use phrases such as "in those days" to imply that our predecessors lived in a better time than ours and hence we have a tougher prospect on our hands when it comes to making changes. Another excuse for our laziness!
In fact, we've become so comfortable within our myopic cocoon that should one of us be willing to try and change things, we ridicule him as a fool and an idealist.
The first two are expressions that refer to those who are the cause of all of the world's misery - 'THEY' or 'PEOPLE'. The mysterious 'THEY' are everywhere and at the root of every problem but are surprisingly invisible to us, or so it would seem. We are quick to blame everything from bad roads to global warming on 'THEIR' apathy. Yet if any of us should be asked to name 'THEM', we'd be hard pressed for answers. The fact of the matter is that 'THEY' is a subconscious euphemism for 'WE'. It's a means of dissociating ourselves from wrongs and therefore from the responsibility of righting those wrongs.
Another commonly misused expression is "in the good old days". Truth is there were never better or worse times. In the larger context of human history, the world has always been just as bright/dark a place as it is today. Granted that there were fluctuations now and then but those are merely temporally localized events...a product of the randomness that characterizes the universe (of course, I'm glad to have skipped the historical times of the world wars and other such world-shaping disasters). However we use phrases such as "in those days" to imply that our predecessors lived in a better time than ours and hence we have a tougher prospect on our hands when it comes to making changes. Another excuse for our laziness!
In fact, we've become so comfortable within our myopic cocoon that should one of us be willing to try and change things, we ridicule him as a fool and an idealist.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Welfare state
A friend of mine sent me this story about a successful corn farmer who would share his seeds with his neighbours even though they were his competitors at the annual agricultural contest. When asked why helped his neighbours, he replied that it was important for his neighbours to grow good corn so that his crop would be cross-pollinated with good pollen. A simple allegory with deep implications.
This simple allegory reminded me of debates with my friends over the kind of economy that is preferrable, especially in a developing country. I am of the opinion that it's better to have high taxes that pay for welfare measures for the people (such as free education for everyone, subsidized medical care etc).
There are those who feel they'd rather the government left things alone and didn't tax people much. In my mind, such a model would only result in continued widening of the gap between rich and poor. The consequences of such a disparity between classes can only be violence and unrest. These would in turn lead to mass histeria - the people will willingly allow themselves to be controlled, desperate for security or at least an illusion of it... even at the cost of their lierties. Attempts to quell the violence without alleviating the misery that spring is it will only result in its perpetuation. End result: FASCIST POLICE STATE or ANARCHY - either way, it will ultimately lead to a downward spiral. This is a point I've alreay made in my previous post - Cycle of Violence.
Only by sharing the fruits of development equally among all levels of the socio-economic spectrum can equality be attained. Growth will be sustainable only if everybody benefits from it equally. To achieve this, taxation is a viable and ultimately fair means of redistributing wealth. Ultimately everyone has to be happy for anyone to be happy. There will always be the dissatisfied among us, but we can at least eliminate the desperate. We must remember, great deeds are accomplished when mortals strive for ideals.
PS. I am, by no stretch of imagination, an alarmist. There are things that we should be concerned about and our concern must result in action, in change. There is no point in getting scared and running around flapping.
PPS. I'm no commie either. I'm all for supporting individual achievement and to hell with state ownership...nobody's comin near my stuff...ever! All I'm saying is that the spirit of philanthropy in us (those without it must change, if at least for selfish reasons) must be reflected in the system of our economy.
This simple allegory reminded me of debates with my friends over the kind of economy that is preferrable, especially in a developing country. I am of the opinion that it's better to have high taxes that pay for welfare measures for the people (such as free education for everyone, subsidized medical care etc).
There are those who feel they'd rather the government left things alone and didn't tax people much. In my mind, such a model would only result in continued widening of the gap between rich and poor. The consequences of such a disparity between classes can only be violence and unrest. These would in turn lead to mass histeria - the people will willingly allow themselves to be controlled, desperate for security or at least an illusion of it... even at the cost of their lierties. Attempts to quell the violence without alleviating the misery that spring is it will only result in its perpetuation. End result: FASCIST POLICE STATE or ANARCHY - either way, it will ultimately lead to a downward spiral. This is a point I've alreay made in my previous post - Cycle of Violence.
Only by sharing the fruits of development equally among all levels of the socio-economic spectrum can equality be attained. Growth will be sustainable only if everybody benefits from it equally. To achieve this, taxation is a viable and ultimately fair means of redistributing wealth. Ultimately everyone has to be happy for anyone to be happy. There will always be the dissatisfied among us, but we can at least eliminate the desperate. We must remember, great deeds are accomplished when mortals strive for ideals.
PS. I am, by no stretch of imagination, an alarmist. There are things that we should be concerned about and our concern must result in action, in change. There is no point in getting scared and running around flapping.
PPS. I'm no commie either. I'm all for supporting individual achievement and to hell with state ownership...nobody's comin near my stuff...ever! All I'm saying is that the spirit of philanthropy in us (those without it must change, if at least for selfish reasons) must be reflected in the system of our economy.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Cycle of violence
With all the talk of fundamentalist threats and conspiracy theories in the air right now, terrorism is on everyone's mind...well almost everyone. But why is terrorism such a big problem in today’s world? How do we find a solution? Here's my take on the issue.
Violence is inherent in nature and malice and covetousness have been the cause of untold bloodshed since the dawn of man. Therein lies the root of the matter. Despite all the talk of equality, it's in human nature to crave the opposite. On the one hand each one of us wants to 'be better' than others, have more than others. On the other, we crave larger-than-life figures to follow, heroes and leaders - so that we may avoid the burden of searching for a vision, a purpose in life. This very laziness to seek the truth is also the why people choose a myopic view of life and limit their goals to success as defined by the norms of a material society - fame, fortune, whatever. So people, out of their moral laziness, resign themselves to lesser pursuits and become consumed by the trappings of their chosen paths - be it religion, money, power. Once trapped by such pursuits, people use the very limitations of their vision to justify immoral acts.
In the context of today's world, there are the economically strong, the worshippers of Mammon, who care only about enriching their coffers and insulate themselves from the consequences of their actions through their elitism. The consequence that such 'men' remain blissfully ignorant of is the economically weak majority being deprived of basic human needs and rights. The oppressed are pushed to a point where they are so bereft of dignity that they are more than willing to believe in any cause which offers that little hint of hope. For many, holding on to such hopes is the only way to survive through hard times. Often, such people are captivated by false messiahs who need do no more than point their finger and give people a target, real or imagined, to blame their troubles on. Instead of helping people work towards solving their problems, these leaders merely perpetuate the pointless venting of anger through violence and hatred. Violent crimes, perpetrated by desperate men, in the name of their beliefs, spread fear that drives the very machinery of oppression which lies at the root of the problem. 'Terrorists' and their like merely provide a pretext for the greedy and power-hungry to retain their grip on people and continue sucking the sap out of society.
Thus we are left with a vicious circle of greed, desperation, lies, fear and violence that perpetuates itself by feeding on innocent lives. Such a society can not be sustained indefinitely. Unless we recognize the root of the issue and right the fundamental wrongs, a lasting peace can not be achieved.
Violence is inherent in nature and malice and covetousness have been the cause of untold bloodshed since the dawn of man. Therein lies the root of the matter. Despite all the talk of equality, it's in human nature to crave the opposite. On the one hand each one of us wants to 'be better' than others, have more than others. On the other, we crave larger-than-life figures to follow, heroes and leaders - so that we may avoid the burden of searching for a vision, a purpose in life. This very laziness to seek the truth is also the why people choose a myopic view of life and limit their goals to success as defined by the norms of a material society - fame, fortune, whatever. So people, out of their moral laziness, resign themselves to lesser pursuits and become consumed by the trappings of their chosen paths - be it religion, money, power. Once trapped by such pursuits, people use the very limitations of their vision to justify immoral acts.
In the context of today's world, there are the economically strong, the worshippers of Mammon, who care only about enriching their coffers and insulate themselves from the consequences of their actions through their elitism. The consequence that such 'men' remain blissfully ignorant of is the economically weak majority being deprived of basic human needs and rights. The oppressed are pushed to a point where they are so bereft of dignity that they are more than willing to believe in any cause which offers that little hint of hope. For many, holding on to such hopes is the only way to survive through hard times. Often, such people are captivated by false messiahs who need do no more than point their finger and give people a target, real or imagined, to blame their troubles on. Instead of helping people work towards solving their problems, these leaders merely perpetuate the pointless venting of anger through violence and hatred. Violent crimes, perpetrated by desperate men, in the name of their beliefs, spread fear that drives the very machinery of oppression which lies at the root of the problem. 'Terrorists' and their like merely provide a pretext for the greedy and power-hungry to retain their grip on people and continue sucking the sap out of society.
Thus we are left with a vicious circle of greed, desperation, lies, fear and violence that perpetuates itself by feeding on innocent lives. Such a society can not be sustained indefinitely. Unless we recognize the root of the issue and right the fundamental wrongs, a lasting peace can not be achieved.
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