Understanding World Order: In quest of a just one

I have always been intrigued and appalled with the inequality in the world. Since time immemorial, efforts have been made to propose to justify the existing inequality as also to change it. The efforts are still on and hence this small effort to understand the subject.

Human beings having evolved out of animals have many instincts from lineage.  Since humans have better mind skills than all the other animals, they have tried to live in societies that share common behavior, rituals, customs etc. In times that life was simple, where living meant, mere existence, there was this animal instinct of getting the prey before anyone else could get it. The prey could then be shared by the immediate family. This feeling of proving better than the contenders is innate.

In order to calm down their behavior, humans have tried many a thing. One of the most important things that humans devised was the fear of the super natural. It took various manifestations, religions being their most explicit outcome. Since religions of the world came at different times in history, they have also tried to enforce their way of practice and spirituality to be better than the existing ones. Not contending the spiritual aspect of religion, religions have also been guided by the innate human nature of being one up! The effort of religions to calm down and channelize human behavior cannot however be denied.

Humans have flocked together in form of tribes, kingdoms, dictatorships, democracies et al to organize themselves and be governed by a few others, either with force or voluntarily. Human beings have come a long way from exploring civilizations to exploring the outer space. In the process we have tried to change the status-quo to bring about a change, sometimes gradual and at others sudden. A very important milestone in human development was the Industrial Revolution of the mid 18^th to 19^th centuries. The way things were produced, made available and consumed transformed dramatically. New factories with mechanized mode of production led to creation of jobs and eventually improving standards of living. Around the same time, Britain was experiencing the Agricultural Revolution which further provided impetus to the industrial growth. With the requirement of more and more raw material arose the need to explore new shores to suffice it.

The rising demands of new industries in Britain and other European countries led to colonization of countries in Africa and Asia to bring in slave labor and rich resources. Simultaneously, the industrial revolution gave rise to the elite industrialist class, the middle class and the working class. With the ruling class already asserting itself to defend its hegemony over other social classes led to making a very complex ecosystem. The ecosystem of exploitation for maximum profit thus came into force creating conflicts of interest. This was the beginning of the capitalist era. Though capitalism started of great providing much required elevation of standards of living for the common good of all, it soon led to greater inequalities. A new world order was in place dependent on industrial might and capabilities of countries. This world order was further augmented with the military capabilities of the countries.

With the capitalist world order in place combined with the imperialist tendencies of the powerful countries to maintain their hegemony, various theories were proposed and propounded by scholars around the world to better understand the system and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. In the late 19^th century, one of the most prominent theories was postulated by Karl Marx who was later joined by Fredrick Engels. This theory came to be known as communism. Its first practical manifestation was seen in the establishment of Soviet Union which saw Vladimir Lenin lead the Bolsheviks to form the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic which was later know as USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republic). It was the first time that a system had emerged to challenge the status-quo of capitalist mode of society. It was founded on the premises of socialism and equality with the centralized control in the hands of the representatives of the proletariat (the working class). With centralized control and meticulous planning, the USSR economy made an all round growth and came out to become a major world power. A few other countries like China, Cuba, Laos and North Korea adopted a similar model of governance.

Threatened by the prowess the communist model was gaining, the United States of America and its allies were exerting their influence to halt the process. This led to the formation of the Western Bloc headed by USA and its NATO allies and the Eastern Bloc headed by USSR and its allies. This confrontation led to the period known as cold war. This was the period two different world orders were in place led by two powerful countries. However, there were still many nations not committing to either bloc as well. The cold war continued till finally the USSR was dislodged in 1991. There have been numerous discussions and critiques to evaluate the circumstances leading to the fall of the Soviet Union. The most important critical attributes of the model were its lack of freedom and democracy. Ever since, we are again in a single major world order, the capitalist model or the free-market model.

That the communist model has not succeeded in its pure form is for everyone to see but the failure of the capitalist model is yet to be realized and understood. Never the less, the communist model has given us great results for societal development. The forces of vested interest are doing their best to reinforce the capitalist model to keep the plunder of mankind and nature going alike. As human beings we must imbibe virtues of compassion and empathy for the furtherance of common good. The society we live in is becoming more and more materialistic and self-centered. There is a genuine fear that we are all loosing humanity getting high on the dose of pseudo-freedom.

Let us stop, and think, to establish a new world order which is more equal and less power hungry, a world which is more compassionate and works less on leaving someone behind. It is agreed that competition is very important but let us not forget that we must first make it a level playing field or else it is not a fair play. A system which is fair, having representative democracy empowering the working class and removes the wealth from the hands of a few is the need of our times. Our blind chase to acquire more has already eroded much of the environment and more of our souls! Let us make an effort to make world a better place to live. We have proved time and again that if we want to achieve something, we can do it by coming together. I know it is a dream but we can all make it our goal and work for it in our own unique way. I am hopeful that this dream will come true…………

Demonetization: Feel the heat as it comes

Eradication of black money is a Big Dream for any common man in India, one of the major planks upon which the BJP government came to power in May 2014. Having faced the heat all this time for not doing anything for the objective, the demonetization of higher denomination notes of Rupee 500 and 1000 notes was launched on the eve of 8^th of November by the PM, Sh. Narendra Modi. The appeal was emotional and intended to address the nation to inform that the time had come to fulfill their longstanding dream, wiping out of black money. The action resounded with one and all with a great appeal except those, of course, those who were actually hoarding illegal cash. The markets went into frenzy with hoarders actually trying to dispose off their ill-gotten cash and traders, shopkeepers and jewellers making the best out of it.

Then came the resentment from the political parties in the opposition. It is quite possible that seeing the assembly elections coming, the opposition political parties might have seen the action as an attack on their election campaign funding. Election campaign funding is a dark area which is not under the IT department and is an important area of investigation in the crackdown against black money. However, there were other right reasons too which made the opposition parties protest. The ruling party itself is alleged to have secured its funds prior to launching the scheme.

The first to feel the heat were the people at the bottom of the pan, the poorest of poor who struggle hard to make two square meals a day. Then as the days have passed, other sections of the society like farmers, small traders, shopkeepers and others have started feeling the heat. All this time, the masses are jostling against each other to somehow exchange their defunct notes or withdraw some cash. There are still many who are holding their breath to see their dream come true. Slowly, though for sure, the heat is conducting its way up. It is however, yet to be seen, if people can withstand the heat before they give up.

There are some very prominent questions which need to be answered like, why was the scheme so unplanned that we see so much chaos all around? , what was the need to launch Rupee 2000 note which is not currently acceptable in the market since there is not enough cash to tender change?, how will the big fish be netted in this scheme as they would have means to split their cash and/or convert into other assets and could get away? All these and many more questions arising every now and then will require an answer or else the Big Dream of the common man stands shattered. The stakes are big and so is the task. In all this, what is most painful is, that we have lost virtues like empathy and compassion to feel others pain and that, we need to burn our fingers to feel the heat!

'Modi Raj': Sensationalism's Child

It was May 2014 that the Modi government came to power with a massive mandate. It was primarily because of an anti-incumbency atmosphere and vigorous campaign by the BJP promising the moon. The election rhetoric was all around and many a folk feeling that India is going to transform. Looking back two and a half years from now, it is quite clear that not much has been changed for the better but quite the opposite of that. Not surprising though, the Right wing thinking is the one of status-quo. But the way BJP ministers and RSS representatives have spewed venom; the whole atmosphere stands sensationalized and vitiated as it challenges the very fabric of Indian society. The country whose preamble has pillars resting on Sovereignty, Socialism, Secularism and Democracy cannot afford any ideology forcing implementation of an antithesis. It is only because of the principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution that India stands bonded together. The people looking for divisive bigotry can only break and not unite the country. The talk of ‘Akhand Bharat’ is more of rhetoric than having any good standing of realization.

The way the January 2016, Pathankot Airbase attack happened has left many questions unanswered. The execution of investigations including the visit of Pakistani agencies with no tangible results only leads to understand that it was all to create frenzy for delusional motives.

Also in early 2016, the way Rohith Vemula’s suicide and JNU episode was portrayed was extremely condemnable to say the least. From Smt. Smriti Irani delivering theatrical speech regarding Rohith’s suicide in the parliament, to questions of stopping funding of Central Universities, to raising of National Flag at all Central Universities, to putting JNU student leaders behind bars on the basis of doctored tapes nothing substantial come out of all the hoopla!

The Kashmir valley is shut for the past almost four months since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Burhan Wani. The way the uprising has been handled is for everyone to see. Notably, rhetoric and jingoism created around the whole incident has only lead to deterioration of the situation. The negation of the Kashmir issue being there by the Indian establishment is the biggest issue. It has to be recognized and solution through dialogue with all stakeholders must to be devised. It is in India’s best interest to win over the people of Kashmir by including them into the mainstream rather than confrontation with them. The militants are making great gains in the alienated Kashmiri people having serious repercussions for India.

The recent Uri attack, which lead to the martyring of nineteen Indian Army soldiers has lead to the worsening of Indo-Pak relations. It was definitely a very serious security lapse which has not been given due attention. Instead, the ‘surgical strikes’ by the Indian Army have been made into a political mileage point. Again, the sensationalism created by the incident has been used for delusional purposes.

The current demonetization ‘drama’ is also part of the typical Modi government stunt to create an atmosphere of frantic activity. Ironically, the black money controlled by the crony capitalists and their political servants are sitting safe who actually control the government. There is no way that this demonetization drive can actually tap in substantial black money. But, this drama might just end up to be a self goal for the government as it is creating a lot of restlessness and resentment.
In the whole process of the ‘Modi Raj’ the biggest blow has come to democracy with the intolerance to dissent, discussion and debate. The real issues like illiteracy, unemployment, exploitation of workers, deplorable conditions of farmers, marginalization of the tribal dalits et al are being sidelined. Just to mention one recent incident, the Inspector General of Madhya Pradesh police is allegedly building up a false case against a Delhi University professor for instigating murder of a tribal. The matter is sub judice.

It is high time India rises above the divisions and resolves to be one before the forces of bigotry inflict irreparable damage. Jai Hind!!