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 18th to 19th 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 19th 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…………
