Today we see tensions and conflicts in many parts of the world, caused by internal strife and external pressures, which affect the lives of ordinary people. The former colonial order has disintegrated, giving way to countries which – in theory – are sovereign. A sovereign country should aim to improve the lives of her citizens, but the country is also affected by pressures from the outside. Meanwhile, the old colonial powers find their own backyards affected by globalization, leading to backlash against immigrants. Western power is being challenged by emerging nations which have come together to resist hegemony and improve the lives of their citizens.
We all seem to be visited by that famous Chinese curse: Mayyou live in interesting times!
In this context, our friend Jayram Daya shares his insights from his hometown of Standerton in South Africa. Readers are invited to post their views as comments.
Last week, Srini discussed ‘politics of management’. Clearly, almost every agent in that kind of a political environment has hidden motives, or personal agenda. An agent’s personal agenda must be kept hidden, quite simply because it is not aligned with organizational goals; discussing it openly would let the cat out of the bag – and allow others to plot against it.
Srini made it clear that one learns about such politics only when one gets into the real word – which is where one runs into conflicting human motives. Text-book knowledge of management principles cannot impart the valuable lessons which real life experience does. In text-books, human beings are assumed to take up some idealized roles – as ‘director’, ‘manager’ … and so on. Real human emotions and motives cannot be captured in text-books.
This is the life story, in its distilled essence, of Mrs. Margaret Thatcher – a highly talented, strong, outstanding individual; the first ever woman Prime Minister of Great Britain; and the longest serving Prime Minister of that country in the previous century.
In addition to narrating her life story, however, in this post we shall attempt something audacious. We shall compare the stages of her illustrious life with the four-state roadmap (see here). Why do we want do that? The answer is very simple: Because that comparison throws light on human life.
The previous post (here) touched upon one’s duties, responsibilities and moral accountability. Can the burden of Karma – of accountability for one’s actions – be transferred to another by the ties of marriage, family, clan, friendship, business, money, politics … or whatever else?
The answer is, ‘NO. Karma is strictly an individual matter’. But, as we know, a desperate person will try anything to avoid the inevitable payback for his wrong actions, including attempts to deflect the payback to others.
[This post outlines a current trend which we feel should be watched. To keep it from becoming too long to hold the reader’s interest, we have not included the factual evidence which proves the trend. For the interested reader, we have provided brief allusions to evidence available on the internet. Readers are welcome to also request us for more specific explanations.]
The United States of America (US) rates itself as ‘an exceptional and indispensable nation’. Statements made by US presidents from Ronald Reagan onwards – easily searchable on the web – make this attitude clear to anyone who can put two and two together and get the right answer. During his time on the world stage, Barack Obama said: ‘I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being’. His method was to speak with so much panache that people would not notice the inherent absurdity.
‘We should send arms and ammunition to Ukraine because that will create thousands of jobs in dozens of states.’ – So said some high US government officials very recently. A few minutes of calm reflection shows how pathetic that reasoning is, coming from high US government officials.
There will always be economic inequalities in any society. Why? Quite simply because there are incredibly huge differences among people’s outlook on life, the importance they attach to wealth, their ambitions, their good and bad habits, the social pressures they experience … and so on and on.
Dreaming of an ideal society in which there are no economic inequalities is therefore being naive, foolish – or both! The dream does not match reality.
So then what does a person do? Does one simply sit with folded hands and shed tears that the world is not constructed according to one’s ideals?
The so-called One China Policy, as currently defined by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and apparently accepted by global power-mongers, is a crass statement of superpower aspirations, racism and xenophobia. People around the world do not speak up against this policy because they fear upsetting “the dragon”, or losing lucrative business opportunities and investments from China. The questionable basis of the policy is never discussed.
seeker-of-root-causes 