Prafulla Kumar Mohanty
Man is free and sacred: This is the basic truth in both the Western and Eastern Intellectual Traditions. By freedom is not meant political freedom although that too is built into the spirit of Freedom which leads to self-fulfillment. Freedom and sanctity lead man to create value systems which govern, moderate and move civilizations in a dynamic harmony. This harmony was the central focus of globalization. It was visualized by some persons like Martin Luther King (Jr.) that mankind will move in a circle, children of all hues and ideologies holding each other's hand and singing of universal brotherhood will march like God's soldiers to carve out a new paradise. But those dreams are now effette. Globalization has been checkmated by nations too self-immersed to think of others. Globalization was purely a business proposition of late capitalism. It has failed to make the globe a human hub where mutual respect and tolerance were to be the bonding factors. The latest scene in a dramatic freeze is seen at North Korea, much to the chagrin of the tolerance brigade.
The human being in the present day world is either keenly observed by the state or totally ignored. Those ignored are unworthy specimens of humanity not worth a camera eye. But those who have some value to project, some ideas to promote, some words to propagate or money and power to flaunt- are always watched .Along with them the normal passionless, middle path man is also watched as he could be a potential follower of the endowed men and women. It's the fear of dispossession which prompts the powers that be to keep a close watch on people. When one walks on the road the CCTV camera catches his movements. When one buys provisions in a market or saunters into a Mall the hidden camera follows him/her into all corners. Airport, Hotel, School, College, Railway station, Bus-stand, a dining place or even in a friend's house we are followed, photographed and recorded as though we are spies, thieves, murderers, rapists or enemies of the state.In short man has no privacy, not a moment for himself to check on his own identity. Is this the civilization we aspired for?
`No man is an island', true, but no man is a thoroughfare either.The sanctity and freedom of an individual must be protected by the state, not spied into or usurped:For only in the moments of privacy the world of a sensitive being expands into love, poetry and other creative genres which sustain civilization. Man today is naked, all his hairy details are maneuvered and manipulated, all his numbers on chips, cards and plastic are operated upon to reduce him to a zero. Obey, bend, kneel in unprotesting silence or be a guest in Tihar.
Is this what we struggled for over the centuries?
Man is free and sacred: This is the basic truth in both the Western and Eastern Intellectual Traditions. By freedom is not meant political freedom although that too is built into the spirit of Freedom which leads to self-fulfillment. Freedom and sanctity lead man to create value systems which govern, moderate and move civilizations in a dynamic harmony. This harmony was the central focus of globalization. It was visualized by some persons like Martin Luther King (Jr.) that mankind will move in a circle, children of all hues and ideologies holding each other's hand and singing of universal brotherhood will march like God's soldiers to carve out a new paradise. But those dreams are now effette. Globalization has been checkmated by nations too self-immersed to think of others. Globalization was purely a business proposition of late capitalism. It has failed to make the globe a human hub where mutual respect and tolerance were to be the bonding factors. The latest scene in a dramatic freeze is seen at North Korea, much to the chagrin of the tolerance brigade.
The human being in the present day world is either keenly observed by the state or totally ignored. Those ignored are unworthy specimens of humanity not worth a camera eye. But those who have some value to project, some ideas to promote, some words to propagate or money and power to flaunt- are always watched .Along with them the normal passionless, middle path man is also watched as he could be a potential follower of the endowed men and women. It's the fear of dispossession which prompts the powers that be to keep a close watch on people. When one walks on the road the CCTV camera catches his movements. When one buys provisions in a market or saunters into a Mall the hidden camera follows him/her into all corners. Airport, Hotel, School, College, Railway station, Bus-stand, a dining place or even in a friend's house we are followed, photographed and recorded as though we are spies, thieves, murderers, rapists or enemies of the state.In short man has no privacy, not a moment for himself to check on his own identity. Is this the civilization we aspired for?
`No man is an island', true, but no man is a thoroughfare either.The sanctity and freedom of an individual must be protected by the state, not spied into or usurped:For only in the moments of privacy the world of a sensitive being expands into love, poetry and other creative genres which sustain civilization. Man today is naked, all his hairy details are maneuvered and manipulated, all his numbers on chips, cards and plastic are operated upon to reduce him to a zero. Obey, bend, kneel in unprotesting silence or be a guest in Tihar.
Is this what we struggled for over the centuries?
No, why should we feel so humiliated and trampled over, spied into or usurped? An individual's most delicate passions , feelings and ambitions are kept safely guarded like a pearl in the oyster, inside his own self where no cctv or scanner can reach. He is " the monarch" of all he surveys.
ReplyDeletePrafulla Bhai, I loved this column of yours. There are very few people in the world today who have the ability to engage coherently with such abstract ideas as freedom, love and beauty. It is always wonderful to hear your thoughts on such notions.
ReplyDeleteNow for a slightly different take on freedom: economic philosophers have been much concerned with this idea. In recent years, the person who has talked of it the most is, of course, our very own Amartya Sen. He received his much deserved Nobel award in 1998, somewhat later than he should have, as is felt by many serious scholars around the world. It is often the case that after receiving this award, many creative persons fall silent.
It was different in the case of Amartya. In 2000 he came out with his major book 'Development as Freedom'. The simple, yet fundamental, idea he develops here is the notion that 'economic development in its nature is an increase in freedom'.
Warm regards,
Kuna