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4/7/2008 4:02:44 PM
Author's Home Page
Views expressed here are author"s own and not of this website. Full disclaimer is
at the bottom.
(Author is the Editor-In-Chief of Aseemaa: Journal for National Resurgence )
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If we carry on a survey with a questionnaire, with the subsequent questions in it: Why do you educate your children? Why do you work so hard? What motivates you to remember your god? What is that which impresses you to make your decision? You can easily take a bet that all the answers will be based but one factor - Money. The tentative answers for the aforesaid questions, in sequence, would be: I educate my children to ensure that get a better paying job. I work hard to confirm I earn more money. I remember god so that he gives me the financial safety. Every decision I take should ensure my financial prowess on a long term.
So there is no need for an elaborate justification to say that Money rules not just our lives but also our Institutions and other social framework, in totality. This is what I call, The unrealized siege of Capitalism. Capitalism, that which became very persevering theme after the World War II and grew to be an even major objective, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is what ruling us today.
But how good is Capitalism? No doubt it gives a great lifestyle, lots of opportunities of growth and all that. But have we ever spent time to realize its constraints? I bet - never. Why? Thats because capitalism hardly gives you any chance to think about zilch but riches.
Today the world is in the brink of disaster. We have the disproportionate amount of hydrocarbons polluting our atmosphere and corroding the life sustaining ozone layer, and creating the Greenhouse effect. This is also to increase the global temperature and then steadily, in few hundred years, set to melt all the polar icecaps in the South and North Pole, thus depleting the land mass and pushing the human life to extinction. Never the less, we are creating our own doom. But there is still a chance to save it. We just have to stop the polluting industry and machinery for this cause. Its not such a difficult task to close down those industries, but they arent closing. Why? Simply because it incurs loss!
But that is just one part of effect of capitalism. Lets assume what is happening in the social front. We all swear by our democracy, dont we? We appreciate our freedom. We say that we adhere to the finest principles of philosophy that which endures free will. We are not willing to be slaves. But how much of it do we really practice. Take this case: As per the labour laws prevailing in this country a corporate house is not supposed to employ a person more than eight hours a day. But if you peep in to those countless software and services company offering services to international clientele, all the employees are slogging like donkeys for more than ten hours to keep up with their deadlines and schedules. They might be stressed, irked or even dehydrated, yet they will not stop to complain. Why is that so? That is because they have been hired under contract that which ensures that they are not under prevailing labour laws, but paid phenomenally. They know that if they arent doing their job to the best they would loose it anytime. Well, yes, thats another matter to note that they might also loose their jobs if the company thinks that they have been over-staffed, at any given point of time. All for money honey!
Recently in Tibet, which is now under the rule of Chinese, since 1950s, thousands of Tibetans began massive protests for independence. Their cohorts in India too staged several protests, though peaceful to begin with ultimately they turned semi-violent. The Chinese Communist Party who werent believers of freedom in the first case retaliated - heavily and bloodily. The news spilled across the world through the Tibetan propaganda of human rights violations. Beijing pinned the blame for the consecutive two weeks of violence on the Dalai Lama and said he was trying to sabotage the upcoming Olympics. Dalai Lama, who had said that Olympics were an opportunity for the world to remind China for its human rights record, supported Beijings hosting of it.
To ensure that its image on the international sphere is not trashed, Chinese allowed some of the important international media in the Tibet. This they believed would an impression upon press that everything was fine and under control. But this design spun out of control when monks interrupted the media and exploded their angst against the Chinese administration. We dont have freedom of speech, we cant practice our religion here..., these people inside the monastery are cadre and not monks..., Please help us, we need freedom... they shouted. Television media portrayed this heartening scene.
But instead of supporting, and showing solidarity with, the Tibetans the Chineses vile statement against the Dalai Lama, reading Wolf in monks robe, was being justified by our communist comrades in India. Despite call by the Tibetan leader along with rightwing activists for an independent inquiry into the Chinese crack down, which latter called as Peoples War, on protesting monks in Tibet, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) failed to even discuss the issue, forget the point of taking action against Chinese administration.
On the UNSC issue Chinese diplomat said that it did not come up in the council as it does not pose threat to international peace and security. It is a domestic issue they asserted. Actually the reason for the issue not be taken up in the UNSC was because: China is a powerful veto-wielding member of the 15 member council and Washington often needs its support to get the resolutions through the body. And if you were to disagree with me on this then perhaps you need to explain as to why UNSC acted after crack down by Myanmar on its Monks asserting it posed a threat to international peace? They were more or less identical situations.
But what is that which makes China so powerful? What is that which makes it just impossible for mightier nations like Americas to intervene when they violate every single human rights law? Those crucial substances are the several industries setup by the international business houses in the Dragon land. They invested the money for the cause of cheap labour. There is cheap labour due to absence of the internationally framed labour laws. Billions of dollars are earned in profits by those conglomerates. And the same business houses are to whom the politicians have to turn to for funding their electioneering campaigns. It is a well known fact that business plays a very crucial role in the current international political scenes. And the only thing which bothers to business is returns. And because it matters to businesses it also matters to the politicians. And because it matters to politicians, they would certainly careless as to whether or not the human rights laws are implemented. Again... its all about money honey!
Sad but true. Capitalism has begun to rule over freedom and values. Lets not forget that what happened to Tibetans might happen to every one of us, should this monster of Capitalism go untamed.
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