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“All lives, no matter where they are
being lead, have equal value.“ Simple words. Significant
meaning. What makes them even more significant is the fact that these words are
not of a philosopher, nor a politician or just another philanthropist. These are
the words of the richest couple in the world-Bill and Melinda Gates.
All of us have certain desires
blossoming in our hearts. So had this man. He made a great fortune during his
career for himself, his family, his enterprise, and at a stage in his life - for
people. He realized his duty towards humanity. He realized that every person on
this earth had a right to live with dignity and that many were being denied this
right.
We have long heard of
interdependence of men on each other. That is what forms a society. Similar
people club together. There is a multitude of classification: rich, beggars,
women, children and old people.
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What makes us all human? The capacity of language,
empathy, internal dialogue and emotions. However, before we were capable of such
characteristics, we first needed to develop consciousness. It is consciousness
that establishes our understanding of self and other. How we interact with
others depends on our upbringing, our inherent nature, mood and the
surroundings. It’s this ability to interact, in whichever way possible, that
makes one capable of knowing other people, or at times helps us to be cognizant
with our surroundings.
Do we really care if we see a
half clad beggar shivering in the chilly winters? Pity is what strikes the
mind at this sight. And most of us pass on, leaving the thought to perish in an
hour or sometimes even minutes. At the most, we would blame the system or we
would give him alms. Martin Luther King Jr has said: “We are still called upon
to give aid to the beggar who finds himself in misery and agony on life's
highway. But one day, we must ask the question of whether an edifice which
produces beggars must not be restructured and refurbished."
The problem which plagues mankind
today arises precisely from the absurdity that, on one side, all that is needed
for a secure social life is available and yet, on the other side, social life
remains what it was: a sea of dirt, baseness, irrationality and misery. We don’t
live in a perfect, utopian society where everyone loves everyone else and wants
to make the world a better place to live in. There are way more reasons to cry
than rejoice. It seems that even as technical knowledge expands the horizon of
man’s thought, his autonomy as an individual, his imagination power, his
independent judgment appear to be reduced. Advance in technical facilities for
enlightenment is accompanied by a process of dehumanization. Thus progress
threatens to nullify the very goal it is supposed to realize — the idea of man.
Most people cower and move within the corners of their life, as injustice sweeps
its contagious evil across communities. The worst part of all is, injustice
today, is being done by those who, yesterday, did nothing to stop it.
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Our future as a species, with
such an epidemic of behavior, doesn’t take a quantum physicist to extrapolate.
If we don’t start motivating people on all fronts to activate the courage in
their hearts and minds; the last conscious standing up, will still perish…by
suicide. A quick look at history, and of present day situations, will cause a
stress fracture on the spine of anyone with a social consciousness. But stand up
we must - en masse - to share the burden - distribute the weight - to push to
social momentum in the direction of economic democracy and in turn ecological
sustainability. And rather despair than surrender. |
“It is not the consciousness of
men that determines their existence, but, on the contrary, their social
existence determines their consciousness”- Karl Marx. Our existence and
non-existence are very much affected by how well we are aware of the things
around us socially. Each of us needs to ask this question to oneself. The answer
lies within.
Contributed By:
Jyotika,
a 20 year old Delhite
jyotika138@yahoo.com
In search of path, I, a crusader..In the ways of life, I, a traitor..
Wrung to be where I don’t belong..Take life as it’s gifted by the creator..
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