Emancipation

Emancipation will bring joy

not only a freedom from exploitation

but a freedom to create

like two elements cross a barrier

to be in loving communion

so can humans bridge their differences

to participate in each other’s freedom

when the law of the market will loose its grip

and the law of human happiness will replace it

when someone working in Sun will be valued

as much as the one working in a posh office

when the struggle for survival is overcome

and replaced by a striving for shared flourishing

when Earth is no longer a warehouse of resources

but a fragrant abode dancing with joy

when free citizens will make power irrelevant

when love will guide justice

when differences will not be feared

when there is no asymmetry or hierarchy

when the human neither suppresses desires

nor does he over indulge the passions

when society attains a golden mean

not crossing ecological boundaries

and poverty and want will be history

this is not a romantic dream of an idiot

this is not a denial of human fragility

what it is - is a denial of a certain cynicism,

a certain wickedness, a certain pessimism

of what good is our birth if we cannot create joy,

if we cannot love, if we cannot do justice?

existence will then appear to be absurd

something without meaning, something terrible!

isn’t a child’s smile, its first steps

an evidence against such nonsense?

We cannot change the fact of oxygen, food

and digestion, respiration and circulation

but we can change the facts of society

the world is a human creation

and the humans can change the human laws

with our commitment, with our dedication

with our unwavering faith in the good and the beautiful

it is a call to break the chains of pain and sorrow

and awaken to the joy of the good and the beautiful

for long we have been sold the myth of scarcity

for long we have been afflicted with greed and meanness

what more does a human need than protection and shelter,

freedom from hunger and freedom from pain?

The Earth may not have enough minerals and oil

for everyone to have a car, a plane or a yatch

but the Earth has enough for everyone

to have a home, food, protection from elements

and when we have everything we need,

aren’t we free to create, share and thrive?

and so it is a dream of a new world

a world devoid of conflict and competition

but one of shared effort and cooperation

a new relationship, a new understanding

where domination and exploitation do not rule

where there is freedom and there is responsibility

where members of a same species are not divided

by race, gender, caste and nationalities

where a new religion of humanity reigns

where new friendships are forged

and old enmities are forgotten

where technologies do not enslave people

where they do not surveil, control, exploit or kill

but enhance the human capabilities

and reduce the human toil and effort

it is a vision of an emancipated world

where instead of a war of all against all

there is a friendship of all with all

and so unburden your mind

and lighten your heart

and let yourself be guided by love and justice

if the times seem dark have the courage,

have the sense of humour to laugh at the human folly

for it is really a folly to fight and destroy

when the existence is abundant and bountiful

it is a folly of an insecure mind that hoards

and tries to bind and control the human spirit

and know that 

however much the madmen try

the victory belongs to the free-spirited and light-hearted! 

Towards an ethics of love

There is no God. By God I mean an all-powerful force that rules over the fates of all beings. The only force that rules all beings are the laws of science. But science is limited to the physical world. It cannot explain what is truly important for human beings - their consciousness and their conscience. This difference between matter and mind is a huge schism which the contemporary world is struggling to come to terms with. But there is a possibility that the difference between matter and mind is only apparent. The difference may not hold in the final analysis. The fundamental physics is pointing to a world in which matter is not fundamental. It is pointing to a reality in which fields - the distribution of energy over stretches of space and time - are fundamental. In this view, matter arises through the interaction of different fields. The concept of fields may finally reconcile with the fact of consciousness. Consciousness in this view can be part of fundamental reality. The human body (particularly the nervous system) taps into this fundamental consciousness and gets amplified into self-awareness. This would reconcile matter and mind. This would also mean a vindication of the world-view of some religions and philosophies which sees monism or non-dualism as the fact of the world.

But such science is in the future. The unfolding of such science requires commitment to truth without prejudice either in favour of matter or in favour of mind. But to reach to that state requires that humans survive to that stage in the future. This may not be possible in the circumstances that privilege one dogma over another. Humans have developed means to annihilate the world. And the world powers are engaged in a constant struggle to dominate the Earth. This is most often masked in the language of evolution.

Evolution as envisaged by Darwin is a struggle at the level of different species and how they survive through competition and struggle. The use of this language to justify accumulation of power to safeguard oneself is a dangerous idea that can destroy the Earth. In the struggle of species, humans have won the battle long ago. Humans dominate the world. They are capable of changing the world as they seem fit. They can flatten mountains or raise the ground to build sky-towers. All of this is in their control. Yet they continue to fight. This fighting is inspired by the forces of nationalism, race, class and caste. All of these ideologies have at its core the idea that one human or a group of humans are better than others and therefore have the right to dominate and govern others. This is a fatal mistake.

This mistake is the result of exaltation of science, as it exists today with its limited scope of applicability, to an extent that it comes to govern all life. Science cannot lead us to values. Values are forged in the human consciousness. They cannot be derived from the motion of electrons or interaction of chemicals. Also, values cannot be derived from observing animals in their habitats. Humans have capacities that are not present in animals. They are self-aware and they can reason. That puts humans in a category of their own. The use of the law of the jungle to settle differences between humans is a reflection of how little human dignity is valued. All societies on Earth have their share of goons and saints. The goons are obsessed with power while saints are under the grip of the good and the beautiful.

Power has lured humans since as long as civilisation existed. The brute form of power which enslaves people into following its command has a long history. It is borne out of a belief that privileges might over good. It asserts that might is right. And the might is measured in terms of the physical damage one can exert over another. It is measured in terms of military strength. It assumes whoever is most capable of doing violence has the sanction to govern others. This is a view which is borne out of deep nihilism. It sees no intrinsic good in human life and measures human worth in terms of what humans can do for it. Once this obsession with power takes root it shapes the knowledge systems and institutions like the bureaucracy, the judiciary and the military. Disputes are settled not by virtue of the people concerned but by their ability to influence the system. This can be seen in the imperial domination of the world. And closer home it can be seen in how brutally people’s movements are crushed by the State. This is nihilism went rogue.

The only solution to this trenchant nihilism is a return to ethics. But ethics is handicapped by science because the success of science is interpreted as the demise of God. But there is no point in returning to a false idea. We must move forward. And we can only move forward when we know exactly where we stand. We stand at a place where human power has taken over human dignity. Empty ideologies rules us because we have lost our moral compass. The calculative rationality rules us, not that unbounded rationality that is borne out of deep love. The love of the world, including the human world taking note of all its imperfections, is the only anti-dote to nihilism. One who has loved and has found love in the world does not bow to any nihilism. Their love is enough to make them care and respect the world. Therefore, they open a window in the dark room of nihilism and become a living example which upholds the idea of the good, the true and the beautiful.

Hence today there is a need to recognise where we have come after centuries of thought into the real and the ethical. We cannot rely on the consolation of religion and neither can we expect from science what it cannot provide. We must take our humanity seriously and the greatest and the most beautiful fact of human life is love. We must develop an ethics of love to guide ourselves forward.