“If we have no peace it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” — Mother Teresa
There were a group of kids who had gathered to play. Parents were finally able to grab a breath after having to deal non cessantly with the kids. There was a jar of chocolate for all kids who were present. A ‘smart’ kid saw the jar and before anyone could notice, subjugated it thereby not allowing anyone to even come near it. The rest of the kids could barely contain their morose and began wailing. This could’ve been averted had the kid who taken control over the chocolate jar had been a bit more sharing, which then could’ve transcended the happiness of the entire group present. Here best for an individual certainly doesn’t seem to be the best for the ‘society’ present.
There’s also a story in Christian mythology in which Jesus takes five loaves of bread and two fishes from a boy and feeds the multitude. While looking up to the heavens and thanking the Lord, He breaks the food and distributes it and miraculously reaches everyone’s belly. Looking at it from biblical point of view the boy with the food had ‘enough’ for himself but he trusted His holiness and this resulted in the feeding of the masses including the boy which indeed was best for the ‘society’.
Right from the inception of early men on this planet, survival was their basic motto. The chances of survival increased significantly when one was part of a tribe. Being a ‘lone wolf’ did not seem an eager prospect those days essentially for survival. There was too much for an individual to fight against, for starters being weather and predators. This argument is equally valid for wild animals too. Most of the animals in the wild travel in packs or groups and will always do anything to protect their territories. Consider one specific instance of lions. The lions typically roam in a ‘pride’ consisting nearly of two to three males and five to ten females along with their cubs. The lions hunt in groups and share their food. Now if a male lion gets a bit ahead of himself and thinks of hoarding all the foods to himself i.e best for an individual, the outcomes are not very favourable for him. The hoarding of food will cause a red flag among the females and they band together, viciously attack the male lion and seize the food i.e best for the society.
As time grew on, the early men started banding together to form civilizations and with civilizations along with a plethora of positive aspect comes one negative aspect i.e dictatorship. Dictators are rulers who exercise excessive oppressive, cruel and even abusive powers over the people. The term ‘Dictator’ was first used in ancient Rome which referred to the magistrates who were given absolute power over a limited time to deal with social or political emergencies. During this time one of the most popular dictators of ancient Rome called Julius Caesar came to power who decreed himself to be the dictator for life in a bid to gain uncontested power. This did not sit well with Roman nobles who feared that he will destroy the republic nature of their state and hence assassinated him. But little did they know that the republic died along with Julius Caesar as his successors too went on to hold extreme powers of the State. The lust for power of a single man i.e Julius Caesar and his belief for what was best for him caused a cascade effect
which was continued by his successors, thereby causing the Roman empire to lose its republican nature and was subsequently ruled by autocrats for a long time.
Along with the passage of time there came several dictators who were a blight in the name of humanity. Some of them include Ivan IV or Ivan The Terrible (famous for arbitrarily killing anyone he considered a threat), Oliver Cromwell (regicidal dictator of Britain), Genghis Khan (one of the most famous mass murderer in history), etc. Although history is replete with benevolent rulers who cared for nothing but the upliftment of their subjects whose periods saw science and arts flourish like anything. But again there are the dark days because of dictators who in their bid to gain unequivocal power essentially redefined humanity in the worst possible avenue known. Being oppressed became a norm for the people who had little to no rights whatsoever.
With the transcendence of civic societies and general awareness, people in the middle ages might’ve hoped that dictatorship might be curbed in the future but that was not exactly the case. Given a right mix of ambition along with a few ladles of mental illness seems to be the right recipe for creating a tyrant dictator. As expected dictatorship did not end and the 20th century saw some of the worst dictators ever seen by mankind the likes of which include Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, etc all of whom had caused innumerable amount of sufferings to the guiltless people. Though most of the countries people today live a peaceful and dignified there is still an autocratic country which exists as an absolute blot on humanity and that is North Korea. It is still a shocker that such a country exists even in this modern world. Human Rights group and many other organizations including people who have defected describe the horrors, excruciating sufferings and deplorable way of life which are beyond description while the life led by the royals of North Korea is nothing short of gloat and glamour. This is the stark example in today’s world where best for an individual is not at all the best for the society at large.
Corporations are formed out of individuals who share similar visions about the future. A rule of thumb states that individuals who are good at heart go on to create companies which always strives for the betterment of humanity. This is one of their most important mission statements. And on the other hand questionable humans create corporations which only focusses on increasing its market share and maximizing profits. These companies put on a façade that they are humanitarian in nature and that they align with the general interest of the greater good all the while leeching on human financial life and environmental resources. These companies won’t even hesitate to bankrupt a man because his bills are due even at times of pandemic or cut down trees in a conserved swathe of land just to setup a factory. And the worst of all there is no one to question the ethics of these companies as most of the times they are backed by corrupt politicians who back them in their endeavours. Clearly the best intentions for the society or earth at large have long been adrift of these corporations.
The situation of the world can be alluded to a popular film called ‘The Platform’. It depicted a world in which the residents resided in a tower on various levels with the rich being on the upper levels and the poor on the lower levels. Food was brought down on a platform for people on all the levels but there was a catch. The catch was there was enough food for everyone if and only if every-single-person took his/her required share and not more. We live in an imperfect world and
these utopian scenarios can never be imagined. People hoarded more than enough food as a matter of fact on the upper levels while due to lack of food the lower levels become barbarous.
“When something is important enough you do it, even if the odds are not in your favour.” — Elon Musk
After seeing all this it might seem that the odds against good men and corporations are insurmountable. That they have no hope of ever getting an upper hand against these mighty behemoths, but one must not be so quick to judge. Many influential individuals such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Richard Branson, Phil Knight and other extremely wealthy individuals have joined The Giving Pledge where they would be donating more than half of their fortunes for the amelioration of the underprivileged people of the world. Many companies are going green with their practices and trying to become people centric as much as can be possible economically. Individuals like Elon Musk have made it their life’s mission to completely dedicate themselves and their companies for the advancement of the human race. These kinds of trailblazers indeed instill the hope in people that the future will indeed be a better place where not only humans but earth as a whole thrives.
The recent pandemic of corona virus that the world is going through has deeply upset our natural order. The only effective ‘vaccine’ against it right now is social distancing. Although this pandemic has caused one of the greatest afflictions to human history, humanity as whole had never been bonded together in this fashion to fight the virus. Countries no matter if they are developed or developing, if they have excess of medicines or medical equipment are sharing with other nations. Also most of the people have been following lockdown and social distancing to the letter. Watching people follow the rules is the scene which brings extreme joy and confidence that we for the sake of our fellow brethren will follow the curbs imposed on us. We are all in this together and we will not relinquish our wills in this dire crisis. This seems to be one of the rarest instances in the entire human history where people of this world have joined hands to fight this virus. This pandemic will serve as a dramatic example which shook people out of their apathy. The new world order will now pivot on human health and prosperity more than ever. One can only hope for a better world when things settle down. Maybe we’ll finally comprehend the words of John F Kennedy, “The world is very different now. For man finally holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.”