THE FINANCIAL — Human history is a fascinating story of not merely the evolution of man but of human inventions which have shaped our civilisation through thousands of years. We have witnessed remarkable discoveries and inventions from the wheel, electricity, paper, gun powder to the splitting of the electronic spectrum which has triggered a host of products and services. We have also been witnesses to the invention and hoarding of atomic bombs and weapons of mass destruction.
On a different sphere, we have also created kings and tyrants from humble human beings, injected blue blood into them and categorised the entire humanity of good ordinary people into commoners who are there to serve the kingdoms and principalities and obey the tyrants who, with their paid armies and weapons, controlled large populations. When Prince William marries Kate Middleton, a commoner, or when the young King of Bhutan ties the wedding knot to yet another commoner, there is amazement, dissent and praise that a prince or a king has come down from their high citadel to marry a lowly commoner. For the media, it is a big story and millions hear and believe in a fairytale which is usually good for kindergarten children. Humans have carefully crafted, through the years, some splendid distractions which allowed some men and women to be worshiped and adored and others to be condemned to the gallows of poverty and penury.
Remarkably, there is an increasingly common parallel of kings, tyrants and commoners in modern day politics, right across the globe. And this does not seem to be a phenomenon specific to a country, a culture, or religion. The desire to dominate seems universal and has been the hallmark of human history. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, the 19th century German philosopher who propounded the theory of existentialism, nihilism and morality, and delved into the deeper consciousness of man and his search for power, gave us all a glimpse of what we all need to live with: some people’s innate desire and “Will to Power”.
Power in itself is not detrimental. It is often the expression of human potential, innovation and unbridled courage which created the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, St. Petersburg and other brilliant cities and in fact pushed men to the limits of glory in science, art, music and construction. However, power engulfed in greed, obsession, tyranny, murder, destruction and the enslavement of humanity is essentially perverse and destructive. History is full of kings gone mad, tyrants gone berserk and societies dumped by the wayside.
The 19th century philosophers in Europe saw it all coming in the descent of politics into chaos which we see in most countries today. Most African countries, emerging from their colonial past, are yet to come to grips with law and order and the adequate utilization of their resources to uplift their own people. Instead, cronyism and corruption are rampant and have come to stay as an iron grid of contemporary bureaucracy in the African continent. The Middle East, with its vast oil reserves and prosperity, is still a land of the rich and the strictly governed mass of people whose fundamental freedoms are democratically managed. The economic juggernaut China is a controlled socio-capitalist society which strongly believes in the theory of the state’s responsibility of social engineering, and perhaps rightly so. In Asia, from Burma to Thailand, from India, Pakistan to Bangladesh, governments have been hi-jacked by bureaucrats and politicians while the South American continent is a mosaic of economies and political systems somewhat de-linked from grass root realities and needs. There are exceptions, but they do pale into insignificance in the totality of the moral decay which seems to paralyze the world of politics.
The issue of morality has often been discussed at the more spiritual level by religious leaders and were confined in most part to the tenets of the Ten Commandments in Christianity, in the verses of the Quran, and the Dhammapada of Budhism. The concept of morality however seemed to have been significantly absent in the realm of business and of politics. In business, although market forces will ultimately determine the morality of pricing, products and services, discussion of morality and moral norms as important frameworks of political behaviour and conduct are deliberately absent.
Despite the fact that politics and the governors of politics, policies and programs across the world are the holders of the largest resources and are charged with the sacred responsibility of enlivening and lifting the quality of life of some 7 billion people, politics and the political institutions hardly question the moral aspect of decisions that affect millions of people, whether it be the waging of wars, destruction of nations in pursuit of some selected tyrants and terrorists, the control of mineral resources, or the subjugation of a minority people by the majority.
Morality is often a misunderstood and difficult-to-describe concept. In addition, in the world of high business and finance and high politics, introduction of morality becomes an awkward injection of an extraneous and meaningless exercise. It is also an area which is difficult to regulate and difficult to police and is often left to the individual or collective consciousness of leaders to demonstrate their capacity to be moral. In simplest terms, morality in politics or business is about ensuring that decisions made do not have adverse impact on those whose lives are governed and affected by those decisions. It is about determining on a global stage that all decisions must be human and moral and that millions should not be left to suffer or starve on account of decisions made at the high echelons of political and business power. It is about ensuring that life, in all its strength and beauty, irrespective of caste, color, religion, country or social status is sacred and that constructing a moral society where each one respects and cares for others is the ultimate goal of politics.
George Santayana’s “Those do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is worth taking note of, if the civilization we have created is to survive and prosper.
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