Who will make the world a better place? (Part II)

Continuing with the discussion about the protests against social and financial inequalities in different cities, a larger number of the people of the world do not agree with some western intellectuals that profit motive and capitalism are root cause of all evils. One such person is Joseph Epstein, a professor of English at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. In the following 2 paragraphs taken from his book “Ambition: The Secret Passion” published in 1980, he writes about how boring the world would be without ambition and also what is the true meaning of ambition.

“It is not difficult to imagine a world shorn [cut, clipped] of ambition. It would probably be a kinder world: without demands, without abrasions, without disappointments.  People would have time for reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity. Competition would never enter in. Conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its functions. The family would become superfluous [unnecessary] as a social unit, with all it’s former power for bringing about neurosis [an emotional disorder in which feelings of anxiety, obsessional thoughts, compulsive acts and physical complaints without objective evidence of disease in various patterns dominate the personality] drained away. Longevity [the length or duration of life] would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous [disorderly or noisy] endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from human heart.

Ah, how unbelievedly boring life would be!

We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch [era, a particular period of time], the country of our birth or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death. But within all realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live; courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift [to be carried away by the force of circumstances, wander aimlessly]. We decide what is important and what is trivial [of very little importance or value, ordinary, insignificant] in life. We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe maybe to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.”

There is another prominent person who wrote that the accumulation of riches [abundant and valuable possessions] was stewardship [looking after] of wealth that ultimately should benefit society. His name is Andrew Carnegei (1835-1919) who saw both ends of spectrum, i.e. extreme poverty and extreme wealth.

Because of development of factory system in 1840s, hand-loom weaving naturally declined and there was no work for his father so his family consisting of parents and younger brother, emigrated from Scotland to USA where his father got a job in cotton factory and he, in the age of twelve (12) years, got assignment of “bobbin-boy” [bobbin means a reel, cylinder or spool upon which yarn or thread is wound as used in spinning machine] and this was his preparation for subsequent apprenticeship as a businessman.

“I cannot tell you how proud I was when I received my first week’s own earnings, one dollar and twenty cents.”

His work was a terrible task but he wrote that he was young and had his dreams and something within always told him “That this would not, could not, should not last”.  He should “one day get into a better position” and this will make him happy. Then with the passage of time and due to his hard work he got better positions and started his own business and made a huge fortune in the steel industry. He felt responsibility for the welfare of the society and provided funds for establishment of public libraries in various parts of the United States. He also established the philanthropic Carnegei Foundation.

In the first chapter of the book he wrote that “It seems nowadays (1900 AD) a matter of universal desire that poverty should be abolished. We should be quite willing to abolish luxury, but to abolish honest, industrious, self denying poverty would be to destroy the soil upon which humans produces the virtues which enable our race a still higher civilization that it now possesses.” He also wrote that “As a rule there is more genuine satisfaction, a truer life in the humble cottages of the poor…..….. The rich boy has kind father and mother, too, and think he enjoys the sweetness of the blessings to the fullest: but this he cannot do; for the poor boy who has in his father the constant companion, tutor and model and in his mother holy name !  his nurse, teacher, guardian angel, saint all in one….. I know how sweet and happy and pure the home of honest poverty is, how free from perplexing [puzzled, confused] care, from social envies and emulations [jealous rivalries] and how united its members maybe in supporting this common interest of supporting the family”

But many people will not agree that only poor parents have divine qualities, these are universal values. Rich parents have the resources and experience so that their children achieve on merit basis better education, careers, success and happiness. One such example of parental affection is from President Asif Ali Zardari who this week went all the way to the UK and attended the annual ceremony of Edinburgh University on June 29, 2012 where his daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari graduated in the subject of English literature. She studied for four years in the Scottish University. As a mark of solidarity and respect, the students and staff of the university present in the graduation event, clapped for a minute as former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto name was mentioned.

112 years after Carnegei wrote the book, nowadays more people are above the poverty line because science, technology, provision of equal opportunities, rule of law and vibrant media have improved the living standard of majority people of the world. Better yield of genetically modified (GM) food have saved millions of people in Asia and Africa from starvation and death.

Here so many people also disagree about his ideas of abolishment of luxury. The rich people and celebrities always take healthy, nutritious but less quantity of food because they fully act on the first two parts of the quotation” if you want to be always young, eat less, chew well and lie about your age”. The wealthy people know that eating less is the secret of long life and they want to live for hundred of years because they have not yet achieved their objectives in life. So diet is never a luxury. The huge buildings are now biggest tourist attractions. The pull of the UK culture, heritage and buildings offer is estimated to be 4.5 billions pounds of inbound spending each year, about one quarter of all spending by international visitors to the UK. So the buildings are now a big source of revenue and economic activity all over the world, therefore construction of dwellings should not be considered luxury.

There are great homes built, which are initially criticized but then people are becoming proud of the construction, NYT writes about it and then these buildings after so many decades become heritage sites of UNESCO. There is one such house in Mumbai built by the Indian richest businessman. The famous writer Arundhati Roy wrote in the article “Capitalism: A Ghost Story” which was published in Dawn Islamabad on Sunday March 18, 2012.

“ “Here we are” the friend who took me there said. “Pay your respects to our new ruler.”

Antilla belongs to India’s richest man, Mukhesh Ambani. I’d read about this most expensive dwelling ever built, the 27 floors, three helipads, nine lifts, hanging gardens, ballrooms, weather rooms, gymnasiums, six floors of parking, and the six hundred servants. Nothing had prepared me for the vertical lawn –a soaring, 27-storey high, wall of grass attached to a vast metal grid. The grass was dry in patches; bits had fallen off in neat rectangles. Clearly, trickledown hadn’t worked.”

“But gush-up certainly has. That’s why in a nation of 1.2 billion, India’s 100 richest people own assets equivalent to one-forth of the GDP.

The word on the street (and in the New York Times) is, or at least was, that after all the effort and gardening, the Ambanis don’t live in Antilla.

…. Mukesh Ambani is personally worth $20 billion. He holds a majority controlling share in Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) a company with a market capitalization of $47 billion and global business interests that include petrochemicals, oil, natural gas, polyester fibre, special economic zones, fresh food retail, high schools, life sciences research and stem cell storage services.

 The RIL recently bought 95 per cent shares in Infotel, a TV consortium that controls 27 TV news and entertainment channels, including CNN-IBN, IBN Live, CNBC, IBN Lokmat, and ETV in almost every regional language. Infotel owns the only nation-wide license for 4G broadband, a high speed ‘information pipeline’ which, if the technology works, could be the future of information exchange. Mr. Ambani also owns a cricket team.”

And here is another paragraph from the same article about another industrial group of India.

“…. The Tatas, for example, run more than 100 companies in 80 countries. They are one of India’s oldest and largest private sector power companies. They own mines, gas fields, steel plants, telephone, cable TV and broadband networks, and run whole townships. They manufacture cars and trucks, own the Taj Hotel chain, Jaguar, Land Rover, a publishing company and a chain of bookstores. Their advertising tagline could easily be: “You can’t live without us”.”

Now coming back to the title “who will make the world a better place”, following is the additional information.

Queen Elizabeth II

The British nation and nations of the Commonwealth countries celebrated for four days (June 2-5) for the 60 years reign of Queen Elizabeth II who is the 40^th monarch since William the Conquer obtained the crown in England and who is the direct descendent of King Alfred the Great (871-899), William the Conquer (1066-1087) and having blood ties with nearly all Royal families of Europe.

Mr. Adam Thomson, British High Commissioner to Pakistan wrote in his message published in Dawn Islamabad, on Saturday June 2, 2012 about the diamond jubilee celebrations, which marks the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's reign [royal rule]. It would also be the 60th anniversary of when she became head of the commonwealth. 

"In 2012 we are confident that the UK will show why it is one of the most exciting places in the world to live, visit and work. And we will show why the UK is such an open, connected, dynamic and creative country, as it goes on successfully combining history and tradition with modernity and innovation – something that Her Majesty exemplifies.”

Reuters news agency wrote “Britain’s Queen Elizabeth joined an armada of 1,000 boats and more than a million cheering spectators on Sunday to celebrate her 60^th year on the throne with the most dazzling display of pageantry seen on London’s River Thames for 350 years. Pealing [long ringing] bells greeted the start of the flotilla as the queen’s gilded royal barge sailed alongside a colourful and eclectic [selected or chosen from different sources] array of boats from leisure cruisers and yachts to rowing boats, a Hawaiian war canoe [any of various small boats propelled by paddlers or sails] and Venetian gondolas [a long narrow boat having a tall ornamental stem and stern and sometimes a small cabin for passengers].

Organizers said 1.2 million people, many waving “Union Jack” flags, braved typically inclement [severe or harsh, stormy] British weather to catch a glimpse of the procession along the seven mile (11 km route) as riverbanks were turned in a blur of red, white and blue.

After four hours on the river, much of it spent standing to review the flotilla [a group of small naval vessels especially a naval unit containing two or more squadrons] passing by, the monarch was still smiling and showing a resolute “British stiff upper lip” as the event concluded in driving rain with a bitter wind.”

“Cheering crowds thronged the streets of London on Tuesday for the grand finale to four days of festivities marking Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee attended by millions across Britain.…. Millions have attended street parties, watched a spectacular 1,000-vessel pageant on the River Thames in London on Sunday and a concert in front of Buckingham Palace on Monday, all held in honour of Elizabeth II, the only British monarch other than Queen Victoria to have reigned for 60 years.”

The Queen reign has spanned 12 US presidencies. The Queen have given regular audiences to 15 British Prime Ministers. In a video posted on the White House website, President Obama said British Monarch was a living witness to the power and resilience of America’s special relationship with Britain in times of plenty and of hardship. Mr. Obama wrote “ While many Presidents and Prime Ministers have come and gone, Your Majesty reign has endured. In honour of your 60 extraordinary years on the throne, communities across the commonwealth have lit thousands of Jubilee beacons. May the light of your Majesty crown continue to reign supreme for many years to come.” 

Who will make the world a better place?

This article is written in the context of anti-capitalism protest in New York, London and some other cities of America, UK and Europe. But first we will look at the definitions of the two opposing systems.

Capitalism is an economic system in which investment and ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations as contrasted to cooperatively or state owned means of wealth.

Marxism is defined as the system of thought developed by Karl Marx along with Fredrich Engle stating that the world will ultimately be a classless society.

Mr. Eric Hobsbawm often referred as a “Marxist historian” has published his sixteenth book at the age of 94 years. He has taken title of the book “How to Change the World” from the saying of Karl Marx “Hitherto, philosophers have sought to understand the world; the point, however, is to change it”. There was a review of the book by Stefan Collini which was published in the Guardian, London on 22nd January 2011. Following is an excerpt from the review.

“From its beginnings in the 1840s, Marxism has been subject to fits of premature speculation. Marx and Engels repeatedly persuaded themselves (and some others) that the end of bourgeois society was nigh {being near, not distant}, and since Marx’s death there have been regular announcements of the “crisis of capitalism”. But each time the patient has somehow recovered and may even have grown stronger. Perhaps even Hobsbawm, coolest and most judicious of analysis, is not wholly immune to this fever when he speculates that the financial collapse of 2008 may signal the beginning of the end of capitalism as we have known it.”

There is another paper written by Paul Hollander, a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Massachusetts and an associate of Harvard’s Davis Centre of Russian and Eurasian Studies. Following are few interesting and thoughtful lines from his paper “Reflections on Communism 20 years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall”. This article was published in LA Times and Washington Post by the Cato Institute in November 2009.

“The Berlin Wall that came down 20 years ago this month was an apt [bright, likely] symbol of communism. It represented a historically unprecedented effort to prevent people from “voting with their feet” and leaving a society they rejected. The wall was only the most visible segment of a vast system of obstacles and fortifications: the Iron Curtain, which stretched for thousands of miles along the border of the “Socialist Commonwealth”.

In the aftermath of the fall of Soviet communism, many Western intellectuals believe capitalism is the root of all evil. There has been a long tradition of such animosity among Western intellectuals who gave the benefit of doubt or outright sympathy to political systems that denounced the profit motive and proclaimed their commitment to create a more humane [kind and sympathetic for humans and animals especially for the suffering of distressed] and egalitarian [belief in the equality of all human beings] society, and unselfish human beings. The failure of communist systems to improve human nature doesn’t mean that all such attempts are doomed, but improvements will be modest and are unlikely to be attained by coercion [to dominate or to control etc. especially by exploiting fear, anxiety etc.].

Soviet communism collapsed for many reason, including the economic inefficiency that resulted in chronic shortages of food and consumer goods, and pervasive [to go everywhere throughout] propaganda that routinely misrepresented the gap between theory and practice, promise and fulfillment.

The failure of Soviet communism confirms that humans motivated by lofty [proud, arrogant] ideals are capable of inflicting great suffering with a clear conscience. But communism’s collapse also suggests that under certain conditions people can tell the difference between right and wrong. The embrace and rejection of communism correspond to the spectrum of attitudes ranging from deluded [misleading the mind or judgment, deceiving] and destructive idealism to the realization that human nature precludes [to make it impossible] utopian [of pertaining to or resembling utopia, an imaginary island described in Sir Thomas More’s book Utopia , (1915) as enjoying the utmost perfection in law, politics etc. ] social arrangements and that the careful balancing of ends and means is the essential precondition of creating and preserving a decent society.”

The basic fact is that Marxist’s system is incompatible with human nature. Every person is different. Even twins have genetic variations therefore humans do not like monotonous, choiceless life.

So now coming back to the title of Who will make the world a better place, following is our list of the people for this great work. A kind of a la carte.

1.Queen Elizabeth II, leading Commonwealth, an intergovernmental organization of 54 independent states, having a total of 1.97 billion people which is 31% of world population. The organization operates under the framework of common values, committing itself to the institution of world peace, promotion of representative democracy and individual liberty, pursuit of equality and opposition to racism, fight against poverty, ignorance and disease, and [development of] free trade. Because of her wisdom and rich experience of state-craft [the art of government and diplomacy], she has guided the collective efforts to bring understanding and friendship among different countries of the world.

AP adds “Queen Elizabeth has made a pre-recorded Christmas broadcast on radio since 1952 and on television since 1957. She writes the speeches herself and the Broadcasts mark the rare occasion on which the queen voices her own opinion without government consultation.

[For]the theme of her broadcast in December 2011-family-, Elizabeth spoke of the strength family can provide during times of hardship and how friendship are often formed in difficult times. She pointed to the Commonwealth nations as an example that family “does not necessarily mean blood relatives but often a description of a community.”

Her role in life is apt [likely] to be one of great responsibility and Queen Elizabeth II takes her tasks very seriously. Certain heaviness weighs on her because of this. She may have been unusually ambitious or mature at a tender age. Queen Elizabeth II advances and attains her aspirations through dedication and perseverance, rather than fortune.

Innovation, discovery, originality, experimentation, and opening up new channels of understanding are important aspects of her life's work. Queen Elizabeth's ambitions in life, as well as the way she achieves those goals, are unique or "alternative". Concerned with future trends and the new, Queen Elizabeth II is apt [unusually intelligent; able to learn quickly and easily] to be ahead of her time in many respects.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Ali Treki expressed their gratitude at the Queen’s visit on 7th July 2010 and praised her sense of duty and tireless public service she has demonstrated throughout the years. Before the Queen spoke, she was welcomed by Ban Ki-moon, who hailed the queen that in "a churning and changing world", she was "an anchor for our age”. Ban called her “a living symbol of grace, constancy and dignity.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that her reign spanned the decades “from the Beatles to Beckham,” a reference to English soccer star David Beckham, and from “television to Twitter.”

Following are the excerpts from some of the articles written about the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year Cassandra Vinograd wrote in Huffington Post on February,5, 2012 “Queen Elizabeth II marked her Diamond Jubilee on Monday with a message thanking all those who had supported her over her 60-year reign and reaffirming her dedication to serving the British people. She wrote in a message to the nation. "In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope that we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship and good neighborliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see throughout my reign."

Stephen Bates wrote in The Guardian, on Monday February 6, 2012,with the title ‘Queen is 'dedicating herself anew' as diamond jubilee year begins’ that “The Queen message says "Today, as I mark 60 years as your Queen, I am writing to thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and Prince Philip over these years and to tell you how deeply moved we have been to receive so many kind messages about the diamond jubilee.”

“I hope also that this jubilee year will be a time to give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear heads and warm hearts as we join together in our celebrations. I send my sincere good wishes to you all."

Responding, [UK’s Prime Minister] David Cameron praised the Queen's dignity and authority, guiding and uniting Britain and the Commonwealth over six decades. "Always dedicated, always resolute and always respected, she is a source of wisdom and continuity," he said. David Cameron added “All my life and for the lives of most people in this country she has always been there for us. Today and this year we have the chance to say thank you."The main focus of the celebrations will be the first weekend in June [2012], extended by two successive bank holidays, when there will be a riverboat pageant of 1,000 vessels sailing down the Thames through London, expected to be attended by a million spectators, an open-air concert at Buckingham Palace, and a service at St Paul's Cathedral.”

In the Telegraph View, dated February 3, 2012, under the title ‘A majestic success in an age of turmoil’ ,it is written that “…to have reached this milestone is an extraordinary achievement, as well as a testament to her family’s longevity. Only one other British monarch has done so previously: Queen Victoria, whose Diamond Jubilee was celebrated in 1897. The event, which included a grand naval review at Spithead in which 135 vessels took part, was celebrated, as Jan Morris has written, “as a festival of imperial strength, splendour and unity – a mammoth [huge; enormous; immensely] exhibition of power, in a capital that loved things to be colossal [gigantic; huge; large]”.

The ceremonials in June [2012] to mark our own Queen’s Jubilee may be somewhat less grandiose, but they will be spectacular none the less: the river pageant [an elaborate public spectacle illustrative of the history of a place, institution or the like often given in dramatic form or as a costumed procession of colourful floats forming part of the public or social festivities.] along the Thames, for example, will be a sight not seen in London for centuries.”

2. President Barack Hussein Obama’s commitments for scientific research and strong financial and health care support for millions of people of vulnerable sections of the American Society.

3. The new Czar of Russia Vladimir Putin pioneering capitalistic system in Russia so that his people are more prosperous and happy.

4. President of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao improving the working conditions so his country is becoming the second biggest economy of the world.

5. UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon. Envisioned by president, D. Roosevelt the job of UN secretary general as “world moderator” Ban ki Moon is leading United Nations since 2007 the international organization of 193 member states. UN aims for cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights and achievement

of world peace.

6. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s belief that the entrepreneurial culture and innovative ideas of free markets should be the dynamic force for improvement of the world economy.

7. Speaker John Boehner, one of the architects of Contract with America document including the American Dream restoration act and legal reform act, who strongly support fiscal discipline and no increase in taxes.

8. Pope Benedict XVI reaffirming the importance of prayers in the face of activism and the growing secularism.

9. King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia guidance to the 1.5 billion Muslims of the world not to call Muslims of other sects “Kafir [non-believers]”

10. Imam Khomeni belief of “justice for everyone in the world”.

11. The king of digital era, American Business Magnate [a person of great influence, importance or standing in a particular enterprise, field of business etc.], Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Author and chief software architect William Henry “Bill” Gates III efforts of making capitalism more creative so that lives of billions of people are improved and social and financial inequalities are reduced in the world.

12. President Asif Ali Khan Zardari emphasis on “politics of reconciliation” in his country. This word of reconciliation from the president will become in coming years the mantra [a word or formula to be recited or sung] in other countries as well.

13. American Biologist and Entrepreneur Craig Venter and other scientists, engineers and biologists creating life forms or ‘biodevices‘ that could change the world.

14. Lee Smolin a theoretical physicist work on the quantum theory of gravity, Quantum Computers, the future of the nature of the universe and what would happen in the next 50 years.

The above leaders who are sponsors of the future along with hundreds other celebrities are inspiring millions of people to make the world a better place so that every adult should have a job, every person have a neighbor and everyone is happy and have the feeling of nirvana.

Following are the three meaning of the word ‘nirvana’ stated in Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary.

1. Salvation through the union of Atman [individual self] with Brahman, the impersonal supreme being, the primal source and ultimate goal of all beings [Allah, God].

2. Freedom from the suffering as a result of extinction of individual passion, hatred and delusion [deception].

3. A place or state characterized by freedom from or oblivion to [forgetting] pain, worry and the external world.

Hum dekhangay, tum bhi dekhogay…

[We shall see, you will also see….]

Lyrics from a new popular song full of hope, from the Pakistani band, ‘Strings’.