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.”