Equality is the cherished dream of mankind. "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" was what led to the great French revolution. But the inherent nature of human being, the self interest and the individualistic aspect of human nature which has been glorified by the the western idea of rights would not let the equality come to all. It would remain only in theory and not in practice what F.W. Riggs called the formalism would continue to be the order of the society. The idea of equality is conditional. when a class, a group wants to be equal to a class/group which is higher than itself in the social or economic aspects but at the same time it wants to elude the people of the lower stature socially or economically to be equal to it. The so called middle caste Hindus fight for moving up in the social ladder and demands to be treated as equal by the caste Hindus in India's rural areas but they commit atrocities against the Dalits and underprivileged lower caste Hindus if the former assert their right to equality and life with dignity. How can we then call this a universal right may be it is a conditional one, something which one can assert when somebody claims to be superior and forget it while claiming their own superiority. This thinking is so much ingrained in our minds that our political and economic systems and even the education system propagates it and does not allow the equality to become a universal principle. Second important factor which is a nothing but a wrapper of cunning self interest is the consumerism, the so called material prosperity that has been gifted to us by the globalization. Capitalism by nature propagates the inequality. The sheer purpose to gain more and more profit leads to the exploitation of the masses, and those who benefit from it then by their economic power controls the political system of the country which makes such policies which increase this divide by benefiting the already rich and pushing the rest in the poverty. The example of tribal people in India shows that how a category of people are systematically displaced from their properties for the benefit of other classes. Be it between urban or rural, tribal or non-tribal the equality is difficult to find while the differences of treatment are evident. In the name of development and facades of health and education facilities, employment the tribal are being pushed into non-skilled labor market and then exploited. The government who claims to represent all the people living in the territory of India is facilitating this gross injustice done to its own people. Here the idea of equality changes, and the people who have resided for ages in the forests and forced to sacrifice their livelihood for the people who lives in city for the progress of India which they are part of, but who does not care for them, who exploits them. More often than not they ask themselves and others are they the only one who has to sacrifice ? have city people living in Delhis and Mumbais ever sacrificed anything for them who becomes their countrymen only when they needs minerals ?
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Work
"Work is Worship" is an age old saying which implies the importance that has been given to work. As per Geeta without Karma (work) the world cannot exist.But what this work mean ? Work in modern world mean any activity that consume physical or mental energy for the production of some goods or services is called work. But the concept of work has not been same all the time. the number of activities and theier type and their nature has constantly changed from premodern world to the modern world.The other aspect of work is who works on what activities for example we have many
activities to be done in our society, some produces food, some processes food, some make crafts, others work on factories etc.The type of work also affects your social position and economic wellbeing. sometimes the choices are forced and sometime an individual is free to choose the type
of work depending upon is ability. We may cite here examples of dalits who despite availablity of other jobs are forced to do the traditional job which their caste has been doing the the priviledged caste hindus. work determines the economic relations between people and thus the social relations. Even the matrimonial relations are affected by work. A prestigious family would not marry their son to the daughter of working class family or a upper class family girl would find difficult to marry a boy who is not earning sufficient or the kind of job he is doing.
In ancient India work division was done on the basis of birth, people who were born in a particular caste had to do the work that people of that caste have been doing for all his life. He had no choices. the type of work was very important as people who were doning manual work were througt
to be inferior while those engaged in non-physical work like teaching, fighing, governing wre treated with much respect and awe. they commanded higher position in the society like brahmins who were the teachers and the kshatriyas who were the governors.Its the work and birth to a caste(which
defined work to be done) which led to the expoitation of the lower caste people who were engaged in menial jobs.
but after the advent of industrialization and urbanization there were many new kinds of works generated. The new factories needed workers in large numbers, and many lower caste people got the chance escape the stigma attached with thier work, to move up in the ladder of heirarchy in the society.Industrialization also brought change in the ownership of work. In contrast to the earlier practice of working at home, in fields people now worked on workshop. they did not own
now their creation but they sold their labor. This marks the dismissal of ownership a worker had on the product he produced which was now transferred to the factory owner. There has always been values attached to the work that a person do. this value could be prestige of guilt.
We see in today's world that a white color job is treated as a prestigious job, a government job is a prestigious job on the other hand working as a washerman, a shoe mender has a negative sense attached to it. In India there has always been a contempt for the physical labour.
which is not true for all cultures for example in Judaism physical work is respected more than the non-physical work. Such values also have impact on the values of work and on the lives of people who do these jobs. thus we see the work affects every aspect of a person's life and also society as a whole.
activities to be done in our society, some produces food, some processes food, some make crafts, others work on factories etc.The type of work also affects your social position and economic wellbeing. sometimes the choices are forced and sometime an individual is free to choose the type
of work depending upon is ability. We may cite here examples of dalits who despite availablity of other jobs are forced to do the traditional job which their caste has been doing the the priviledged caste hindus. work determines the economic relations between people and thus the social relations. Even the matrimonial relations are affected by work. A prestigious family would not marry their son to the daughter of working class family or a upper class family girl would find difficult to marry a boy who is not earning sufficient or the kind of job he is doing.
In ancient India work division was done on the basis of birth, people who were born in a particular caste had to do the work that people of that caste have been doing for all his life. He had no choices. the type of work was very important as people who were doning manual work were througt
to be inferior while those engaged in non-physical work like teaching, fighing, governing wre treated with much respect and awe. they commanded higher position in the society like brahmins who were the teachers and the kshatriyas who were the governors.Its the work and birth to a caste(which
defined work to be done) which led to the expoitation of the lower caste people who were engaged in menial jobs.
but after the advent of industrialization and urbanization there were many new kinds of works generated. The new factories needed workers in large numbers, and many lower caste people got the chance escape the stigma attached with thier work, to move up in the ladder of heirarchy in the society.Industrialization also brought change in the ownership of work. In contrast to the earlier practice of working at home, in fields people now worked on workshop. they did not own
now their creation but they sold their labor. This marks the dismissal of ownership a worker had on the product he produced which was now transferred to the factory owner. There has always been values attached to the work that a person do. this value could be prestige of guilt.
We see in today's world that a white color job is treated as a prestigious job, a government job is a prestigious job on the other hand working as a washerman, a shoe mender has a negative sense attached to it. In India there has always been a contempt for the physical labour.
which is not true for all cultures for example in Judaism physical work is respected more than the non-physical work. Such values also have impact on the values of work and on the lives of people who do these jobs. thus we see the work affects every aspect of a person's life and also society as a whole.
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