BIG ideas for a better World

China’s communism is full of bloody history in the second half of 20th century. I am shocked to know that all the numbers (of death) are in crores (tens of millions) on various activities of Mao. I don’t know what exactly the left-wing political philosophy is. I just briefly went thru some of the ideologies and the biographical accounts of China’s autocratic leader Mao Zedong, who ruled the country till his death in mid 1970s and was appalled to learn about this blood history of China within the last about 70 years.

Cumulatively the official as well as the unreported death toll might have been close to 100 million. There are many hardcore leftists, Maoists, communists etc in even in India, even among my friends who supposedly have “good” intentions to “reform” the “society” towards a “positive” direction. I don’t know what exactly their philosophy is. But from the way they argue I can see that, many of their “ideals” and views are flawed and illogical. They have been thoroughly brainwashed with these deep-rooted “ideals” and philosophies. May be I need to study them more in depth to come to a more mature understanding of all these so called “left wing” and “right wing” politics to conclude whether (at least part of) either or both the philosophies are beneficial or harmful to the world. Here I am not talking, with rigid opinions, against or in favor of any ideologies or views.

But one thing I can definitely say is there is a “plenty” of scope for fresh and new Thought Leadership in the politics of 21th century. We need to critically examine the history and political systems from various parts of the world. At the same time we must keep in mind India’s unique and diverse cultural and spiritual heritage to devise systems that suit our country’s developmental needs in this century. What worked elsewhere might not work well in India or every other country. Because every country in this world has a unique culture and heritage, which would have both good and bad aspects in them. There is no point in copying too many things / systems that were adopted by other countries. We can learn from the success as well as the failure of various political and legal systems in India and elsewhere.

As I said earlier we must evolve policies and systems that suit any country’s unique needs. Just “political scientists”, or “legal experts” educated at Oxford, Cambridge, JNU etc alone can not do it because they are too much used to specific subjects taught in their education. They would view the world from their own limited prism. In the debate for better systems we need to include experts from diverse backgrounds including but not limited to quantum physicists and mathematicians (You may think they may not know much about the politics or related subjects thus irrelevant in this policy making. But yes, that is exactly their strength… so that they can think freely without pre-conceived notions. History tells that physicists have always developed out-of-the box solutions in almost every field, even if it is not their core domain!), engineers, historians, anthropologists, artists etc. Most importantly such debates and brain storming sessions must include Spiritual Leaders of Higher Wisdom, because they have the unique ability to intuitively see the issues from much much broader angles and from a Higher plane.

In this context it would be interesting to note the case study of the internationally renowned Spiritual Leader and humanitarian Sri Sri Ravishankar’s successful peace and ceasefire negotiations between the left guerrilla organization FARC and president of Columbia in 2015. Sri Sri Ravishankar appealed to the FARC leadership to follow a path of non-violence and “pursue goals of social justice for the good of the Colombian people and the future stability of the country,” Christoph Glaser, spokesman for the international NGO Art of Living Foundation headed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, said in a statement. as quoted by Christoph Glaser, spokesman for the international NGO Art of Living Foundation headed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. During His three day visit to Columbia in July 2015, He had several rounds of peace discussions with the leaders of the Colombian guerrilla movement FARC to persuade them to follow Gandhian principle of non-violence to attain their political objectives, to which FARC leaders agreed and declared unilateral cease-fire as a result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTpHciTHanE

A “behind the scenes” look at the events leading up to Sri Sri Ravishankar’s successful peace negotiations with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).

Solutions for the toughest problems facing the mankind are possible when people like these dare to think BIG and pursue out-of-the box ideas and solutions. “Even amidst a 50-year-old conflict, the South American country of Colombia salutes the power of peace. A passionate resolve to work on restoring peace in its country echoed through the corridors of the Colombian Parliament as the President of the House bestowed the country’s highest civilian award on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar”, PTI quoted Art of Living as reported by Economic Times in June last year (2016).

One thing I can definitely say, as far as I understood till now, is most of the extremist “socialist” philosophies are seriously flawed and don’t make much sense in India or 21st century and they are very harmful to the nation’s progress. We must also unlearn many of the things that we think “would work and are beneficial for the society”. And we must critically examine what political systems work or don’t work with a fresh mindset to arrive at out-of-the-box solutions that can work for the true progress of our country (and rest of the world). That includes questioning of the “democratic” systems that are existing in India and elsewhere in their present form. I am sure in this digital age of social media, we can certainly evolve better political systems which will be truly democratic representing better transparency, integrity and progressive mindset.

As most you would agree, by and large, many of the systems we have had in the past seven decades have failed. Corruption and “vote bank” politics are some of the major evils that have resulted from modern Indian political systems. We must also reevaluate (at least some parts of) our “holy” book of Indian Constitution and other laws, for most of which I do have due respect. This is a very generic opinion of mine, without necessarily digging deep into any specific issues or ideologies. May be I should study more and write separately about all of these issues in depth. I may be right or wrong in my views. I know there are many qualified people than me who must be having better knowledge, opinions and perspectives. But they must, for a moment, come out of their shells and look at the issues with fresh mindset to debate on better systems for a better India (and world). For example, I have a strong objection to the word “opposition” parties and the so called “constructive” roles they play in betterment of the societies. What is meant by the centuries old term “opposition” in our so-called modern and civilized politics. Are they supposed to “oppose” every move that the government / ruling political party makes?! In fact are the centuries old political “party” system relevant now? What I mean here is, if the political leaders are genuinely interested in the welfare and progress of their village, city, state or country, they must join hands together like one family. They may have differences of opinions on what is beneficial or harmful for their country. They can have healthy debates and collaborations to solve the problems facing humanity. But why must they “oppose” each other and indulge in “dog fighting” if they consider their country and world as their family and responsibility. If we truly care for the progress of the mankind, let’s all unite as one single “One World Family”. Here by progress I don’t just mean economic, social and cultural growth; but Happiness and inner-peace for all. In this 21st century digitally connected world, can’t we have more effective debates and faster public polls on the issues that matter?

In conclusion, I would say that there is plenty of scope for critical examination and improvement of our existing systems; we presently don’t have perfect or near-perfect systems for sure. Evolution of better public policies is a continuous endless process, but it can be accelerated with the technological tools that we have (and potentially build) today. Here I am not particularly proposing any solutions for the existing problems. My only intention is to ignite a fresh and innovative thoughts; towards better politics, better solutions and better future of India (and world). We need Enlightened debates on various issues facing humanity and BIG ideas for a better world. This is the need of the hour today for a better world.