| Thank you, Pankaj, by your measured response.
If the law of the jungle still applies, the Western elites, and their collaborators throughout the world,including sub-Saharan Africa, should stop pretending to be "modern" and hold the torch for democracy, justice and freedom for much of the world,including their own countries where the level of inequality is almost as stark.
The tragedy is that, on a psychological level, we have ceded superiority to them in almost all walks of life and denigrated our rich culture and tradition evolved since antiquity.While the truth remains,as evidenced in the drying up and pollution of our water bodies and in the dismal quality of the air we breathe, not to talk of the utter malnutrition and disease of at least 50% of the global citizenry, that the model of "development" pioneered by the West has been an utter failure.In Russia and China,the loot and pillage of its own citizens is almost as stark,if cruder.
So we have to think hard and deep.The deepest malaise, seems to me, is the notion of private, individual enrichment,at the expense of the community.In our ancient way of life,in China, Mesopotamia(Egypt) or the Indian sub continent, primacy was always given to the Community.And the Dharma of the Community was to protect the least of its individuals.In moving away from this ideal,and losing itself in the paranoia of the Individual,with its skyrocketing Divorces and Depressions, I fail to understand the logic of private,individual enrichment,the sine qua non of the Western way of life. Best regards, Avinash http://poshaning.blogspot.com/--- On Tue, 8/28/12, Yadav, Pankaj (GE Intelligent Platforms) <pankaj.yadav@ge.com> wrote:
From: Yadav, Pankaj (GE Intelligent Platforms)
Subject: RE: [IT-BHU-BatchOf1982] Fw: Don't be Fooled by Western Rationality or Cosmopolitanism
To: IT-BHU-BatchOf1982@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, August 28, 2012, 11:43 AM
Avinash,
I agree with your sentiments here too, however I wouldn’t characterize institutions like BBC and Harvard as being consciously anti-East or anti-Africa etc…….
At the end of the day, we may be sophisticated, but humans are still animals living in a jungle, where the law of the jungle still applies. The only difference is that our modern jungle is an economic one, and economic might replaces physical might of a real jungle. We also follow the “food-chain” like the inhabitants of a jungle do. Those with the least economic might are at the bottom and have the least amount of say in their future, just as what happens in the animal world.
For the East, and the sub Saharan Africa to move up this “food-chain”, economic might is needed. As we get richer, we will get “stronger”, and the others will listen to us more and more. Our version of history will also then become more and more relevant.
Japan has proven this before, and China is doing it now. As for India – and sub Saharan Africa – well, we haven’t really moved up from the bottom of the heap all that much yet.
Kind regards,
Pankaj
From: IT-BHU-BatchOf1982@yahoogroups.com [mailto:IT-BHU-BatchOf1982@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Ofavinash sahay
Sent: Monday, 20 August 2012 2:04 AM
To: IT BHU
Cc: itbhu chennai
Subject: [IT-BHU-BatchOf1982] Fw: Don't be Fooled by Western Rationality or Cosmopolitanism
--- On Sun, 8/19/12, avinash sahay wrote:
From: avinash sahay
Subject: Don't be Fooled by Western Rationality or Cosmopolitanism
To:
Date: Sunday, August 19, 2012, 9:33 PM
Friends,
This is to bring to your notice the refreshingly original book by Pankaj Mishra entitled From the Ruins of Empire.An interview of his appeared in The Hindu Magazine of August 19th.
In this book the author has given voice to the Asian perspective of history, as opposed to the Western perspective which resort to deliberate generalization and distort the rich diversity of Asian culture. For example, when they use the term Islamism,they distort facts because Islamism is itself such a broad swath, from West Asia, to the Indian subcontinent, to Indonesia where the Muslims even have Hindu names.The eminent anthropologist, K.S.Singh in his book, The People of India, found that Hindus share about 96% traits with Muslims in terms of ecology, settlement,food habits, occupation and the like.
Such simplistic theory to couch complex facts of life are deliberately concocted to hide the great imbalance of power between Western nations and the rest.By loudly invoking religion, culture,race or nationality, the Western theorists seek to mask the material basis of global inequality. Why some countries are rich and some,like sub-Saharan Africa, permanently poor.How the violence and genocidal wars waged by the neo-imperialists enjoy moral sanction and respectability thanks to the Corporate Media and the bully pulpits of mainstream institutions such as Harvard and the BBC, to which we, the "natives", pay unquestioning obeisance.
The dominant forces in the West,and their collaborators throughout the world, have deliberately used War as an ideology to pauperize the world because sale of armaments yields super-duper profits.Religion,race and nationality are used as masks to hide the real enemies.And,like fools, we remain divided while the racists and imperialists laugh their way to the bank.Unfortuately, the Media and repressive Govts throughout the world play ball while our water and air are despoiled and the majority of the world's populace wallow in malnutrition and disease.
We have to first understand our world before we can change it.And the unfortunate irony is that less than 1% drive this suicidal agenda while Rome burns.
Best regards,
Avinash
http://poshaning.blogspot.com/
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