THE FALSE SENTIMENT OF THE WAR CRY What drives the madness for going to war and this resort to animalistic mentality. Calls by Bush and his deputies in countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia to go to war with Iraq are based on the lowest notion of what constitutes the human personality. The same is also true of countries that suppress human rights and do not seek to elevate the status of their people. War is the black spot on humanity. All good people would like to believe there will be a world for our grandchildren that elevates and advances the human condition and human society. They have no time for ego-driven, power-mongering people who attract attention to themselves by preying on base emotions and sentiments. The world is more complicated than the old dualism of 'you are for us or against us'. Such crude mental projections create false sentiments in the minds of people, but are the sort of sentiments being built up by opportunistic 'leaders' around the world. A greater and universalistic vision is required which means an expansion of consciousness. The following exemplify the universalistic and human approach and contrast starkly to the animalistic approach common in foreign policy of the superpower and its deputy nations. "Only a few, here and there, really grasp the vision of the future and realise what is going on, seeing truly the beauty of the emerging Plan ... mankind [will advance] into a civilization and a state of consciousness in which right human relations and worldwide cooperation for the good of all will be the universal keynote." - Djwhal Khul "The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth there will be the greatest spiritual explosion the world has ever known. Humanity cannot imagine the joy that will burst into the world on the day of that great revolution." - Federico Garcia Lorca "A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'Universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." - Albert Einstein "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein It has to be recognised that human expressions are trifarious - physical, mental and spiritual. Social relations based on the physical aspirations of people will tend to incline towards narrow dogmas as the mind is preoccupied with limited and relative concepts of right and wrong, nationalistic and limited social sentiments. Human beings have physical longings and out of these physical longings capitalism came into existence where such people consider they can attain unquenchable thirst for happiness through physical things or power. Capitalists toil day and night for money. This may be a natural desire but physical objectivity is finite, hence the infinite desire to accumulate finite physical objects is a psychic ailment. It needs to be cured. Human beings also have unquenchable, infinite psychic longings, and out of these excessive psychic longings psychic ailments can arise and people become abnormal when a balance is lost in terms of mental expression so that intelligence is applied towards lower psychic propensities instead of expanding the mind. The object of psychic longings associated with physicalities is also finite, but the object of higher psychic longing is not (it is expansionary for the mind). The psychic ailments based on narrow sentiments also lead to clash with others and create many have-nots. We have to divert physical longings to psychic and spiritual longings to avoid a fratricidal war, and thereby safeguard human rights. In this regard, capitalism is not the real urge of human beings, nor is it natural. It is equivalent to a mere animal leaning and of basic instincts. It denies and vilifies higher human aspirations. It can never have any association with spirituality - although some try to equate it with religion to satisfy their own petty desires. That same animal sentiment is now driving the war cry. It is blatantly obvious that a world without war is possible if countries use the money spent on weapons to meet the needs of the world's population. What hinders this is the outdated and narrow sentiments of nationalism and capitalism. These can only be overcome through the call of the Universal. NATIONALISM AND UNIVERSALISM PR Sarkar has given an extensive analysis of the folly of nationalism and the need for a universalistic outlook for a real human society to take shape. A glimpse into these ideas follow. Nationalism is fast becoming outdated. Not only has the national sentiment given humanity rude shocks in the world wars of this century, but the social and cultural blending of the present age also shows the growing domination of cosmopolitanism in world affairs. Vested interests, however, continue to cause certain divisive tendencies. Despite these obstacles, a social blending of humanity is in progress and needs a common constitutional structure to cement the solidarity of the world. A world government is also essential to exercise effective control in certain spheres. For example, there should be only one world military force. The world government should form certain autonomous units (not necessarily national) to deal with problems such as education, food supply, and flood control. The boundaries of these units may be readjusted to reflect the development of more sophisticated communication techniques. Such development brings the remote parts of the world nearer and the world therefore grows smaller. ("Idea and Ideology") The idea that this is national and that is foreign, that a particular person is fit for the citizenship of a particular country while others are not or have no rights at all, cannot stand. In reality, only vested interests appear intensely interested in such illusory matters. All people are world citizens by birth. Every human being has the right to go and settle anywhere and to live like a human being. If any group of people of any country is not ready to accept this fundamental right of living beings, then it should be understood that their utterances for "peace" are only meant to cheat and bluff others. ("Problem of the Day") It will have to be explained to all that there will be clash between different nations as long as national feelings exist. Some may talk of disarmament, but military preparation will go on underground. If people dedicate themselves to the cause of the welfare of the entire human race, their respective nations will also be benefited. Then there will be only one nation - a World Nation. ("To the Patriots") It is often heard that a particular country was never so united as during the war. This is due to love of motherland, but more due to all the individuals having a common ideal - a goal to face the peril of war. This common ideal is, however, very temporary, and disappears with the danger of war becoming less. The ideal of universalism, however, does not disappear like the common ideal for facing the dangers of war, and the unity in a society founded on such an ideal will be everlasting. In this regard, even in the economic field there is a common ideal, as the whole property of the earth is common property and is to be shared by all members of the society. ("Tattvika Praveshika") The human society is continually striving to arrive at a synthesis through analysis, some sort of unity through diversity. The natural obstructions of small clans, narrow communal interests, geographical distances and intractable customs and usage barriers - none of these obstacles could hinder the steady and silent movement towards a supreme goal. That is why the policy of apartheid, the vanity of racial superiority, national chauvinism or regionalism - these relative doctrines or social philosophies could not thwart the progress of human society. The outdated ideals of nationalism are crumbling to pieces today. The newly awakened humanity today is anxious to herald the advent of one Universal Society under a vast blue sky. The noble and righteous people of all countries, bound by fraternal ties, are eager to assert in one voice with one mind, in the same tune, that human society is one and indivisible. In this voice of total unity and magnanimity lies the value and message of eternal humanism. ("Human Society is One and Indivisible") Social synthesis is the trend. As people come more intimately in contact with one another, and the corners of the world come nearer, local customs will assume newer forms as a result of frequent interchange. The flowers of different gardens will unite into a bouquet which will be more, not less, beautiful than the individual flowers themselves. If different countries or communities are anxious to establish social blending, then social synthesis can be achieved within a very short time. Its concrete reflections are already apparent to some extent in cosmopolitan cities. ("Problem of the Day") Culture is an ambiguous term. It is a collective expression of social life and is of composite structure. There are certain prima facie local variations, but there is no difference in the subterranean cultural flow of the human society. The difference is external and not internal. Culture is one for the entire world. Common factors for the entire humanity (that is, culture in the true sense of the term) should always be encouraged, but prima facie differences should never be encouraged. Those who encourage these differences help the fissiparous tendencies which endanger human progress. To establish a cosmopolitan cultural outlook, we have to wipe out prima facie differences through socio-economic blendings. Nationalism is being rapidly replaced by inter- nationalism. A day is sure to come when this inter-national colour will be changed into universalism. The feeling of nationalism will then lie dormant within the scope of internationalism. For a better social structure, humanity is sure to give up all ideas of caste, religious differences, communalism, nationality, etc. As the psychic projection of human beings goes on increasing, the world is becoming smaller and smaller. A day is sure to come when human thirst, not being quenched by the fulfilment of natural urges, will require a broader field of mental vision. A new, universalistic human race is sure to evolve. ("Discourses on PROUT") The universe is just like a joint family. Peace and tranquillity depend upon a well-knit socio-economic structure. The moulding of the socio-economic structure depends upon ideological outlook. First we should have a constructive ideal. The ideal should be not only the culminating point but also the starting point, which will always be supplying us with vital juice. The universal society has, in essence, one culture. It has humanitarian value at its very fundament. This is what is called human culture. We should encourage this fundamental culture. It is a connecting link between one person and another, between so-called nation and nation. The self-dividing tendency is the creation of persons with vested interests. They are the demons of society. They are polished satans and warmongers. We will have to start a ceaseless and pactless fight against their activities. ("Discourses on PROUT") Today not even the Pacific Ocean between Asia and America is difficult to cross. The people of Asia and America are approaching one another, touching and understanding each other's minds; they have learned to think about each other sympathetically, as one family of humanity. Europe, Africa, Australia, - none is alien to the other, none is distant. ("The Opinion") A language must also be evolved as the lingua franca of the world. At present English is most suitable for the purpose and no national sentiment should be encouraged to oppose it. But local languages must also be encouraged to help indigenous literatures develop and thereby contribute to world progress and the common family of humanity. ("Idea and Ideology") Some people say that disparity is the order of nature, therefore there must be differences between one group and another, between rich and poor, etc. However, such a proposition is fundamentally incorrect. Instead, it is correct to say that diversity is the order of providence. One must remember that identicality is disowned by nature - nature will not support identicality. Whenever identicality occurs a sort of structural explosion takes place and the entire structure is broken into pieces. So diversity is the law of nature and identicality can never be. But diversity is not the same as disparity. Disparity encourages exploitation based on differences, while diversity recognizes multiplicity which reflects underlying unity. That which is synthetic, that which is complete in itself, will inspire human beings. ("The Existential Value of Ideology") Different groups of people contribute to the building of society in different ways. This diversity carries a special significance for the social structure as a whole. If diversity had not existed, human society would not have advanced even as far as the Stone Age, let alone the present stage of civilization. So we have to impartially consider and support all the diverse ideas, forms and colours which are conducive to fostering personal growth and social development among human beings. If we fail to do so, that section of society which has been built around a particular idea, form or colour will wither and die. ("Human Society - Part 1") If you analyse the origins of human beings you will find that the ancestors of every human being were monkeys. Any distinctions based on differentiations is hypocrisy. All this hypocrisy is to be given up. ("Seminar Notes 1980") These petty differences between human beings are not to be given any importa nce. Humanity as a whole is considered as one family belonging to the race of human race. In such a society, injustice due either to economic background, sex or racial considerations will be unknown. Members of all races, castes or creeds are equals. ("Tattvika Praveshika") There is no reason whatever to recognize one race as superior to another race. The external differences in constitutions among these human groups cannot alter their basic human traits - love and affection, pleasure and pain, hunger and thirst. These basic biological instincts and mental propensities equally predominate in human beings of all complexions in all countries and in all ages. The subterranean flow of love and affection exists in all hearts alike. Every person cries out in pain, everyone feels pleasure when there are occasions of joy and happiness. Maybe in different geographical, cultural, social and other environments, the lifestyle of different human groups may vary; maybe, a few special psychic traits in those groups may assert themselves, but fundamentally, their mental existences flow along the same channels of ideas and consciousness. ("Human Society is One and Indivisible") Feelings of differentiation are a great impediment. No one is high and no one low. All are human beings. Feelings of differentiation are the principle obstacles on the path of spiritual awareness. For this reason, elevation cannot be attained without annihilating them. ("Su'bha's'ita Sam'graha I") Striving ahead together with the entire universe along the path of divinity is truly the greatest task for humanity. ("Supreme Expression II") The fact that the fortune of every individual, not only of this earth, but of the entire cosmos, has been wreathed together, will have to be admitted one day by humanity. The spiritual aspirants have to fetch that auspicious moment sooner by their pauseless effort, service and propagation of the great ideology. This alone is the supreme task for the present humanity. (A'nanda Va'nii, January 1969) SOLIDARITY OF HUMAN SOCIETY (annotated from the works of PR Sarkar) For the sake of the solidarity of the Cosmic Society, what needs to be started is an economic structure based on common human factors and common necessities. The first and foremost factor for a sound economic structure is that: 1. The minimum necessities of human society should be guaranteed. We are not only to recognize these requirements, but also to guarantee the availability of the requirements, which includes our social responsibility of supplying individuals with purchasing power. The minimum requirements are to be guaranteed to all. Each and every human being requires clothes, medicine, housing accommodation, proper education, food for proper nourishment, etc. These demands must be fulfilled. Intellectuals, scientists and people performing special services require certain amenities. Ours will be a never-ending process to minimize the gap between these two (ie minimum necessities and special amenities), but as a result of minimization it will never come to zero. For example, in the present circumstances every person requires a bicycle. But leaders and intellectuals will require motor cars, and we are to guarantee these as special amenities. But after that our endeavour will be to guarantee one car per capita to the public, and at that time it will be noticed that the leaders and intellectuals require an aeroplane, and so on. So we see that the gap between the minimum necessities and the special amenities will never come to an end. Ours will be a never-ending fight to minimize the gap between the two. For a well-knit socio-economic order we require a few other factors too. They are: 2. A common philosophy of life. People unite on a common ideology. Unless the inhabitants of this vast planetary world accept one vital ideology, there is little chance of social synthesis. In the absence of such an ideology, quarrels among the members are inevitable. Relativistic disputes will consume human society, weakening it. Hence a common philosophy is essential and must be based on Universalism. Among all the crude and subtle philosophies of life, only a spiritual philosophy rests on the Absolute, and other philosophies (including religions) depend on relative factors. Among the different schools of philosophy, the cruder the philosophy, the weaker the social cohesion. When people unite for a subtle motive, the philosophy becomes subtler and subtler, and the social ties become stronger. When this subtlety reaches towards spirituality, it becomes permanent. This philosophy deals with intuitional science and spiritual awareness and consciousness. It does not come within the scope of physical and relative philosophy. As far as the permanent peace and tranquillity of this planetary world is concerned, we should have a strong philosophy based on the Cosmic ideal. 3. Universality in constitutional structure. Despite obstacles, a social blending of humanity is in progress and needs a common constitutional structure to be evolved to cement the solidarity of the world. In this constitution there must be provision for equal rights. All citizens must have equal rights before the law. Physical requirements are to be met for all citizens so that all citizens will have equilibrium and equipoise in collective life. Also, all living languages of a country must have equal status before the state or the government. Furthermore, primary education for all must be guaranteed and education should be free from all political interference. In addition, firstly, complete security should be guaranteed to all the plants and animals on the planet, ie ecological criteria are fundamental to a proper constitution. Secondly, each country must guarantee purchasing power to all its citizens. Thirdly, the constitution should guarantee four fundamental rights - spiritual practice or dharma; cultural legacy; education; and indigenous linguistic expression. Fourthly, if the practice of any of these rights conflicts with cardinal human values then that practice should be curtailed. That is, cardinal human values must take precedence over all other rights. All the constitutions of the world suffer from numerous defects. The above points may be adopted by the framers of different constitutions to overcome these defects. What are cardinal human values can be ascertained by what expands the mind and what contracts its outlook. Historically, laws were originally framed by kings and leaders of different countries on the basis of their local traditions and sentiments. So really speaking law is an offshoot of feelings of virtue and vice and is a by-product of religious faith. The applied value of virtue and vice should be properly assessed, and laws should be framed on that fundament. For the entire universe we are to propose universal law. There should be little difference among cardinal law, moral law and human law. Cardinal law means universally-accepted law, and its scope should be increased. We should have nothing to do with feelings of virtue and vice; or we may say that feelings of virtue and vice should not depend upon religious feelings but on universal acceptance. We should judge virtue and vice from the welfare angle of vision. Ours should be a never-ending process of minimizing the differences among these three types of laws. For the entire universal structure, law should be one. Virtue is that which helps to expand the mind, by whose assistance the universe increasingly becomes an integral part of oneself, and vice is that which makes the mind narrow and selfish. The realm to which the mind of a person engaged in virtuous activities travels, is universalism, and the realm where the mind of vice races about in a wild frenzy. 4. Common penal code. The penal code should also be prepared on the basis of a common constitutional structure. The constitution should serve as the fundament for developing a penal code. The solution to all complex social problems may be found by implementing a universal penal code, one which is applicable to all humanity. It is not desirable for different laws to bind different peoples, countries or communities. A common penal code must be evolved. Legislation must be progressive and capable of gradual adjustment with the prevalent conditions. Any theory which does not hold a parallelism with the ever-changing conditions of time, place and person, is sure to decay and be lost in oblivion. Hence, there must be a never-ending effort for amendment with a view to rectification. Crimes are acts forbidden by the law of the government concerned, and virtue and vice are the outcome of traditional customs or prevailing social mores. The sense of crime has a parallelism with the concept of virtue and vice. The idea of virtue and vice is different in different countries. The aspirants of world fraternity should try to lessen the difference and reduce the gap amongst cardinal, moral and human laws. All those actions which help in the growth of the spiritual, mental and physical aspects of human beings in general should come under the category of virtuous deeds, and those actions which go against humanity in its spiritual, mental and physical development must come under vice. This conception of virtue and vice applies commonly to humanity in general. The purpose of the penal code will be to rectify, and not to punish, a person. The significance of society lies in moving together. If in the course of the journey anybody lags behind, if in the darkness of night a gust of wind blows out anyone's lamp, we should not just go ahead and leave them in the lurch. We should extend a hand to help them up, and rekindle their lamps with the flames of our lamps. THE MINIMUM WAGE (extracts from the work of Acarya Maheshvarananda) Essential to a real human society is the provision of minimum necessities to all and the constitutional right to attain these needs. A minimum wage is necessary so that every individual can maintain his or her family, plus some extra to reward his or her efficiency and sense of duty, competence and sense of responsibility. The law of diminishing returns says that the benefits of anything decline as you choose more of it. Setting the minimum and maximum wages and the ratio between them requires proper consideration. Economists have long wrestled with the questions of how to achieve the most efficient output and distribution, as well as the most equitable and fair. However economic efficiency and fairness have generally been regarded as matters that need to be considered separately. Many have argued that equity should not even be considered by economists. The Prout principle of surplus wealth resolves this dilemma both logically as well as with a moral value judgment. It asserts that the only justification for higher income is the incentive it provides to motivate greater human effort to benefit society. A higher salary can induce an individual to work harder. However, there are only 24 hours in every day, and there are natural limits to the output any person can achieve. A graph that charts a person's increased production with more material incentives will eventually level off. This is a central principle of economics known as the law of diminishing marginal returns. Offering a salary raise that is a hundred times higher cannot induce any individual to work a hundred times harder or become a hundred times more efficient. Some individuals such as corporation CEO's are today earning salaries that are up to 30,000 times what other employees are earning. In his study, "Toward an Optimal Level of Income Inequality", Mark Friedman incorporated an economic model to calculate the level of surplus wealth in any given enterprise. Using this model, an optimal individual wage structure for each enterprise can be determined, including the most appropriate ratio between the highest and lowest wages for the firm. The development of such models are essential to remove the inefficiency and distortions of reward schemes in the corporate world. In the case of socio-economic regions, Proutist economic boards will have to calculate what the legal minimum salary will be for an individual and his or her family based on the cost of the minimum necessities in that place. In virtually every economy of the world, this will be considerably higher than present minimum wages. Of course in economically less developed regions, the cost of living is cheaper, and hence the minimum salary can be expected initially to be set lower than in more developed countries. The objective, however, is to reduce these gaps. Such gaps are seen as inefficient in the economy and give rise to arbitrage. The boards will then have to calculate, using the Gross Domestic Product and other indicators, the surplus wealth presently produced by the economy. This information will enable the calculation of a maximum legal wage for the local economy. It would probably be at least ten times and at most, one hundred times the minimum legal salary (although even 100 times seem far more than necessary). This ratio between the minimum and maximum salaries could be expected to be set initially higher in less developed regions, and then gradually reduced as the standard of living and the quality of life of everyone improves. The requirement of a livelihood-level minimum wage will eliminate some under-paid, low-productivity jobs. For example, live-in domestic assistants in undeveloped countries are paid so little that most middle class households have at least one, while in developed countries only the wealthy choose to pay the good wages required for that service. A Proutist economy will no longer permit this type of exploitation of underpaid manual workers. Such gaps are inefficient aspects of the economy and all such inefficiencies must be removed. People who are physically or mentally handicapped or otherwise unable to do high-productivity work may have their work subsidized or be employed in a public works project. This system of full employment would replace the welfare function of government as we know it today. The bringing up of children should also be seen as worthy social work for the benefit of the entire society and appropriately rewarded. Even Keynesian economists will appreciate that raising the minimum wage will stimulate aggregate demand, thereby increasing output and creating more jobs. Several studies have shown that raising hourly wages helps poor people and causes a minimal, if any, increase in unemployment. The challenge for a Proutist society is to continually improve people's potential through education. It is also necessary to encourage productivity through capital investment by making available low-interest business loans for self employment and cooperatives. Communism was and remains a failure, but now this does not mean that all what is remaining (ie capitalist production) is perfect as a consequence! Capitalists go against the principle of cosmic inheritance, ie everyone has a right to the basic necessities of life (food, clothes, housing, education, medical care, etc). They therefore create huge inefficiencies in the reward schemes of the a productive economy and market. The inefficiencies are reflected in both the inability to provide sufficient purchasing capacity for all people and the gross mental ailment of allowing unimpeded hoarding of wealth by a few. Those who are stricken by the disease to accumulate excessively should be cured of their ailments. How can the conduct of the capitalists be rectified? In the realm of morality two forces act side by side. One is the internal urge and the other is external pressure. The capitalist internal urge is meagre and does not function properly. There minds are inclined towards the external or material and so fail to appreciate subtle aspects of life which comes about by development of the internal personality. This inclination towards the external, in turns, results in economic expression that is exploitative and inefficient. Only a system that seeks to provide minimum necessities for all can remove this exploitation and inefficiency. THE POSITION OF THE USA (Author unknown) In 1948, in a State Department white paper, George F. Kennan, a former ambassador to the Soviet Union and renowned foreign policy expert, noted that though the USA then had only 6.3 percent of the world's population, it had about 50 percent of its wealth. He also observed that, in such a situation, the USA "cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment". What, then, should be the USA government's task? According to Kennan, it should be "to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity". To do so, he stressed: "we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and daydreaming . [and] not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world benefaction. We should cease to talk about vague and - for the Far East - unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better." (Quoted by Noam Chomsky, "Turning the Tide" [1985], p. 8) Both before and after 1948, Kennan's advice has been one of the major pillars of the USA's foreign policy - and this foreign policy, as Kennan predicted, has created widespread and deep resentment towards the USA as a nation. Though the USA constantly proclaims that it promotes freedom, human rights, and democracy in the world, in practice its government often deals in concepts of raw power. It is rarely hampered by idealistic slogans and all too often does not pursue those "vague" and "unreal" ideals of "human rights, the raising of living standards, and democratization" that it claims are so essential for world peace. The USA State Department and CIA actively encouraged and supported, at one time or another, other violent dictatorships, like those of the Shah of Iran and of the Somozas in Nicaragua and Chilean General Augusto Pinochet. In 1954 the CIA overthrew a democratically elected president of Guatemala. The outcome was 40 years of civil war, many vicious, military-dominated regimes, and the slaughter of over 200,000 of its citizens. In El Salvador, the USA spent billions of dollars to sustain corrupt, murderous, military-controlled regimes during an 11-year civil war and went along with a negotiated peace treaty only when it had no other choice. Employing economic as well as military violence, the USA has opposed governments in Cuba and Nicaragua that even many of its allies have recognized as outstanding in their efforts to help the poor of their nations. For a decade the USA wreaked unbelievable destruction on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and killed over a million of their citizens. The USA is omnipresent in the world, culturally, economically, politically, and, to some extent, even militarily. It is often quite egotistical and jingoistic in assuming that all the world agrees with, and wants, the same cultural, political, and material values as the USA has. Another problem is USA unilateralism. The USA speaks of building a coalition against terrorism since it threatens the whole world. But decision-making for the coalition is done essentially by the United States alone. Other nations in the coalition are junior partners at best. However, the USA is quite correct in its efforts to block out the financial resources of terrorists and to pursue criminal investigation to seek out the perpetrators of terrorist attacks. If terrorists are a worldwide threat (as they are), then all ought to pursue their criminal prosecution and punishment by extending the jurisdiction of the recently formed International Criminal Court. The strong support the USA has given Israel for over a half-century, has not won it friends among much of the civilian population in the Middle East. The monstrous and appalling terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 were violent, inhuman and inexcusable. However, the USA should pursue vigorously the criminal prosecution of those responsible, but should do so in shared decision-making with other nations, with the United Nations, and with international institutions, such as the International Criminal Court.