The upwardly moble middle-class of our country has invited this slavery upon itself by blindly aspiring to imitate western lifestyle and culture at the cost of our impoverished masses. It is the slavish mentality of the middle-class parents that forces the youngsters into the rat race. Instead of inculcating traditional values of simplicity and sacrifice, the parents and teachers of today are teaching the students techniques of running faster in this race.
The current so-called economic boom and growth is nothing but the process of becoming the mental serfs and slaves of the white people who control the world with their stronghold on electronic media. It is the East-India Company story all over again. But this time they are not using spices for gaining entry.. They use tools like Hollywood/Bollywood, Cricket and Fashion Shows. This time the enslavement is even worse because during the British times, at least we could identify the exploiters by their white skins. This time around they are of our own flesh and blood riding mercs and hondas along roads dotted by slums ! This time it is not the white man pillaging the countryside for timber for the railways, it is we ourselves who are destroying our environment and converting our fertile country into a degraded wasteland where even simple living is going to become impossible in a few years because of the greed of the its people for material good.
RE:Back to Slavery
by M R Honavar on May 01, 2008 12:34 PM Permalink
So it is futile to complain about poor work-conditions in these boom-time jobs, when we have bargained for almost abject slavery. The only solution to this is when we as a nation change our priorities and redefine development to be in tune with the stark reality that India is completely different from the West. It simply does not have the resources to provide for a happy western way of life for its vast population. But it has great resources if it realises that it first-and-foremost is a Spiritually gifted nation. India's true wealth lies in its spirituality, its infinitely deep cultural roots and its ancient civilisation based on Dharma which commands its people to regard this world not just as a place for sensory enjoyment but as a field of righteous action and that teaches its people to regard the earth as a holy mother fit for worship and not plunder. Until we remind ourselves of this fundamental truth of our national character, we will continue to be enslaved in one way or the other by the western countries. If there is to be hope, we as a nation need to evolve a lifestyle ethic of its own that restores the ecology and heals the degraded environment. In fact if we look at our history, and our scripture, we will not only find guidelines, but concrete formulas and procedures of how we should make this happen. There is no need to look to westwards to Harvard and Oxford to know how to manage this.
