== GROWING CRISIS & PROUT'S SOLUTION ==
Namaskar,
Around the globe, and certainly in AM, everyone knows the term
'democracy'. It is such a commonly used word in today's world and
political climate. But what exactly is meant by 'democracy'. Using
Baba's guideline, we will explore this. That is one of the themes of
this letter.
Furthermore, even though democracy is routinely championed as being the
system of choice, why are today's democratic systems not solving the
ongoing problems in our present-day society. Rather, things only seem to
be getting worse and worse. That is the second aspect.
Lastly, what is the Proutistic solution to the current crisis caused by
democracy. What is Baba's given solution. That is the third point.
DEMOCRACY TODAY MEANS POLITICAL DEMOCRACY
In a phrase, in today's world, democracy refers to any state wherein the
officials are elected by some type of election. And verily, so many
countries around the globe follow this democratic system: Germany, US,
Argentina, Romania, China, Canada, etc. As surprising as it might sound,
these are all democracies, of one form or another, according to our AM
perspective.
Baba terms all these above systems as political democracies because the
political leaders are elected by a vote: A vote either by the people or
a vote by the party officials.
So under the greater umbrella of political democracy, there are two
basic types: (1) liberal democracy and (2) socialist democracy. That is
also Baba's explanation.
In liberal democracies like the United States, India Great Britain, and
France, etc, the common citizens exercise their voting right to elect
their leaders.
And in social democracies, like the former Soviet Union, China, and
Vietnam, etc, the party officials vote to elect their leader.
No doubt, liberal democracies offer greater freedom and civil liberties
etc, yet both these systems fall within the category of political
democracy, as both are based on political centralisation and economic
centralisation. That is Baba's definition.
So in common dialogues around the globe, when people mention the term
'democracy', they are nearly always-- just about 100% of the time--
talking about political democracy. A system which is not supported by
our Prout movement.
NEITHER TYPE OF POLITICAL DEMOCRACY IS WORKING
Unfortunately, nowhere in the world is political democracy working. That
is to say, in no country is the condition of the common people
improving-- rather it is getting worse.
Why? Because in every type of political democracy, in exchange of
getting the right to vote, the people forfeit their economic might and
right. That means, the common people have no control over their
purchasing capacity, jobs, local industry, basic requirements, food
costs, the price of gasoline, nothing. Their entire economic condition
is ruled by someone else.
In liberal democracies like the US, the economy is run by leading
capitalists, i.e. corporate giants. And in socialist democracies like
China etc, the economy is run by the state. Regardless, in both cases,
the common people totally forgo all economic power. They are mere pawns
in the big game, while those who hold onto the economic power benefit
tremendously.
For example, despite the fact that the US economy is doing so terribly,
there are more billionaires and millionaires than ever before. The elite
capitalists are getting wealthier and wealthier, while the middle class
continues to shrink, and tens of millions or innocent people are thrust
into poverty, living hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck.
And similar is the case in every other country where democracy, i.e.
political democracy is in vogue. The common people are virtually
penniless-- toiling day and night to scrape by. In that condition, the
common people have no opportunity to pursue the fine arts or spiritual
practices. Rather their each and every second is spent trying to earn
enough money to pay their bills and put bread on the table, lest they
lose their hearth and home.
So although, day and night, the people talk about the greatness of
democracy, this type of democracy, i.e. political democracy, is verily
crippling the people. They have the right to vote, but have zero
economic power. So they get exploited all day long by those few with all
the economic power.
As long as political democracy is in vogue, there will always be
poverty; and that poverty will spread as the top capitalists and state
officials suck up all the money.
Q: WHAT IS THE WAY OUT?
A: ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY
Baba's Proutistic solution to this awful mess of political democracy is
an entirely different brand of democracy known as economic democracy.
As discussed above, in political democracy, the economy is centralised--
just run by a few people such as Bill Gates, Google, the Federal
Reserve, the Chinese govt, or the ruling economic body in that land,
whether that be in the private sector or public sector.
In contrast, in economic democracy, the people in every locale are in
full control of the economy. Economic democracy is a totally
decentralised system, where every block or district has complete
economic autonomy.
So in an economic democracy, the economy is not at all centralised or
controlled by a few people, rather the common people have full control
of the economy. They are able to decide their own economic fate and
prosper.
They can decide which industries to develop, where the factories will
be, how to use natural resources, what the minimum wage will be, how
much money an individual may accumulate, the number of hours in a work
week, and so many other aspects of their economic structure.
Gone will be the days when big capitalists like Exxon/Mobil or Nike come
into an area, take all the natural resources, manufacture those
resources in another place, and then sell those finished goods at
astronomical prices to people in the very place from where those
resources came.
Instead, in an economic democracy, the people will be empowered in each
and every area to make all their own economic policies and be able to
withstand outside exploiters.
SUMMARY
Thus, there is a heaven and hell difference between a political
democracy where the people only have the power to vote and are reduced
to mere ants in the economic sphere, and an economic democracy where
people also have the power to vote but, most importantly, are fully in
control of their economic fate. They will be financially empowered to
deliver economic justice in their region and encourage one and all to
engage in higher pursuits, like sadhana.
So, as Ananda Margiis, we should have a clear-cut understanding of the
marked distinction between the capitalist or communist style of
political democracy versus the Proutistic approach of economic democracy.
Because it is just a myth that the present-day system of democracy--
i.e. political democracy-- can bring justice to the land. Only economic
democracy can bring the soothing balm of peace and economic empowerment
to the people.
For a full review of this topic of economic democracy, refer to the
discourse, 'Economic Democracy' in PNS-21.
BABA'S BLESSING
As the gap between rich and poor increases, we get closer and
closer to the implementation of an economic democracy. Because
the people will rise up and look for a practical solution. And
we will show the Prout.
Baba says, "For the success of economic democracy, PROUT must be
implemented and the economic welfare of all people must be enhanced step
by step. This in turn will lead to greater opportunities for the
spiritual emancipation of human beings." (PNS-21)
Namaskar,
Mukunda
Note 1: BABA'S UNIQUE WAY
In AM philosophy, Baba takes a unique and pointed view of the world. For
example, generally speaking, people think that capitalism and communism
are worlds apart and on opposite ends of the spectrum. But Baba says no,
they both fall in the same category as both capitalism and communism are
materialistic philosophies.
Similarly, generally speaking, people think that the US government and
the Chinese government are on opposite ends of the political spectrum,
yet Baba has shown that they both fall in the same category, that of
political democracy.
Hence Baba's view of the world is unique, and it is only His Proutistic
vision-- with its economic democracy-- that can lead humanity onto the
golden road of tomorrow.
***********************************************
Dogma about Shabda Cayanika
AM Publications wrote: "Ostensibly, Shabda Cayanika is a series devoted to the linguistics and philology of the Bengali laguage."
Note: Just like in the past, religious priests-- with their selfish motives-- altered numerous spiritual teachings & texts in order to misguide their followers and gain more power. Lord Shiva's and Krsna's teachings were also distorted by dogmatic Hindu religious priests who had the same narrow-minded motive.
In similar fashion, after 1990 our AM scriptures also got altered. And the above quoted line about Shabda Cayanika is clear-cut is proof of that.
Because in true sense, the Shabda Cayanika series is primarily devoted to the explanation of Sanskrit grammar and includes discussion and stories on diverse subjects in order to make the Sanskrit grammar lucid.
The discourses themselves have been given in Bengali but certainly the subject matter is Sanskrit. And since Sanskrit does not have its own script that is why it was first written in Bengali script. At the same time, though, it is well known that Sanskrit itself has been written in many of the Indian languages; but recently, in the last 100 years, it has been standardized and now Devana'garii has been accepted as the official script of Sanskrit.
The point here however is that the Shabda Cayanika series focuses on the Sanskrit language. Yet certain dogmatic priests have altered things in such a way that they are misleading margii readers by claiming that the Shabda Cayanika series is about Bengali grammar.
***********************************************
