Over the years, I have come across some really bad news. There is no dearth of this kind of news in the media, or in literature. News of war, greed, hatred and suffering. For as long as I can remember, I have been challenged by the question of what these news imply about our collective humanity. Should I take action against every injustice? Is it not my moral imperative? But then, I pause and wonder, how do these injustices come into being? What is the full story here? Is there a clear victim amd a obvious oppressor? Or is there more than meets the eye?
Depending on who you ask, you will find loathing or support for a so-called social evil. The very fact that social evil exists, implies firstly that a certain group of people support the practice, and secondly that another group finds it unacceptable. Who is correct? As a bystander, are we all to take sides? Or can we remain uncommitted?
Lets look at one such instance, colonialism. Specifically as it applies to the british subjugation of the Indian sub-continent. Can we really typecast the regime as "exploitatively evil" without a detailed knowledge of the Indian past? Should we not consider the plight pf the Indian under the Mughals, or the Caliphate of Delhi, or the so-called oriental-despots of ancient times, before we can make a clear accusation of mis-administration against the British raj? Should we also not consider the modern day benefits of our post-colonial heritage? Alternatively, what are the elements of the Indian plight do we attribute solely to the British Raj? How do you answer such a question? And more importantly, is there an answer?
Take the war on Iraq as another example. Depending on whether one paints Saddam Hussain as a radical leader bringing modernization and secularism to the Arab world, or as a mindless killer of the likes of Idi Amin, one arrives at very different conclusions about the morality of his eventual execution.
So how is one supposed to take a stand? How can one seperate what one knows as fact from what is hearsay? There is original research and then there is secondary research - the survey of the various points of view. It was these questions and there troubling answers that forced me to be a somewhat unwilling nihilist. And yet I was embattled to try and reconcile my innate humanity to this stance. I came to the conclusion, that as a nihilist I must reject my humanity. In this I indentify with Nietzsche's deep concern for the soul of a nihilist. I feel, therefore, that in order to counter this moral ambiguity, I must read.
For an opinion to have any value, it must arise from a deep understanding of the issues involved. Such deep understanding, I believe, elludes the lay-person. Subjectivity, I agree, is inevitable. But often subjectivity takes the garb of a thinly veiled ignorant opinion . Another example is the not so distant clamour about OBC reservation in India. Depending on who you ask, you will think its a social evil or a great provision of the Indian constitution. I , for the longest time, was strongly opposed to the idea, but of late, I have moderated my views. The cause for this change is two-fold. What has changed is my understanding of the underlying situation, and my removal from the context of my own vested interests.
I have begun to see the two sides of every coin. But every once in a while, I am encountered with news and knowledge of atrocities that stripsthe 'beatific' garb off the disturbing realities of the world we live in. Prime amongst these is communal violence and its very disturbing manifestation in the form of genocide.
How can something like that be obscurred by time? And yet it is. Besides being a great two word political slogan, the phrase "Never again!" is like a broken record player playing over and over. I have always been terrified of the humanity, that we hold so dear, which allows these tragedies to unfold. I am told that in a world of political consensus, human evil will always be subjected to censure. But then darfur, rwanda or bosnia, expose such rhetoric as hogwash. The larger question is, is our state as a civilized world making things better? Or is it by the natural struggle for power improving things for a few while injecting untold misery into the lives of others.
Once again I find myself powerless to answer this question. In essence I cite the lack of a solid framework of knowledge as the excuse for my absence of morality. I hope to see a change in me in that I hope to delve deeper into my intellectual pursuits and hopefully develop a more solid moral foundation.
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