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"Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty and dies with chaos - Will Durant"
History always fascinated me the most. Kings & their kingdoms , conquests & political drama for power was very interesting to learn. I still fantasize on many historical what if scenarios like Germany winning WWII or Saradar Patelji becoming the first PM of Independent India et cetera. Recently I had one such speculation that how would have this country been turned out if we had an autocratic system of governance instead of what we have now? To answer this question I took a shallow dive in sociology to research.
By the way, if you are wondering what is the point of this article? fret not, let me put you in ease. I'm just unfolding all the discussion that i had in my head here in this article; now that the cat is out of the box, let us continue.
My first stop was at a book called 'Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind' by Geert Hofstede a social psychologist, who was one of the first people to define cultures by gendered traits. His hypothesis says that societies can be separated by sexual orientation dependent on how they stress the harmony between individual accomplishment and social supporting and that individuals inside these social orders regularly take on jobs that are recommended by whether general public is Masculine or Feminine. As per Hofstede, a manly culture or manly society is one that presses various assumptions for people. In a masculine culture, men are relied upon to be self-assured, cutthroat, and zeroed in on material achievement. Ladies are relied upon to sustain and zeroed in on individual's and personal satisfaction. Conversely, Hofstede says a feminine culture is one where roles are more liquid. All kinds of people are relied upon to support and zeroed in on individual's and personal satisfaction.
Similar social theory was hinted by Amish Tripathi an Indian fiction author in one of his books called 'Shiva trilogy 2 : The Secret of Nagas'. In third chapter of the book a conversation on society is erupted between protagonist Shiva and a pandit of Magadh, where the pandit explains that when we actually distill there are only two ways people live, The Masculine & the Feminine ; Which I will be taking the liberty of explaining.
The Masculine way of life is "life by laws" laws that were made by a great leader, or the ones from religious tradition, or collective laws decreed by the people themselves (like Capitalism) and of course there is no room for ambiguity. On paper all of this sounds just & honorable as society moves coherently in a preordained path. But reality is disappointing as it brings out fanatics & rigid minded people who are clinging to their unchanged laws even if those are not appropriate for current age & will be offensive towards others which will lead to violence and chaos!
The Feminine way of life is "life by probability" there are no absolutes, where collectively a group tries to build success by fluidly changing direction and adapting to new challenges (like our constitution). These societies do have laws but those are malleable & can interpreted accordingly. Here people of different faith can coexist and cherish with freedom. But freedom is not a choice but consequence & such societies overreach into decadence (moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury), corruption and debauchery (excessive indulgence in sex, alcohol, or drugs)!
Bharat was ruled by many great rulers, even our whitewashed history textbooks agree on this fact. The Maurya, the Gupta, Rashtrakuta, Satavahana, Vardhana, Chalukya Hoysala, Chola, Chera, Pandya, Vijayanagara are some of the best examples. Nalanda & Takshashila universities were well known beacons of knowledge, Kallanai dam built by Karikala Chola in 100 CE is the world's first dam that is still in use, thousands of grand temples that still seem impossible for us to build were built out of granite! Our country was rich beyond imagination where diamonds & other special rocks were sold on streets. By the way I'm not making this up, this was documented by Nicolo Conti an Italian traveler who visited Vijayanagara empire during reign of Devaraya I. Another such traveler Hiuen Tsang visited Kashmir and Punjab, he then proceeded to Kapilavastu, Bodh-Gaya, Sarnath, and Kusinagara. He studied in the University of Nalanda. He also traveled through the Deccan, Orissa and Bengal. He went almost to every part of India. When Hiuen Tsang left he took with him from India 150 pieces of the bodily relics of Buddha; a large number of Buddha images made in gold, silver & sandal wood; and above all, 657 volumes of valuable manuscripts, carried by twenty horses of his escort party. Back in his home in China, he set himself to translate some of those manuscripts into Chinese language, assisted by several scholars. About 74 Buddhist works were translated during his life time which proved of immense value to the people of China. These are explicit illustrations of wealth that this nation had before and during foreign invasions. You can argue that many wars were fought causing chaos & death due to conquests but remember, even after Independence we still are fighting wars. No doubt that Independent India made education, healthcare more of a success & has Industrialized & digitized our society. So many things that seemed impossible are simple norms now, if you do take your time and read our constitution it really is well written but unfortunately is practiced inconsistently. For an example , the preamble states:
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, DO HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
Yet we have caste reservations, gender inequality in every nook & corner of this country and unjust corrupt system of governance that is destroying the very basic right of the citizens to education, healthcare & employment.
A quick search in the internet asking does democracy work in India will show you this article https://thewire.in/rights/how-much-of-a-democracy-is-india-really by P.B Sawant where author goes out of his way to explain why capitalism is such a bad thing that is not letting this country to be democratic, many left wing liberals claim that capitalism is such an evil thing as it only let few to be on top & only they are benefiting, leaving vast majority out. But Capitalism undoubtedly is a major driver of innovation, wealth, and prosperity in the modern era. Competition and capital accumulation incentive businesses to maximize efficiency, which allows investors to capitalize on that growth and consumers to enjoy lower prices on a wider range of goods. However, sometimes this doesn't work out as planned, some good points on this are ;
Asymmetric Information :is also known as "information failure," occurs when one party to an economic transaction possesses greater material knowledge than the other party.
Wealth Inequality : One recurrent issue with the capitalist system of production is that its competitive markets and private corporations produce a winner-takes-all paradigm that leaves losers in the dust.
Crony Capitalism : Crony capitalism refers to a capitalist society that is based on the close relationships between business people and the state. Instead of success being determined by a free market and the rule of law, the success of a business is dependent on the favoritism that is shown to it by the government in the form of tax breaks, government grants, and other incentives
If you think socialism is the answer to the cons of capitalist society , my friend you are making a fool out of yourself! Socialism is the Big Lie of the twentieth century. While it promised prosperity, equality, and security, it delivers poverty, misery, and tyranny. Equality was achieved only in the sense that everyone was equal in his or her misery. Some good points why it fails are :
Leads to wealth-stealing high taxes.
Inefficient government takes over production by nationalization of privately-owned companies.
It reduces choice — business and personal.
Political correctness exemplified by “sensitivity” training in organizations.
Emphasizes secular values at the expense of religious values.
Healthcare systems become increasingly bureaucratic, unfair, inefficient and costly.
Penalizes the financial rewards of entrepreneurship.
Politicization of the judiciary exemplified by the appointment of leftist and activist judges.
Yes the first and second half of this article seem to be repetitive because it is! To wind-up I choose the Argument to moderation fallacy (where the "middle ground" between two extremes is correct & just, because it is rightly balanced) to further my conclusion. Both Masculine & Feminine way of life is yin - yang of perfect society. Democracy alone is not the answer to the problems of this nation nor is my autocratic dream of government(ex ; Nazi regime). What this nation needs is perfect balance between democratic government & private corporations which are mutually benefited. Government that is truly sovereign & corporations that equally strive for success not only for their profit but for development and employment of the nation. A country that is truly secular, with emphasis on advancement of technology & lifestyle and plethora of efficient companies with improved economic dynamism & financial stability. All of this is only achieved by bringing balance between both government-corporate companies where the mantra of " One for all , All for one " is imbibed into everyone's heart to truly achieve this balance. Keep in mind that " अति सर्वत्र वर्जयेत् " i.e too much of anything is definitely bad & is to be omitted to maintain balance.
So true and very deep