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Time for another Enlightenment


Europe was labouring under the weight of a socio-political system when Enlightenment dawned on it in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Most European countries had a hierarchical system with the King or the Queen occupying the top position claiming to have derived his/her power directly from none other than God.  Then there were the priests of the Church who not only brought God’s power to the King or the Queen but also enjoyed a lot of benefits of that power in their own royal ways.  Below the clergy reclined the aristocrats.  All these three together sucked the blood of the common people who did all the work and paid all the taxes.

The philosophers who questioned this system usually belonged to the aristocratic classes.  But they possessed the sensitivity to feel the inhumanity of the system.  Thus Rousseau (1712-1778) lamented the chains that shackled man everywhere.  The encyclopaedists redefined ‘political authority’ and ‘natural liberty’.  The coeditor of the Encyclopaedia, Denis Diderot, is assumed to have said that salvation would arrive when “the last King was strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” Locke, Montesquieu and others asserted that the ultimate object of government was to promote the happiness and dignity of the individual. 

These philosophers inspired the French Revolution with its motto of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.  The Revolution changed Europe radically.  Eventually, after much violence and bloodshed, democracy replaced the monarchies in Europe.  Every individual became important.

Two centuries after the Enlightenment, today we stand in need of another Enlightenment.  Democracy stands in need of some Saviour.  Democracy today has become the handmaiden of the politician and the trader.  The politician of today is the equivalent of the monarch of the old regime in Europe and the trader is the equivalent of the clergy. 

When Adam Smith argued for capitalism, he thought that self-interest would work for the common good.  “By giving free rein to individual greed and the private accumulation of wealth, the ‘invisible hand’ of the market would benefit society in the end, a formula sometimes characterized by the seemingly paradoxical aphorism ‘private vice yields public virtue’” [David S. Mason wrote about Smith, A Concise History of Modern Europe].  Now we are left with private vices without public virtue. 

And there are no philosophers left to inspire another revolution, it seems.  Or, maybe, philosophers have joined the traders.



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  1. HemendraJuly 5, 2014 at 10:58 PM

    I think we are on the verge of such process. I remember, once our lecturer told us, there is a kind of relationship between capitalism and human development. Humans only came to know the worth of anything, once they are being deprived of that.

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    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 6, 2014 at 10:25 AM

      A century back Emile Zola predicted that the next revolution would be against capitalism. Revolutions take time to mature. Moreover, capitalism per se may not be the culprit; the way it is being practised is the problem. So a revolution may not be needed; some reforms will do, I believe.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJuly 7, 2014 at 2:23 AM

    Great read. Indeed we need people to rise and stand against politicians, bureaucracy, etc whenever there is anything wrong. Revolution or no revolution,the only difference that could come now is when people make their voices heard and not fear anything.

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    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 7, 2014 at 9:43 PM

      There's one section of the Indian population which has "nothing but chains to lose" (to use a Marxian phrase). It is only they who will bother to raise the voice against the socio-political evils. And unfortunately they lack the power and resources for doing it.

      Delete
  3. Donna BurmanJuly 7, 2014 at 11:09 AM

    Thus post reminds me of a documentary I watched. Inside Job. Though got more to do with the economic crisis facing the 21st century, yet similar sentiments were expressed by the director when he tried to portray the ways of the corrupt and the institutions they have corrupted.

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    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 7, 2014 at 9:45 PM

      Thanks for the mention of the documentary, Anu. Perhaps, capitalism as it is practised today has become so vile that it will require some Mahatma or Messiah to cleanse it.

      Delete
  4. UnknownJuly 9, 2014 at 10:19 AM

    I'm not sure if it's my pessimism or awareness toward reality, savior to our private greed will take a long time to come, if he/she will.

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    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 9, 2014 at 7:39 PM

      No Saviour will come from the heavens, Pankti :) I'm not at all hoping for that. The only saviour possible is a human one, a good leader with the right vision...

      Delete
    2. UnknownJuly 10, 2014 at 10:54 AM

      I mean human savior only.

      Delete

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