– G Surender Reddy
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“Today, our theory-poor human society is overwhelmed by the data-rich world’s exploitation in all the spheres of life – physical, mental and spiritual.. At this stage, the strength of Prout will be tested. Can it provide a new paradigm, surpassing liberal capitalism or environmentalism? Can its image of the world provide people with new meaning?”
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During the early 20th century, three grand theories along the lines of Rousseau’s ‘social contract’ thesis, emerged in the ideological void created by the collapse of monarchical regimes in European kingdoms. The Church and Monarchy that fostered the dogma of Divine rights of dynastic rule were discredited and rejected. This happened at the end of World War I in 1917, signalling the end of the Warrior Era. Earlier, the European Renaissance of the 14th -17th centuries rediscovered Greek philosopher, Protagoras (490 – 420 BC), who said “Man is the measure of all things” — rejecting for the first time in human history, any external epistemic authority, such as tradition, religion or cultural practices as extraneous, and not fundamental to the knowledge of reality.
Rousseau’s Social Contract thesis of a defined relationship between government and its citizens. It laid the basis for the intellectuals to postulate, — Capitalism of radical Consumerism, Communism of Bureaucratic State and Racial Fascism. Initially, the humanist impulses based on the geophysical and metaphysical or cultural assets of the countries propelled these Intellectual Era theories, which attracted popular consent, and growth and ultimately captured power in various countries worldwide. The rediscovery of humanism transitioned humans to pristine authority as Voters in politics, and as Consumers in the economy, and Art sought its value of beauty, in populist metrics.
The defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II put an end conclusively, to one of the three grand theories, Fascism in the 1940s and discredited it. The historical event also signaled the end of the Intellectual Era.
From the 1950s to the 1980s the spirit of Acquisitors of both public and private sector investment capitalism, combined with the wave of Decolonisation of former colonial countries, in large parts of the world, delivered unprecedented growth and prosperity, globally.
The later acquisitor propensities or greed for profit led to the creation of complex tools of financial capitalism (bonds, stocks, shares) and outsourcing for ever cheaper labour from the 1980s onwards. Along with this, the Thatcher-Reagan doctrine of market fundamentalism, exacerbated worldwide monstrous socio-economic inequalities; global malnutrition and hunger; and transnational rapacious exploitation of both humanity and the environment.
They postulated, in the now famous words of Ronald Reagan, President of the US, that the belief in the government as the solution to their problems is misplaced, and that government is the ‘problem’. Thus, justifying the withdrawal of the government’s role in the provision of essential services to the people and vulnerable sections in particular, privatising Health, Education, Mining of natural resources, Public commons…even jails and law and order functions to local and global profiteering conglomerates and crony capitalists.
Both the American and Soviet blocs during the Cold War period 1950-1990 militarised the countries diverting enormous resources to profit-seeking military-industrial lobbies and later it continued, while malnutrition hunger unemployment, haunted billions in both the developed and developing countries.
Today, across the countries in the physical, psychic and spiritual spheres, exploitation of human society has reached its zenith, wherein the insensitive ruling elites cohabit with the few captains of wealth, and subject millions of people to malnutrition, hunger, poverty and unemployment.
The collapse of the doctrine of Communism in the Soviet Union in 1988, and the continuing global recession of capitalism since 2008, has left the world theory-poor, and unable to make sense of the information and data-rich world.
Thus we live in a WhatsApp/social media universe of bubbles created by hack historians, doctors, conspiracy theorists etc. The instant gratification business mania drives media houses to produce sensational content streams, for monetary gain from TRPs. The majority, binge-watches them, such as the ‘Whodonit’ of an actor’s suicide, while ignoring the historical data of negative GDP growth, the highest report of Covid infections and the intrusion of China into Indian territory, the very same day, that appears to make no sense. But it has become the new norm in a world of Trumpian scale of ever-changing false narratives and lies. The opportunity of the Data revolution has turned into a nightmare in the absence of a coherent theory to make sense of it all.
The slow-balisation of economic globalisation and trade was evident from the recession of 2008 onwards, and now post-covid, the de-globalisation is bound to accelerate. The Proutist vision of economically self-reliant socio-economic Punits or Samajas alone, in the prevailing battering of grid-locked economies of the world, will rebuild the world of sustainable environment and also propel the communities under economic democracy on an upward and equitable spiral of progressive standard of living.
The defective ideologies of fascism, communism and capitalism failed to anchor the rational local utilisation and distribution of geophysical and metaphysical cultural resources of bioregions or Samajas for the welfare of individuals and communities, that is localising the Economy and also at the same time, unite humanity in the universal vision of blissful spirituality, — that recognises all creation, animate, inanimate, plants, animals and humans as a singular reality. This is the humanism newly explained by Shri Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, as Neo-humanism, goes beyond the humanism of the European Renaissance towards civilisational change through Renaissance Universal, that is, revolution in all the spheres of life, – physical, metaphysical and spiritual.
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The Trump Phenomenon:
Fast forward to 2024-25. The winds of anti-intellectualism are blowing across the globe. Trump’s political style is being copied across the world, wherein, bloated post-truth, alternate-truth, and fake news have become the currency of national governance and global diplomacy. In the previous American Presidential election, 81% of US white supremacists voted for Donald Trump. White supremacists endorse Donald Trump for targeting immigrants and Blacks, who is the most irreligious President in modern history and whose whole world-view makes a mockery of core Christian values of humility and caring for the poor.
So, why did 81% of white supremacists plump for Trump? Trump qualifies, as according to them, his wealth and prosperity are a sign that he has God’s blessings. He does not need to prove his religious credentials, but only talks frequently, about his riches.
QAnon is an anti-Semitic and incoherent, conspiracy theory. It has been spun for the last three years on social media. It casts Donald Trump in the mould of a ‘Superman’ battling a cabal of paedophiles and cannibals, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and a secret Jewish league, out to destroy America. By one count 72 Republicans who have sought office this year are sympathetic to QAnon. The FBI declared QAnon a domestic terrorism threat in May 2019. Trump says QAnon extremist group ‘love our country,’ ‘ like me very much’.
Further, in the capitalist Era, money talks. Trump has promised the white supremacists to restore their power in the political arena. The Johnson Amendment Provision 1954, prohibited the Church from political activity and in turn made the Church eligible for Tax exemption. Trump promises to repeal the Law to allow them to ‘preach politics from the pulpit’ to influence and fund the electoral process. White supremacist Church is a cult that urges its followers to deify Trump, turning itself, in one election cycle, from those who believe in ‘public morality counts’ to those for whom ‘public morality doesn’t count’. Whatever moral high ground that the most powerful country, the US, enjoyed, has been decimated by Donald Trump. To distract the attention of hapless masses, dogmas of race, religion, and ‘my-country-first’ chauvinism are trumped up by morally bankrupt national leaders across the world, in the same pattern that Trump has adopted.
Currently, in the space of an Ideological vacuum, the power-brokers in each country are promoting their brand of anti-intellectual ‘my-country-first’ nationalisms, laced with dogmatic religion, while their crony capitalist cliques are preying on their national assets and economy, spreading poverty and misery for billions of humanity.
Counter-Currents of Social Media:
The 2000s have unleashed the new digital Information revolution riding on the Internet. Unlike the top-down, Print, Film, TV, and Radio of the past, the new design of Information Technology is variously top-down, bottom-up and ‘distributed’. Social media Apps on multiple devices have democratised the production, distribution and consumption of information, that is, — Information by the people, of the people and for the people. The control of the elite in shaping public opinion is now circumscribed.
Today, our theory-poor human society is overwhelmed by the data-rich world’s exploitation in all the spheres of life – physical, mental and spiritual.. In the absence of a resonant Theory, psychological and socio-economic engineering are stuck in the bygone times of the 20th century, while technological engineering is galloping ahead in the 21st century promising universal surveillance of citizens, designer babies, virtual reality, robotics, bio-engineering etc. Today’s world needs a neo-humanist universal ideology for the liberation of intellect to guide humanity to prevent this planetary life and habitat from mindless destruction/extinction.
Discovery of Prout:
“At present, in any discussion of the Future of humanity, the Green alternative is always raised (in the countries with developed economies). Soon, through publications, movements and social services, Prout too may be in that position. Once Sarkar’s movement enters the mainstream press, it will challenge old movements. At this stage, the strength of Prout will be tested. Can it provide a new paradigm, surpassing liberal capitalism or environmentalism? Can its image of the world provide people with new meaning?”
(‘Prout in Power: Policy solutions that reframe our future’ by Sohail Inayatullah)
The call for Universal neo-humanist compassion has never been more urgent than today, in the known history of mankind. How can we prevent the world from sinking into the Dark Age of falsehood and hatred unleashing violence, turning governance into mobocracy, and installing electoral dictatorships…which is the favoured route to power?
The theory-poor world is awaiting the theory-rich Prout. The democratised Social Media, folk-songs in Samaj languages should empower the struggle for liberation from physical, psychic and spiritual exploitation. The time is ripe for Prout to emerge as an intellectual force in the academia and social media of the world.
That will be the foreground for the movement of the Moralists of the Samajas to materialise the clarion call of Prout’ to “Localise Economy; Globalise Humanity”, through large Cooperatives as chief and default mode of enterprise organisation, Public-run Utilities, and Privately viable small and medium enterprises for self-reliant economies of bioregions or Samajas and neo-humanist culture of universalism.
