Of Power and the People

The following is an essay written by me about politics which has been extracted from my book - The Universe - A Personal View ( page 160 to 164 )

Link to my book :-  https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxqa2hjbGlmZXN0eWxlfGd4OjM5NmM2NTViMjAzY2M5MTk

Of Power and the People

“ Men is by nature a political animal.” So declared Aristotle. The father of modern China, Dr. Sun Yat San also said that “ politics is everybody's business.” Whenever men gather together there has got to be some organizational mechanism to conduct their daily affairs. Politics is born out of such a basic need. But the human brain which controls our actions is a chaotic system of the most complicated kind hence politics ( handling human affairs ) has become a highly complex, and very often, tricky process. Because we live in a materialistic world and our daily needs are derived from human ( services ) and other natural ( goods ) resources economics comes in. That is why Karl Marx had rightly stated that politics is merely concentrated economics. The dispute between the two basic economic systems, namely, market ( capitalistic ) economy and centrally planned ( socialistic ) economy, on which is the superior system has long been resolved ( since the collapse of the former Soviet Union ) in favour of the former. The only truly socialists systems to be found in the world nowadays exist only in Cuba and North
Korea and these are crumbling fast, too.
Despite the settlement of the ideological arguments between these
two systems, it is still of interest to us to ponder on the philosophical basis upon which the two systems are built. This is because the roots of each system can be found in different assumptions concerning the relative importance of the inborn human rights as compared with that of society as a whole. A clear understanding of the rightful position of the individual in society is and always will be of paramount significance in guiding any present and future public policies. Such policies are ultimately reflected in the enactment of the relevant laws that will directly affect our daily lives and livelihoods, the most important element in social economics.
The most enlightening remark on politics, in my opinion, is Abraham Lincoln's statement :- “ No man is good enough to govern another without that other's consent. “ This says it all about the inborn right of the modern citizen wherever he or she might be. It spells out in unambiguous terms the basic political idea of government by the majority mandate of the people. In the very beginning of human history, people lived in isolated and small groups such as families and tribes. Even then, they found it beneficial to every member of the group to co-operate and help one another to face their daily difficulties in a harsh environment. To trade some liberty for safety and strength in number as a group, they were willing to subject themselves to the rules set by the group to which they belonged. Keeping in mind the main purpose of this partial surrender of individual freedom is for the exchange of help and protection from the group, it is both logical and reasonable to conclude that a fair deal should involve only the minimal sacrifice of the individual's right to enable society to function properly and nothing more. If the individual is asked to make a total sacrifice of his right to exchange for just a little benefit, he or she would have been better off living alone. Therefore, the measure of the efficiency of any government is the degree of sarcrifice it demands from her citizens. The less sacrifice asked of her citizens in the form of laws and taxes the more efficient is the governing machinery. Of course, there must be a reasonable level of protection and other social services such as health care and financial security that must be provided by the government. Nor is it right for the citizens just to ask for benefits from their government without contribution on their part because all goods and services must be funded by taxes and other financial measures. To square the equation of supply and demand, citizens must also do their part by paying all just taxes and not to abuse their rights to the essential services provided by their government. Furthermore, greater sacrifice may have to be

160

made by the citizens when their own country is under threats of attack by enemies. There is a constitutional duty for all able-bodied citizens to defend their own country in a justifiable war when all other means of settling disputes with the enemies prove to be in vain. Should this unfortunate situation arise we must be wary about the wisdom of the politicians in going to war. Every attempt must be made to question such fateful decision through the legislature to ensure that war is the only option before we should give our support and act on it by our participation in national service.
Coming back to economic issues, it is pretty obvious that the reason for the triumph of market economics over the socialist or centrally-planned economics is the fact that the former system gives due consideration and respect to the rights of the individual while the latter does not. But this is not to say that market economics is the perfect economic system. In fact, its basic motivation is greed which is the second mortal sin on my personal list of vices. Therefore, like E.M. Forster's opinion on democracy, I can only manage to give two cheers for capitalism. Like any social system, capitalism must be urgently supplemented by a proper education system to instil the ethics of fairness and compassion into the minds of the citizens especially the younger generation before the capitalistic system can become tolerable. Only with fairness and compassion can mankind survive the less than perfect and, sometimes, greedily evil capitalistic system. You only have to look at the extent of the unfairness and misery brought upon the less develpoed countries by the overpowering globalization process that is gathering pace at an amazing speed to realize the potential damages and injustice that can be done to the underprivileged. Back in December,1984 , the horrifying Union Carbide pesticide poisoning accident that killed two thousand Indian citizens in the town of Bhopal in the Indian State of Madhya and put 180,000 others in hospital in the Asian subcontinent was a chilling reminder of the misery that the uncontrolled capitalistic system can inflict on precious human life because of greed. The worse part of the disaster is that many of the victims are still uncompensated because of loopholes in the legal system.
Despite all these terrible shortcomings, market economics still does a reasonably good job in the effective utilization and distribution of scarce resources by putting a price on any commodities or services through the laws of supply and demand that reflect their true economic value and thereby prevents wastage. To overcome its evil aspects of greed and disregard for humanitarian considerations, we must look to the democratic system of government which can provide check and balance in the ruling government's power. Any irresponsible government must be liable to replacement by another more capable one through a popular and constitutional mandate. This in turn is only possible through the implementation of a fair electoral system supported by a well educated population of voters. As mentioned in the previous topic Of Money and Men, the capitalistic system is only a Hybrid Reality that can and should be changed if and when necessary on humanitarian grounds which is the top priority in any just economic policy. Therefore, under sound economic policy, the commercial principles should not be applied to basic social services provided by the government. This is the sensible ability to pay and benefits received approach adopted in the area of public finance which is a special branch of economics that deals with public affairs. Under this approach, the pricing of public services such as health care is not based on the normal economic principle of demand and supply but on the individual's ability to pay for such services. For example, patients requiring emergency medical services are asked to pay different rates for the same services depending on their income brackets. Such measures can effectively reflect the different humanitarian considerations applicable to different patients. So, the impact of the undesirable aspects of a capitalistic economy can be kept to a minimum.
As regards the failure of the socialist regime, there are three main objections to its theoretical premises. Firstly, no one really knows exactly what the population as a whole need. It is just too complicated to plan in an orderly manner. Secondly, without a price system to fix the real economic value of any goods and services through the laws of supply and demand, nobody can know the true value of the ever scarce resources and that will lead to definite waste. This can be clearly seen in the general ineffeciency of public and governmental establishments which do not operate on the commercial principles. That is the reason why it is always important for the government to have the smallest possible share of the gross national product ( income ) in

161

terms of its annual financial budget. The private sector is always more efficient economically because inefficient organizations will inevitably be forced out of existence by the powerful law of survival of the fittest which is the driving force in the history of the evolution of life itself. The third reason for the failure of the socialist economic system is its flagrant disregard for consumer choice and by reference to human values and the importance of the consumer as a uniquely functioning and feeling individual for whom society is formed in the first place. Socialist or centrally-planned economy has the usual characteristics of absolute power and discipline as dictated by the ruling hierachy. This is a key feature of any socialist economic system because without absolute power both the planning itself and the execution of such plans will be compromised. The illogical and lopsided reasoning of this key feature says it all for this failed regime. Instead of finding out and providing for the needs of the people, a socialist economic system asks for and, very often, demands adaptation by the people to the central government's economic plans usually decided by a few bureaucrats who are always supported by an army that has often sworn allegiance only to the ruling party and its leader. The ridiculous part of it all is the fact that without the fixing of the true economic values for the resources by an objective price system that works on the laws of supply and demand, the planners themselves in all their sincerity and honesty ( which is not generally the case ) will be incapable of achieving any efficient distribution or utilization of scarce resources. So, there you have it. It is simply a system based upon illogical philosophical assumptions which ignores basic human rights and unworkable economic principles that cannot achieve the major economic goals of efficient use of resources; fair distribution of income and wealth; full employment; stablity of prices and economic growth. It has degenerated into a hideous tool used by power mongers and dictators to enslave the people as most skilfully and satirically highlighted by the famous writer, George Orwell in his world renowned novel, Animal Farm.
The alleged moral superiority of the socialist system is its fairness to all. Karl Marx set out his ideal motto in this manner ;- “ from each according to his abilities and to each according to his needs.” Despite its theoretical soundness, this motto is quite impossible in practice because of our selfish human nature. It requires almost a saint to do the first part without any financial compensation which was the original Marxist design. As for the second part of the motto, it is a mandate for what we call “ the free lunch”. If the kind of ethical standard that is called for by this motto really exists or is achievable in practice, then our society can operate on any system or none at all. Such is the high degree of moral and ethical standards required before the socialist economic system can be successfully implemented. Nevertheless, I do confess that at my home just like Jesus Christ and his apostles, I and my family members do practise communism ( the morally higher form of economic system that is actually described by Karl Marx's motto ). The parents make the money while the children just do their part which is receiving education and taking all their daily needs from the family without paying any financial compensation. This is Communism with a capital C, pure and simple and let me tell you unequivocally that it only works within the family unit, period ! Just to clarify the confusing reference to Communism, Karl Marx also felt that his motto as cited above was not easily achievable. Therefore, he proposed the less stringent standards of Socialism as a stepping stone to Communism. Under a socialist system there would again be no private ownership of property but there would be financial reward for labour provided by the citizens of the state based on planned and government approved rates. Ultimately, he anticipated a change over to the ideal state of Communism when the population had been educated to the required perfect moral standards. Under the disguise of all these high sounding ideas the ugly reality is the indisputable fact that socialist systems all go hand in hand with totalitarian political systems that always diminish the individual values of each human being in favour of selfless and total sacrifice of the citizens for the state ( but it is only one way traffic ) which is controlled by a self-interested ruling political party or dictator. To add insult to injuries already inflicted upon individual citizens by such a ridiculous deal , the declared political goal of all such totalitarian governments are always equal rights for all, but as George Orwell said ;- “ Only some are more equal than others.” The some referred to here are, of course, those politicians who hang on to their illegitimate power by hook or by crook. I could never in my life forget the bloody episode of the Tianman Massacre of demonstrating students and workers in Beijing on the 4th of June, 1989. The biggest irony

162

of all is the killing of the workers who were supposed to be the proleteriat that made up the vanguards of the Communist Revolution. The army that carried out such despicable atrocity was none other than the Peoples' Liberation Army. Only this time around, this army of the Chinese Communist Party had truly and literally liberated the people they were supposed to protect into the kingdom of heaven. Even more ironic is the fact that such atrocity had taken place in the Square of the Heavenly Peace ( Tianman Square ) in Beijing. What greater horrors can absolute power manage to produce ? On a personal note, it is on account of this tragic incident that my family and I had decided with absolute certainty to leave our roots behind in Hong Kong to migrate to Australia.
So why are we still pondering over this welcomed demise of socialist economics now ? The simple answer is that its demise hightlights the triumph of the individual's sacred rights to be free - to make free choices in life on a materialistic, social, intellectual and spiritual levels. Freedom can only be delayed but never denied. A particularly undesirable effect of Socialism ( and Communism alike ) is Karl Marx's materialistic world view and the inevitability of class struggles ( no compromise in this area is possible under Socialism ) which subsequently deteriorated into the evil practice of the end justifies the means. Such extreme philosophical outlook is the source of almost all the evil deeds which are an affront to all humanity including the scourge of our present day- terrorism. That is why the argument for the end justifies the means must be vigorously denounced. To me, Marx's uncompromising attitude towards class struggle and materialism merely reflects his inability to connect different important aspects of nature, life and humanity. The sanctity and precious nature of life; the harmony and peaceful co- existence of all the elements and living organisms in nature ; and the never ending cycles of change through life and death all point to the possibility and, in fact, the necessity to compromise and to connect among ourselves and Mother Nature. Furthermore, the important elements in nature and life are not made up of things ( ends ) but processes ( means ) as implied by Quantum Theory. Therefore, the means are much more significant than the end because nature itself is the manifestation of never ending cycles of processess - to everything, turn, turn; to every season, turn, turn. In our modern society abound with high technology, everyone demands efficiency and instant results. Whereas it is the process of reaching your destination ( your chosen end ) and sharing that experience with the people you care about that is the ultimate happiness. We have very often mistaken the sign posts for the the destination to our disadvantage and , sometimes, to our own detriment as in the present case of justifying the means by the end. Let us learn this vital lesson before it is too late and heed the warning provided to us by the failure of Socialism to enable mankind to move on in the right direction.
It is incomplete to discuss politics without any reference to the politicians. They are a completely separate breed of human beings. I do not mean it as a compliment. They are most of the time a pain in the neck but, on the other hand, we cannot do without them. That is the absolute truth. Therefore, I have come to the sensible conclusion that the best attitude towards politicians should be this. They are to be tolerated but must always be viewed with suspicion. We cannot totally trust them and yet we must keep ourselves informed of what they are saying or doing because sometimes our livelihood and well being depend a lot on the policies they create in our name. We must do our part to make them toe the line of justice and fairness. I do not blame you if you feel that I am a bit unfair and even mean to our public servants which we generally call the civil service. It really beats me why the word civil comes in. Most of the time, they are anything but civil. I was in the Hong Kong civil service for a while and I was aware of the live and let live mentality among members of the service. We generally did a good job but coming to human feelings for the public whom we served we were, in deed, a little bit lacking. Now, let us see if this suspicious and merely tolerating attitude of mine towards politicians and other public servants is justified. First of all, I am only aware of two professions that pay its members a good remuneration and provide the great privilege to their members with the chance to make an everlasting reputation in history. These two professions are the politicians and the entertainers ( including sportsmen and sportswomen ). With regard to making a name in history , the politicians are far ahead of the entertainers because the issues the former deal with have far reaching effects on society as a whole. When we were discussing money and men, I specifically mentioned the temporary nature of money and that we

163

cannot take a single cent with us when we pass on. The same cannot be said of reputation in history which will literally last forever. So, it is a rosy deal for all politicians. They get both a good salary for doing their job and the greatest privilege of all that is to get a chance to earn themselves a good reputation which will last for all eternity. As I mentioned before, efforts and reward go hand in hand. Therefore, it is only fair that the politicians should be under close scrutiny and subject to harsh criticism from the public for doing such a privileged job. Politicians cannot have the best of both worlds in the sense that they cannot both have their cake and eat it. Before I forget, I must emphasize that all my suspicion and hostilities are directed towards politicians but not the respectable statesmen like Dr. Sun Yat San of China , Mahatma Ghandhi of India and Abraham Lincoln of U.S.A. These giants of human history did not identitfy themselves solely with their own political parties or social groups but their visions were far beyond the political arena ( which merely deals with daily affairs of the people ). Their great visions did invaluable services to their countries and race and even to mankind as a whole. All their visions involved pomotion of basic human rights, justice and compassion to mankind as a whole. They are truly and rightly men of a separate breed from all the rest of us in the positive sense.
So, politicians please take notice of my comments. You are in the privileged position of being capable of doing great things with the power bestowed upon you by popular mandate if you choose to do the right thing and achieve immortality by putting your names in history for good. Despite their ideal position to do just that, many politicians are unfortunately corrupt and only serve the narrow interests of their own political parties and perhaps their own selfish ends. The hallmark of a politician is, as the chinese saying goes, grass on top of a wall that bends with the wind. For politicians in general, they very often ignore truth and justice in favour of popularity that can win them the vote to keep them in power which in turn means more fortune. They resort to smart talk and legal technicalities when they are in trouble. Take the ridiculous defence of the former U.S. President Clinton, for example. His defence for lying about his sexual misconduct with the White House intern, Monica Lewinsky was that he was not technically taking part in the alleged sexual misconduct because he was simply passively receiving the activities being performed by Lewinsky without actively responding to such activities which by itself sounds very dubious. If he did not take part in such sexual activities either physically or mentally or whatever, why did it at all ? Anyhow, the critical issue here is the extent and the creativity that politicians are capable of when it comes to saving their own skin. It is really pathetic. Had such wisdom and inspiration been applied to public affairs, incredible services could have been done for his country and the world. It may be recalled that during his personal ordeal in relation to the legal proceedings connected with the Lewinsky scandal, President Clinton was requested by the government of the African country of Sudan to take over custody of Osama Bin la Din whom they had captured. But on account of his own personal troubles, President Clinton was too preoccupied by his own futile crusade to save his crumbling reputation that he dared not take up the challenge of handling another hot political potato. And thereby, America and the world have missed a golden opportunity to nip terrorism at the bud and we all are still enduring the endless suffering of international terrorism which is partly a fall out from his own silly and reckless
mistakes.
My humble advice to politicians is this. Take a good look at this universe and the objective reality (OR). Find your rightful place in it. Assume the correct perspective which is no one is invincible and indispensable. However powerful you are on this earth, the Big Blue Marble is still an ordinary planet in an ordinary solar system situated among billions of similar systems in an ordinary galaxy we called the Milky Way that is 100,000 light years across. The Milky Way Galaxy is in turn just another ordinary island universe among billions upon billions of large and small galaxies in the visible universe which is some 150 billion years old ( earth time ) that started at the Big Bang. There could still be countless galaxies and endless space beyond our visible part of the universe. Even within our visible universe, we cannot rule out the existence of extra-terrestrial intelligence. On top of all these, Strings Theory and Quantum Physics point to the possible existence of numerous universes in different and higher dimensions which scientists have dubbed the multiverse. All these scientific facts should be enough to put our inflated ego which is a very common phenomenon with politicians and other celebrities at bay. On the other hand,

164

these facts do not have to intimidate us into hiding behind our own physical insignificance and to lead us to the negative conclusion that there is nothing much we can achieve in this vast universe. On the contrary, the implications of Quantum Mechanics on the role of human consciousness lend support to the view that our subjective intentions can make a real difference to our future course in life. Therefore, those in power should and must hold a positive attitude to achieving a better future for mankind. Politicians must have the vision and the wisdom to view their public policies in the larger perspective of the whole human race as citizens of our global village and not to dwell on the narrow interests of political parties and their self-interests. Be humble as everyone should. No one is qualified to stay in power forever. Politicians must not immerse themselves in such an unrealistic and unreasonable illusion. Enough is enough. When the people have spoken surrender your political powers graciously. Remember you have been privileged to be given the chance to serve the people and to put your name in history. Cherish and treasure this privilege and never abuse the power that has been conferred upon you by popular mandate. In short, rejoice for having this unique opportunity to make a difference to your own reputation, to this world and to your fellow citizens. Politicians, please put the people as your top priority !