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Form of Government

 

July 24, 2002

  • The two world wars, the hundreds of mini-wars after it, the cold war and the several million lives that were laid down in them can be described as the Physical moving to the Mental or the search of humankind for the right type of government for each nation as well as each part of the nation.
  • Democracy has come to stay in over half the world and has discovered the truth that it is the best form of government.
  • Most other nations including those sub-physical cultures in a rage of illusion rushed to adopt democracy either from inside or imposed from outside. The result is not only continued bloodshed and frustration, but the painful fact that democracy will not work emerges before their oblivious eyes.
  • The double faces of Political Truth are,

- People love freedom given by democracy.

- They love to submit and be ruled.

  • The proof of their combination is in the pudding of standard of life -- Prosperity.
  • The Israeli Prime Minister Peres voiced a great truth when he spoke to the leader of Gaza that the fate of Gaza would be that of Singapore -- one sustained leap of Prosperity.
  • Singapore combined democracy at the bottom with a good dose of authoritarianism at the top.
  • The measure of prosperity of any nation, other things apart, is the measure of their  successful combination of democratic freedom and authoritarianism.
  • If forms of governments are evolved on this basis for say 30 or 40 nations, if not for all the 197 members of the UNO, and are shown their validity against the economic and cultural realities that exist now, they will be accepted gratefully by the member nations at least as an Idea.
  • No great future result fails to grow its roots long before the tree yields its final fruit. To be able to show to each nation that the compromise arrived at for his country already exists at many levels of society successfully is a convincing argument.
  • This principle is the Principle of Sri Aurobindo where Time and Timelessness meet within Time.
  • In combining authority and freedom, it is not an unintelligent mixture but Freedom combines itself with Freedom to lose that Freedom.
  • The first free Parliament was ushered in by cutting off the head of Charles I. But Charles II was invited to preside over the throne again. For 400 years we see the popularity of Royalty.
  • The Asian Tigers prospered not in utter freedom nor was it the case of South Korea.
  • Utter physical freedom existed 1000 years ago all over the world and 300 years ago in USA. Work that built the cultures all over the world achieved it with a very strong authority at the top.
  • USA which is a bastion of democracy had till 50 or 100 years ago a severe authority in place at home as well as in the government.
  • Such a combination is well brought out in a passage about women on p.61 in Gone with the Wind.

- "Ellen's life was not easy, nor was it happy, but she did not expect life to be easy, and, if it was not happy, that was woman's lot. It was a man's world, and she accepted it as such. The man owned the property, and the woman managed it. The man took the credit for the management, and the woman praised his cleverness. The man roared like a bull when a splinter was in his finger, and the woman muffled the moans of childbirth, lest she disturb him. Men were rough of speech and often drunk. Women ignored the lapses of speech and put the drunkards to bed without bitter words. Men were rude and outspoken, women were always kind, gracious and forgiving."

  •  It is possible to bring out a well-documented study for this purpose.
  • The implicit discipline in the army, we note, preserves the great political freedom in politics.
  • The principle here can be stated differently too. All organisations are at their best in productivity when the authority exercised prevents waste of energy but allows freedom for creativity in production.
  • This principle applies to all organisations down to the family.
  • It also applies to all the other five components of the organisation. The essence of that principle is a balance in blending its extremes.
  • The finest expression of this theory is seen when ONE tries to evolve this balance in his own personality, thus relieving himself from the tyranny that is self-imposed by the early training.



story | by Dr. Radut