Times of India published an article by Sandeep Pandey on what he sees as hopeful changes on the coming together of people and the evolving reality that another world is possible.

In the history of evolution of this universe, the last stage to appear on earth, following the matter and other forms of life, was human beings possessing a consciousness. Human beings differ from the preceding stages in at least two basic ways. They have a capacity to imagine and freedom of action. The pre-human stages of matter and life have a deterministic existence. Matter follows definite physical and chemical laws. The seeds of vegetation and genes of animals quite conclusively determine how that particular species would play its role in nature. But we cannot say the same thing about human beings.

We cannot predict their behaviour with the same certainty as we can do for plants and animals. Human being is the only creature on earth who has to learn how to live in harmony with rest of the nature if she/he would like to lead a life to her/his satisfaction. None of the other species of plants or animals have to do this. Hence human beings are the only ones who require a process of education at the level of consciousness for their progeny to teach them how to live their lives. The off springs of other creatures do not need this process of education. At most they need to pick up some life saving skills, which they do in the natural course of growing up. Thus knowledge seeking exercise is unique to human beings and the purpose of this exercise is to bring about a harmony within and without - inside a human being and with other individuals, within a family and with society, and within human society and with the rest of nature.

However, there has been no consensus yet on what this knowledge is which will enable us to strike the best possible balance within and without so that we can lead happy lives. Spiritualism and materialism, as two distinct streams of thought have guided human action so far on earth, both proving incomplete to provide a comprehensive solution. Some tried to combine the two but achieved little success.

Right now we have more strife than harmony in human life. Even though, we are just one species, as is now empirically proved by various research and evidence, because of lack of wisdom we have chosen to divide ourselves on the basis of race, gender, culture, class, nation, religion, caste, etc., and have developed ways to practice this discrimination in institutionalized fashion. It is this artificial division that we have created which is the basis of all strife, conflicts, wars and human rights violations. Until we do away with all these divisions there is no hope of living among ourselves peacefully as well as with the rest of nature.

In spite of our best efforts to create as much external differences to differentiate one human being from the other as possible, there are some basic underlying features which unite us. We are one in recognizing the basic human values, like trust and love, which form the foundation of a happy human society, i.e., the ideal society in which we would like to live. The basic philosophy of most religions is quite similar so far as their content is concerned. It is only in rituals that we make them appear more different than they actually are. Is it surprising that all around the globe, with some exceptions, there is a consensus on the basic structure of a family, the most crucial element forming the emotional bedrock of our lives, and we honour similar values across nations, race, culture and region? This happened without any government edict or law!

Human rights is another important area where a consensus is emerging, i.e., we as a single body of species, in spite of various forms of governments that we live under, are agreeing to the nature of freedom which every human being should enjoy. There is emerging consensus on the international treaties on the rights of marginalized communities and expression of commitment by various governments to honour these. In this sense we have begun to evolve into a global community. The future will see weakening of national identities and strengthening of a single identity – that of a global citizen, not merely in the context of globalized economy, but other more basic ways relating to celebration of human life and liberty.

People around the world have faith in values of truth and non-violence and came out in large numbers on street to oppose the US aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq, even before the actual attacks. Some of the biggest protests were held inside the US. No single organization or government was coordinating these protests. People joined them following the dictates of their conscience.

Similarly, we are witnessing an emerging alliance of people and people’s movements around the world against the anti-people policies of the governments, international monetary agencies and multinational corporations working with the sole motive of profit making. Such global protests are very recent phenomena. People across nations feel united to uphold some higher values of life which need to be preserved against the attack of markets forces and governments which are hand in glove with these forces.

People are coming together to fight for freedom from market exploitation, freedom from war and conflicts, gender justice, abolition of all forms of slavery and discrimination, upholding of human rights of minorities and indigenous people and state terrorism in the name of war against terror. World Social Fora and their various local variants are evolving as a process where people from around the world can come together to make their dream of ‘Another World is Possible’ a reality. It may appear very utopian right now but the process has begun on ground.

By Sandeep Pandey, e-mail: ashaashramATyahooDOTcom