Thursday, February 11, 2010
I before WE,
The main reason behind the failure of collective action as we have been reading from day one is the existence of Ibefore We , when people fail to see the benefits of a group and solely focus on themselves there exists no possibility of a collective action. A single voice in a mass of humanity will fail to elicit any sought of response if it lacks the support of its society. As seen often in the case of victims of gross injustice who are either forced to retract from their stand or have to pay a heavy penality because they dared to speak up. Why does this happen? becauce despite knowing their plight and knowing that they are right , the society for its own selfish reason fails to support them and in some cases also go against them, as seen in the bhanwari rape case. What is wrong here , is it the lack of awareness among the people about sticking together? or is humanity dead nowadays and I is the only human existing in everyone?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
It would be too cynical to say that it's I before We. We've had a history, of poverty, of lost opportunities.Security and survival are of highest importance to masses. they are forced, conditioned to chose themselves before the wider good.
That being said, the Patkars, the Mathais, the millions of empowered 'you's , 'me's , who do transcend the 'I' and work collectively as 'We'. They err We might be a minority today, they might universally be supressed by the powers that be, but they are a strong force, orchestrating a change; slowly but surely.
Like lennon poeticised in his epic,
You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one.
I hope one day you'll join us,
And world would be one :)
The story about a monkey holding her baby on her head in a tank gradually filling up with water till it reaches her nose and then throwing the baby and mounting on it to survive proves just one point that it is one's natural instinct to think of oneself first.
So from where does this question of WE arises? I think it comes from the premise that we are rational individuals and whenever we find that that WE could be more beneficial that I,all the rational people come together(flip the pages of history)and work for larger good.
This story of the monkey in water is highly contextual, and counterarguments to this can pour in by the dozen. I exist because of Us, and not the other way round. True that a group is nothing but a collection of individuals, but a prudent individual would remember that the Group will still survive without him, however, his survival without being a part of the 'Us' would be difficult!
-rajat, 30029
The individualistic times that we are living in at the moment speaks breadth of the fact that people are more focused on the "I" than on "We. Success has become such an addiction that it is achieved at the cost of other people. It no more "I" win but "You" lose.
But this only leads to loss to each and every individual and the society as a whole in the long run.
Its is important that people stop doing things after doing a cost-benefit analysis of each and every thing.
The very reason for a collective action is the fact that collectively "we" can do something which "I" cannot. And therefore what brings people together is their self-interest. An individual first thinks about himself, then family or friends and at last society. And yes, as Sarah said all these incidents further raise our doubts as to whether humanity is dead or merely dormant ?
This for sure cant be credited to lack of awareness amongst the people. i agree with ritesh completely that people come together because of their self interest and this drives them to be a part of the collective
Most of the times it takes an 'Uru' for people to realize their collective potential.People need an awakener to help them come out of slumber of ignorance,inactivity and silence.
the sad state of our present society is there is a fear among people, fear of isolation and fear of social backlash because of which they simply choose to remain mute spectators rather than speak up, there is always that what will happen to me rather than what will happen to them.
It isnt for me or for them. It is for US.It can not be for some charitable cause that I can sustain my efforts. I can sustain my efforts only when I can get the benefits. Now, the range which this I assumes is important and determines I being I or I being We or I being a unicellular microcosm.
Post a Comment