FOUNDATION FOR BETTER
GOVERNMENT,
PARADIGM SHIFT TO COMBAT POVERTY
BY T.S.
Khanna, March 14, 2020.
In
every society, there exists a body of beliefs, convictions, sentiments,
accepted principles, and firmly rooted prejudices, which taken together,
provide a framework of public thought (culture).
That
framework can be traced to certain fundamental assumptions, true or false,
tested or untested. Those assumptions
are regarded by the society to be true and factual with such confidence that
they hardly bear the character of assumptions in the public mind. This dominant theoretical framework,
controlling and guiding the pattern of public thought, behavior, predilection, and
perception of observations/experiences is the paradigm of the society. Change in a paradigm is regarded as paradigm
shift.
Old
societies were established with paradigms based on religions emphasizing God as
the Supreme Arbitrator and religious leaders as the agents of God. The unquestionable faith in religious
teachings was considered as the only and the ultimate source of knowledge.
Religious
paradigms concentrate power in religious institutions and firmly restrict the
growth of knowledge since religious teachings are considered as the final truth
or facts. Such paradigms become
self-perpetuating dogmas and people accept only those phenomena that fit in
with the model of “reality” or “truism” created and defined by the prevailing
paradigm. The religious followers get
auto-intoxicated by echoing and endorsing the same beliefs and prides while
suspending their faculties for critical thinking.
It
is noteworthy that all religious paradigms promoted charity to the poor but not
the removal of poverty. They focused on
intra-religious peace as well as on inter-religious wars. They demanded the designated behavior among
the followers by punishing for heresy and preaching the concepts of heaven and
hell.
During
the 16th century, for the first time in history, a religious
paradigm was challenged and cracked in Europe by Copernicus and Galileo. With the development of scientific
instruments, they proved wrong the centuries old religious belief that the
Earth was flat and at the center of the Universe, with Sun revolving around
it. Eventually, their courage and
efforts triggered Industrial Revolution in Europe.
The
push of scientific facts started a gradual shift in the prevailing religious
paradigm. No new discovery was involved
to bring about a shift in the prevailing paradigm. Motion of the sun or the planet had not
changed. Only the conceptual perspective
of how the motion was viewed changed.
That made a great difference. People
born, brought up, and heavily influenced in a religious paradigm cannot develop
a vision of the downside of the paradigm and blindly defend it even at the cost
of their lives. The scientific
paradigms, however, are constantly questioned and modified whenever new
observation of discovered facts warrant a change in the perceived reality
prevalent at the time. That is how the
human knowledge progresses and benefits the humanity.
Another
substantial shift in European paradigm occurred when the European settlers
established the US Government in the 1770s.
The new government was established on the principles: a) Separating the
religion from the government, and b) allowing individual economic freedom with
equality of opportunity and minimal government interference.
These
values shaped a new paradigm in America, unleashing human potential for
economic development. This paradigm
blocked the religious values, beliefs, and customs that obstructed innovations,
inventions, discoveries, tackling resources and opportunities leading to
economic development.
This
paradigm turned the American wilderness into the greatest and wealthiest
country in the world in two centuries. Poor
countries have still not shown much success in thousand years. The lack of success is not due to the lack of
resources but due the hold of religious paradigms. The poor countries are
comparable to European conditions prior to scientific revolution.
There
is another fallacy afloat that democracy can eradicate poverty. If our knowledge or belief system is not in
order, our freedom works against our interests.
Unless a shift in religious paradigms is created for it to be conducive
to economic development, those countries will continue to perpetuate poverty
under democracy. Under the conditions of
religious dogmatism and economic ignorance, gullible/incite-able voters vote
only their caprice and emotions, not their intellect. Elected officials, under such conditions, are
neither knowledgeable nor interested in poverty removal issues. Their public stance is for wealth
distribution, not for wealth production.
Another
disadvantage of religious paradigm is that it places power in the hands of
religious leaders doggedly convinced of their self-righteousness. When the power resides in or is under the
influence of religious leaders, it not only obstructs economic development, it
also mobilizes resources for religious wars to serve ignorant arrogance.
Traditions
direct us to believe that legacies and heritage reflect the highest values. However, in the wake of quantum jumps in
scientific knowledge offering unlimited possibilities to improve human living,
it is a compelling time for us to scrutinize our old cherished beliefs,
convictions, and customs to their very roots to rediscover, replant, and
fertilize them or even replace them to accommodate the practice of growing
knowledge for the benefit of humanity.
The
values and customs emphasized by various religions may be examined for their positive
and negative effects on poverty eradication efforts. Now there is an opportunity to evolve and
establish epoch-making innovative values for a paradigm shift in the poor
countries. Without a shift in their paradigms,
no amount of foreign aid can pull them out of poverty and the attendant growing
miseries. The focus may now shift from
foreign aid to paradigm shift.
Now
is the time to leverage the opportunity to fuse the select values of various
religions and develop and establish a syncretic universal religion with values
that may combat poverty and human misery as well as minimize religious
conflicts.
Now
is the time to elevate our intellectual-moral compass to guide the future as we
envision sharply improved conditions for humanity.
