December 29, 2023
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, Richard Grego and Miguel Rodriguez
We wish all the live wars – including the Israel-Hamas War and the Russia-Ukraine war – end soon. We believe in the Kantian credo that every individual, irrespective of their identity and other distinctive markers, has worth or dignity, and is an end in themselves – and following that logic no individual, particularly an innocent individual, must be sacrificed at the killing altar. Here, we are not entering into a debate on which side is right and which side is wrong – and one can debate that infinitely – our concern here is that innocent civilians must not die. We deliberately used the words ‘live wars’ as we believe that even if these wars end, war as a distinctive feature of human mind and living will not end. But there will be enough time and opportunity to reflect on that – on how to end war from human mind and policy calculations. But, for now, our wish is that the ongoing wars end as soon as possible so that precious lives are not lost. The scene of parents taking their dead babies to grave put to shame all canons of morality. The wars must stop. There are efforts by regional and international powers, and we wish they bear fruit very early in the new year.
Our second wish is that all national and international actors and voluntary organizations come together to save the planet from greed, exploitation, national egos, and eventual disaster. The scene of a minister of Tuvalu, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, giving a speech while standing waist-deep in water shows how in coming decades many islands will go under water. Maldives and some other countries are awaiting such a fate. Climate change is affecting weather patterns, causing untimely drought and wildfires. Mahatma Gandhi comes to mind: “nature has enough for everyone’s need but not for anyone’s greed.” Further, “Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj (freedom) for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?”
We wish nations heed Gandhi’s wise counsel, and if they ignore it they will do it at their own peril, inviting nature’s fury in multiple ways. We remember watching the news of the Tsunami in 2004 killing people in many parts of the world, and it looked like yesterday. We wish it does not happen again. Rapid deforestation for human use (Malthus predicted the imbalance between rising population and limited resources long ago), wastage of resources, heavy reliance of fossil fuel, and sedentary lifestyle have affected the planet so much. We wish nations rise above their immediate strategic and national priorities and think globally by prioritizing the future of the human race in policymaking. People have started imagining moving to other planets (Clooney’s The Midnight Sky and Damon’s The Martian come to mind). And even if humans move to another planet, their old nature of greed and exploitation will soon turn the new planet uninhabitable. Let us all admit, life here on the earth is in jeopardy and this is time for action.
We also wish that the states in the world become more democratic. In recent years, the world has seen, unfortunately, the rise of dictators and authoritarian states in many parts of the world. The so-called established democracies are not immune from this malignant trend. This is something every lover of democracy and democratic values must be concerned about. Democracy, we believe, should be the virtue of governance in the modern world. One of the most famous proponents of democracy, Abraham Lincoln, had lucidly declared in the midst of the civil war that democracy is about government of the people, by the people and for the people. Before that French philosopher Jean J. Rousseau had told us that the voice of the people is the voice of god, and that is what democracy is all about. It also implies that an enlightened citizenry can guide the fate of the nation towards true liberty, equality, fraternity and justice. But the recent trends have apparently challenged these noble ideas of democratic governance. The rise of demagogues, control and manipulation of media, misuse of digital and social media, are not good signs for a healthy society we are aspiring for. We wish that the new year will see weakening of authoritarian tendencies worldwide, and powerful leaders live a life of transparency and integrity.
We wish good health, true joy and happiness to our near and dear ones. Enlarging the definition of near and dear ones, we wish all our human brethren a healthier and happier world, a world in which there are billions of faces smiling, spending time and interacting with real human beings than with virtual reality and artificial intelligence, a world in which people trust and love each other in the spirit of vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the world is one family) and in the spirit of Love Thy Neighbor, thinking of everyone as a neighbor as we belong to the same human race. We wish the human society moves in a direction in which divine love, courage and hope triumph over forces of darkness, negativism and hate, and a deeper spiritual affinity guides the behaviors of individuals, their groups, states, and the world.
Happy New Year, 2024!
