The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism

by Javed Jamil

societies", Rousseau says; "and the only one that is natural is the family." Hagel, in his "Philosophy of History", argues : "The piety of the family relation should be respected in the highest degree by the state; by its means the state obtains as its members individuals who are already moral (for as mere person they are not) and who in uniting to form a state bring with them that sound basis of a political edifice -- the capacity of feeling one with a whole." Rousseau, in his famous work, "Social Contact", further adds: "The family then may be called the first model of political societies; the rural corresponds to the father, and the poeple to the children; and all being born free and equal, alienate their liberty only for their own advantage. The whole difference is that, in the family, the love of the father for his children repays him for the care he takes of them, while, in the state, the pleasure of commanding takes the place of the love which the chief cannot have for the people under him." Family system is unavoidable, because it is a natural way to ensure replacement, and in the healthiest way, of one generation by the other. Every man or woman has to be a son or a daughter of a father and mother. There is no other way. So, parents and children are the natural components of family. None can nourish children better than parents (both father and mother) whose love for them is natural and largely selfless; parents regard children as their extensions, and leave no stone unturned in their development. Of course, there are exceptions, and these exceptions are growing in number in the present times. Many parents now have little concern for their children. Some of them even sacrifice them for the fulfilment of their own desires. This is mainly the outcome of evils like drinking, smoking, gambling and perspicuousness. When one or both of the parents become addicts to one or more of these they turn psychological­ly too weak to look after their children; they prefer to satisfy their own desires rather than the needs of their sons and daugh­ters.

  Woman is safest in her family. This does not mean that she does not have right to go out and seek career for herself. Of course, she has. But as a member of family, her parents. husband, brothers and sons guard her against her exploitation. It is when she, having become an adult, severs her links with her parental fami­ly, and does not establish her own, that she is under maxi­mum threat of being abused It is during the same part of her age that her beauty is exploited for commercial purposes; often she is entrapped in sex market. And when, around 40, she realises her follies, it is too late; once her charms are overtaken by the ruthless age, she has hardly anyone to look after or to share some moments of pleasure with her. She longs to be with her children but they if there are any, prefer to go their own way rather than care for their parents. Woman has, and must have, the right to earn. But this must not be, and she must not be made to feel it as a duty imposed on her. She must realise, and should be proud that she has the greatest, grandest and finest job on earth to do; to give birth to, nourish and cherish human children. No other duty can be more important and more sacred than that; from no job other than this can she imbibe such wholesome and long lasting satisfaction. And men must realise this, and must create harmonious conditions for her to accomplish her work in a tranquil environment. He must know that whatever he spends on her, cannot be sufficient for the work she does. And more than her financial requirements, he must, therefore, compensate by providing her psychological relief and happiness. He must know that the only essential task of sustenance of human species -- not only the biological species but the socially highest being, is performed by her, and all other functions, some of which are performed by men, are of complementary nature. Woman must be expected to earn only when it is needed to sustain the family or when she herself feels psychologically compelled to do so. But she must not be lured or forced to do jobs that burden her with additional responsibilities.

  No society can ever be happy if its women are unhappy; and women cannot be happy if they do not live peacefully in the safe environs of their family. It is interesting to see that the creator has apportioned woman's biological life-span into three distinct phases: pre-fertile, fertile and post-fertile. The best way to give full expression to the natural talents of woman will, there­fore, be to plan activities in accordance with these biological phases. In paediatric (pre-fertile) age, woman must concentrate on her education, which must have prominence of personality and character development. In her youth (fertile age), she must be concerned more than anything else about the proper development of her family; from the time she first conceives to the entrance of her last child into adolescence, she must preferably remain in her house looking after her children. In the post-fertile age, she may, if she wants, concentrate on her other talents. Even when engaged in her family duties, she may use her leisure time in a way that does not disturb her family. Women of more than 45, may join good decent jobs, get involved in their own business, or engage themselves in social services and spirit­ual pursuits. This may cause some minor problems. Break of educa­tion, or service, may cause harm to their efficiency. It can also be argued that their professional careers would suffer. But hundreds of ways may be found to minimise these problems. Even in their houses, they may keep in touch with the books of their choice, or those related to their careers. Before rejoin­ing refreshment courses can be arranged. To make up for their lost period, retirement age for women an be increased. Even during the fertile phase, they may be given the option to work for half the normal hours with decreased salary (or full salary compensat­ed by work in the latter part of life) so that their family life is least disturbed. Such arrangements will be a boon for socie­ty. These will ensure a peaceful family -- family which is not just a family of some individuals, but also the best school for civi­lizing the members of society. Children will receive the atten­tion they need. Husbands and wives will also find moments of pleasure to share. The chances of their getting involved in adultery would greatly diminish; for women above 45 are less likely to develop such relationship; with the wife waiting at home and fewer young women around, husbands, too, would be able to avoid adulterous relationships. Families will, generally, be free of matrimonial tensions; separations and divorces would minimise. The commercial exploitation of women will also decline; prostitution and pornography will not remain easy to be sustained, except at low scale. Sexually transmitted diseases will become uncommon. The crimes against women will continuously decrease. Mankind will achieve Grand Peace, which must, in fact, be its ultimate destination.

  Freedom or liberty can never be absolute. Describing how the word liberty is being converted by the vested interests into tyranny, Lincoln said: "With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labour, while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labour. Here are too, not only diffrent but incompatible things called by the same name—liberty. And it follows that each of the things, by the respective positions, is called by too different and incompatible names-- liberty and tyranny." Those who campaign for absolute freedom do so only, because they want their sinful activities and exploitative practices to be sanctioned by society. A man is not just an individual; he is also related through blood to the members of his family, and forms part of society. Neither an individual can exist in absolute loneliness, severing all con­tacts with society, nor can society ever be formed without individuals. Whatever man does, with very few exceptions, affects his relatives, friends, neighbours and other sections of society. A person ceases to be an individual as soon as he steps out of his personal room. In his house, he has to abide by the rules and regulations laid down by the family; outside, he has to act within the fences erected by society. Even if he commits suicide, drinks, smokes or indulges in sex, these personal actions are not going to affect him alone; his spouse, parents, brothers, sisters and children and, to a lesser extent, other members of society, are also bound to suffer. The world may be compared with the traffic system. Every one moving on the road has to confine oneself to one's lane and follow the traffic r
ules. The more the people flaunt the rules the more chances of accidents; the number of people injured or killed in the accidents would corre­spondingly increase. Why do the champions of absolute freedom not campaign for freedom in driving? The truth is that the real freedom lies in following restrictions and not in disregard­ing them. Absolute freedom leads to nothing but chaos and an­archy. The only beneficiaries are the mighty possessing physi­cal, financial or political power. The overwhelming majority of people are the ultimate sufferers. To achieve the goal of Grand Peace, the world needs a system that provides full opportunity even to the weakest to enjoy a truly wholesome life.

  Sanctification of Sex (De-commercialisation)

  The colossal transfor­mation of social values that has taken place during the twentieth century all over the world, particularly in the West, owes itself to the ever-increasing prospects of the commercialisation of sex. This may, in fact, be regarded as the most