#MonsterEconomy is dying, Let’s Cross Over…!
– Prasanna
Monster Economy is dying. But we are unable to accept the fact. Like the children of a dying Grand-old-man, we have put the economy on ventilators; in an expensive hospital, called experts from all over the world, taken suggestions, even when those suggestions are contradictory to each other, and spent huge amounts of, scarce, national and international resource, on the treatment.
We are so completely involved with the dying monster that we don’t even want to go out of the emergency ward and see life as it is being lived. We do not want to notice for example, that even in the few weeks of the Corona Emergency the living world has already started looking livelier. The carbon emission levels have already started to come down and that the atmosphere has started showing signs of recovery. Nor for example do we, see animals (even wild ones) crossing over city streets, deserted and thus safe!
Instead, we want to go quickly back into the death ward, to pump more oxygen on to the dead lungs of the dying man! We are scared! Terribly, terribly, scared! The fact remains that we do not know how to manage without the monster! We do not know how to give up all the comforts that the old system offered! Unlimited travel, unlimited luxury, good looking malls, expensive hotels, connectivity and comfort!
But think! The wild animal crossing the street in a deserted city, whose picture we saw on the social media post, was crossing over and not intending to walk the street. We, on the contrary, have been walking the street, and want to continue to walk the street! We feel scared to crossover! We feel unsure on the natural ground; feel insecure with a hard working life! That’s our dilemma!
Look at it this way! The grand-old-man distributed his wealth unequally. His pet son (10% of the population) got a lion’s share, while the hard working children (90% of the population) had to scramble desperately for food even. The old man never cared for the old woman, meaning the nature! He is like the father in the Dostoevsky novel ‘Brothers Karamazov’. Of course, like in the novel, the monster economy has a few good qualities. For example, being driven by the machine, it looked after the business well. Let’s remember the good qualities, put a nice picture of it on the wall and cross over. In the novel one of the sons of the rascal father is called Alyosha Karamazov. He is a nice human being, almost a saint. We will have to follow his example, whether we like it or not!
Anyway there seems to be no choice. Why should we postpone the inevitable? If we pump more oxygen, the monster may breathe for a couple more years, but each such delay can put the living world to extinction. Let’s do Something.
- Prasanna
Playwright, Theatre Director and Social Activist, Gram Seva Sangh