On Global Disparities

Watch a segment from the documentary "We" here. In this segment Arundhati Roy, the writer and activist, talks about the ever-widening disparities between the rich and the poor in the world today.

Roy's comments in this segment end at a very insightful point where she says that both socialism and market capitalism are inherently flawed and are bound to fail. Because both are conjured up by the human-mind but they destroy themselves by human nature!

I am reminded here of Shaheed Sadr's profound analysis at the beginning of his book, Our Philosophy (here). Any social system that does not take into account the various dimensions of human nature, including the material and the spiritual; any system that does not have a program for curing the problems in hearts and for developing the good potentials in human souls, and only focuses upon the material factors, is bound to fail - be they the socialist states or the welfare systems anchored in capitalist economies. Similarly, a movement that focuses only on reforming the system, but no concern for reforming and disciplining hearts, can't go very far. Because ego and vices of hearts often lead to internal disputes, competition, factionalization, corruption, and abuse of power. These problems become especially visible once the common enemy is removed from the scene and/or once these movements get hold of power.

Islam is against materialism because materialism causes social injustice and oppression. But also because Islam wants to nurture the inner spirituality and other potential noble qualities in human beings, and materialism ('slavery of this world') takes them in exactly the opposite direction. Often non-religious movements choose to resist materialism because of its consequences on society; that is, they resist materialism for instrumental (means to ends) reasons. Islam, however, places importance on simplicity and modesty because they are valuable in themselves for human perfection. Hence, even if the world becomes full of resources and everyone has more than what he/she needs, Islam would still stress on simplicity and modesty in the lifestyles and pursuits of its followers. With its ideals of human perfection and emphasis on the eternal life in the hereafter, Islam provides a powerful rational and emotional stimulus for individuals to abstain from materialism and channel their self-interest into attaining lofty human ideals and qualities. I would discuss this point further in another post, Inshallah. In addition to the abovementioned text of Shaheed Sadr, you can also refer to Shaheed Mutahhari's following works: "Spiritual Discourses" and "Perfect Man."

Back to Roy's documentary. I highly recommend watching the whole documentary, here. It is a very thoughtful reflection on our state of affairs, at the current juncture of the history of human civilization. The documentary is based on a critically acclaimed speech delivered in 2002 by the award winning author and activist Arundhati Roy. The speech has been turned into a fast paced, musical documentary with the title 'We'. The issues reflected on in 'We' range from sep 11, wars, palestine, and kashmir to corporation, global inequality, and sweatshops, and many others, all thematically connected through a longing for justice for all.

A quote from Arundhati Roy from elsewhere:

“In the midst of putative peace, a writer can, like I did, be unfortunate enough to stumble on a silent war. The trouble is that once you see it, you can’t unsee it. And once you’ve seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out.”

------
Click on the tag/label “Materialism” (right column on top) to find other related posts in this blog.