Of fairness creams and nation states
Fairness creams are a billion dollar industry pandering to the dreams of a populace obsessed with equating fair skin to beauty. This is a product that definitely does not work, but gifted marketers have succeeded in creating an audience out of gullible consumers.
Compare this with what is happening across the world right now and one finds that matters are much the same. A handful of terrorist attacks have resulted in an entire community being labeled as pro-anarchists. This situation has been perpetrated by wily politicians to convince the local populace that there is a war being waged against them by “outsiders”. That they have succeeded in most countries has encouraged more and more policy makers to toe the line. What people fail to realize is that it is the same marginalization of a specific community that provides fodder for the grisly cycle of affairs (take Great Britain, the latest recruitment ground for fundamentalists).
Thanks to the telecom revolution (the internet, to a large extent) it is no longer appropriate to divide society on the basis of national boundaries. Today’s youth relate to each other across race and language barriers, provided that their thoughts are not marred by the seeds of hatred. They share the same tastes in music and the arts. Hiphop is Hiphop, be it in English, Arabic or French.
There is so much of difference in language and race within people of the same nation, that it makes me wonder why should there be national boundaries anymore? There is no longer justification for a differentiation between “us” and “them”. If Germany can become one, if Europe can try to dissolve boundaries, then the time is ripe to make an attempt at starting the exercise on a larger scale. If the early 20th century saw the destruction of individual fiefdoms, then the 21st century should be the time to project ourselves as the “Human race”. It is definitely the next step in our evolution, and probably what any other intelligent life form out there is waiting for, before establishing contact with us.
It will not be easy, but a beginning has to be made…
Compare this with what is happening across the world right now and one finds that matters are much the same. A handful of terrorist attacks have resulted in an entire community being labeled as pro-anarchists. This situation has been perpetrated by wily politicians to convince the local populace that there is a war being waged against them by “outsiders”. That they have succeeded in most countries has encouraged more and more policy makers to toe the line. What people fail to realize is that it is the same marginalization of a specific community that provides fodder for the grisly cycle of affairs (take Great Britain, the latest recruitment ground for fundamentalists).
Thanks to the telecom revolution (the internet, to a large extent) it is no longer appropriate to divide society on the basis of national boundaries. Today’s youth relate to each other across race and language barriers, provided that their thoughts are not marred by the seeds of hatred. They share the same tastes in music and the arts. Hiphop is Hiphop, be it in English, Arabic or French.
There is so much of difference in language and race within people of the same nation, that it makes me wonder why should there be national boundaries anymore? There is no longer justification for a differentiation between “us” and “them”. If Germany can become one, if Europe can try to dissolve boundaries, then the time is ripe to make an attempt at starting the exercise on a larger scale. If the early 20th century saw the destruction of individual fiefdoms, then the 21st century should be the time to project ourselves as the “Human race”. It is definitely the next step in our evolution, and probably what any other intelligent life form out there is waiting for, before establishing contact with us.
It will not be easy, but a beginning has to be made…
posted by Sandeep at 7:56 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home