Marks : 125
1. True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence.
सच्ची व्यक्तिगत स्वतंत्रता आर्थिक स्वतंत्रता के बिना मौजूद नहीं हो सकती है।
2. Who is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
एक निंदक कौन है? एक आदमी जो सबकी कीमत जानता है पर किसी का महत्व नहीं जानता।
Happy April Fools Day 🙂 Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
Tanq S/M:->
Sir review my essay
Sorry for late posting
Review my essay plz
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Content is good but arrangement is needed
Why did u stop the essay midway Chetan..
You have the clarity about the topic just need to work on the content more and include diverse aspects..
Good attempt.. Keep writing…
Some points to note:
1.The point where you tried to emphasise that children , transgenders etc are economically insecure so that cant chose their own careers is fine but you can avoid emphasising that particular point to 2-3 paragraphs.
2.The essay seemed haphazard despite some good content.Please work on the structure of your essay by prioritising your points.
Please note:
1.The way you started the essay was interesting.
2.Very diverse points have been included with excellent examples.
Please note:-
1.Introduction in an essay should be the buildup on how you are going to project the essay or move ahead with the essay.So second para was rather better as an intro rather than the first para.
2.Some points regarding how these days women empowerment is contributing to their independence and free living at the same time some constraints still remain.You can mention them
3.The point regarding poverty could be reduced a bit.
4.Overall a good attempt..Keep writing.
No, your essay is good in itself. It is a reflection of your thinking. I really liked your essay
@forumias-7f07ca326ce76cdde680e4b3d568bce8:disqus sir my essay is getting detected as spam continiously from morning; fir post kar raha hoon kindly fix
TRUE INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT ECONOMIC SECURITY
Freedom has been one of the most debated words of 21st century. If the ancient age was the age on conquest, the medieval as the age as the age of power, the modern age could easily be regarded as the age of freedom.It has however been difficult to define what freedom exactly is.The most common and accepted meaning is ”power to thank, act speak as one wants.
Individual freedom means that every individual is free to pursue the life he wants and chooses for himself till he doesn’t cause problems to his fellow being and society. But this right to live in a self desired way is not isolated. It is inherently linked to capabilities, opportunities and empowerment. This is where freedom becomes MULTIDIMENSIONAL.
Economic Security is one of the most important dimensions of individual freedom. A person who can’t afford basic necessities of life can’t be said to be free even if his voice and opinion was valued. In India every citizen is a voter but ever citizen is not a free man. He is as Rousseau says, ” every where in chains”. He is bound by the problems of daily life. He is chained by poverty, health problems and lack of access to many things which give value to freedom.
So is individual freedom without economic security worth being called freedom at all? Is having rights worth without being capable and interested to enjoy them ? What is it to be free? Is it having a set of rights on paper even without being aware of them? Is it having a Constitution ? Is it having institutions like Parliament and Judiciary? Or is freedom a state of mind? Is freedom the vehicle of self development?
The is no doubt that Political Freedom is crucial in the modern civilization. It has been the fore-runner of other dimensions of freedom It has paved way for people to call themselves Citizens and not Subjects. It has given birth and glorified the concept of equality.
However, the greatest fiction that we as people of modern age have been fed is the dominance of Political freedom over other dimensions of freedom. This has relegated freedom to just being an exercise of doing certain things.
The real freedom comes as a state of being free. As is popularly said.” Freedom is the state of mind”. For a poor person the exercise of voting, the guarantee of fundamental rights etc would have a little meaning and it is understandably so. When we say that our voting percentage has been just around 60%, we should ask ourselves this question. Does freedom as exercise of voting attract the lesser off in this country.
The liberal notion of freedom came as a counter of feudalism and absolute state. It hence laid great emphasis on rights, liberty and equality. But the problem with liberal notion is that it derives EQUALITY FROM LIBERTY. The equality then becomes more formal than substantive It gives more weight to political than economic or other dimensions of freedom.
When Britishers cam to India they introduced the rule of law. However in-spite of codified laws and EQUALITY BEFORE LAW, the weaker sections feared going to courts. The reason was that they lacked RESOURCES and KNOWLEDGE of modern legal system. The same was true in case of trade and commerce. Here machine produced goods automatically threw hand made less advantageous goods out of market The liberal slogan of is ” equal opportunities for all” automatically translates into more opportunists for the privileged few.
The greatest challenge to modern notion of freedom is existence of large scale poverty especially in third world countries and lack of capability to tackle it. This brings forth the notion of state as equalise or the welfare state.
More than 120 countries in the world have the institutional set up of democracy. In most of these countries a set of rights is given to the people. But as the latest OXFAM report states, almost half of the wealth in these countries is concentrated in top 1or 2 percent of the people.
A classic case here is of our own country where 121 million people ( census 2011 population) have political freedom. But how many of them are economically free? How many of them can manage bare resources of life. This is the real question we should ask ourselves. 22-23 % of our population lives BELOW POVERTY LINE. Add to this the amount of people just above poverty line. They also can’t be regarded as economically secure.
Article 21 of our constitution guarantees not only right to live but also right to live a decent life with dignity. This should basically be the parameter to judge our or any political democracy of the world. Freedom here should be what Gandhi Ji called, ” the true swaraj”. Also the state should undertake what is intended in the Directive Principles of State Policy ie to provide adequate sources of living and minimize the concentration of wealth.
Another important dimension of individual freedom is INDEPENDENCE. Typically independence is antithesis of SUBJUGATION. It is not only physical independence but freedom of the mind. It means freedom to think in a way that our though is not colored by any HEGEMONY. We perceive things the way we want and not the way we are made to.
A typical example of this is the recently in news BEEF POLITICS. Here the self regarding actions of an individual which he does in his private sphere are being questioned. They are not being questioned on the constitutional directives of MORALITY AND PUBLIC ORDER but sadly majoritarian will. This robs freedom from independence and makes it largely incomplete.
Independence also means freedom from fear. Freedom from fear is breeded by insecurity and lack of confidence. It has very less to do with institutional structure. As is said of Alexander’s empire which had no political set up but there was ” freedom of the mind” .In modern times it is the responsibility of the state and society to ensure that this freedom of fear gives way to freedom to do. This would increase social mobility and make societies progressive.
So how do we make freedom meaningful? How do we ensure that it turns more substantive? How do we ensure it increases self worth? The most important tool to ensure both freedom of pocket ie economic security and freedom of mind ie independence is education. It is however not restricted to literacy alone.
It would be Gandhian system of education which increases capability of humans and their moral worth also. It should be Kantian education which makes people ethical to give worth to others. And finally it should pave way for Aristotle’s way of teaching which included maths, logc, botany, zoology and most importantly Curiosity.
Along with education what is necessary to give individual freedom a real meaning is a responsible state. A truly welfare state which tries to minimize inequality, protect the less off and ensure transparency. It would be a state which represents true representative trust of people to protect their independence.
Policies should be made on such grounds that they end any inequality and discrimination. WE live in a society where new complex threats to freedom may trigger a million mutinies. They need to be converted into a million opportunities to ensure freedom and democracy succeed in freeing people from the sense of inequality in any sphere.
TRUE INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT ECONOMIC SECURITY
Freedom has been one of the most debated words of 21st century. If the ancient age was the age on conquest, the medieval as the age as the age of power, the modern age could easily be regarded as the age of freedom.It has however been difficult to define what freedom exactly is.The most common and accepted meaning is ”power to thank, act speak as one wants.
Individual freedom means that every individual is free to pursue the life he wants and chooses for himself till he doesn’t cause problems to his fellow being and society. But this right to live in a self desired way is not isolated. It is inherently linked to capabilities, opportunities and empowerment. This is where freedom becomes MULTIDIMENSIONAL.
Economic Security is one of the most important dimensions of individual freedom. A person who can’t afford basic necessities of life can’t be said to be free even if his voice and opinion was valued. In India every citizen is a voter but ever citizen is not a free man. He is as Rousseau says, ” every where in chains”. He is bound by the problems of daily life. He is chained by poverty, health problems and lack of access to many things which give value to freedom.
So is individual freedom without economic security worth being called freedom at all? Is having rights worth without being capable and interested to enjoy them ? What is it to be free? Is it having a set of rights on paper even without being aware of them? Is it having a Constitution ? Is it having institutions like Parliament and Judiciary? Or is freedom a state of mind? Is freedom the vehicle of self development?
The is no doubt that Political Freedom is crucial in the modern civilization. It has been the fore-runner of other dimensions of freedom It has paved way for people to call themselves Citizens and not Subjects. It has given birth and glorified the concept of equality.
However, the greatest fiction that we as people of modern age have been fed is the dominance of Political freedom over other dimensions of freedom. This has relegated freedom to just being an exercise of doing certain things.
The real freedom comes as a state of being free. As is popularly said.” Freedom is the state of mind”. For a poor person the exercise of voting, the guarantee of fundamental rights etc would have a little meaning and it is understandably so. When we say that our voting percentage has been just around 60%, we should ask ourselves this question. Does freedom as exercise of voting attract the lesser off in this country.
The liberal notion of freedom came as a counter of feudalism and absolute state. It hence laid great emphasis on rights, liberty and equality. But the problem with liberal notion is that it derives EQUALITY FROM LIBERTY. The equality then becomes more formal than substantive It gives more weight to political than economic or other dimensions of freedom.
When Britishers cam to India they introduced the rule of law. However in-spite of codified laws and EQUALITY BEFORE LAW, the weaker sections feared going to courts. The reason was that they lacked RESOURCES and KNOWLEDGE of modern legal system. The same was true in case of trade and commerce. Here machine produced goods automatically threw hand made less advantageous goods out of market The liberal slogan of is ” equal opportunities for all” automatically translates into more opportunists for the privileged few.
The greatest challenge to modern notion of freedom is existence of large scale poverty especially in third world countries and lack of capability to tackle it. This brings forth the notion of state as equalise or the welfare state.
More than 120 countries in the world have the institutional set up of democracy. In most of these countries a set of rights is given to the people. But as the latest OXFAM report states, almost half of the wealth in these countries is concentrated in top 1or 2 percent of the people.
A classic case here is of our own country where 121 million people ( census 2011 population) have political freedom. But how many of them are economically free? How many of them can manage bare resources of life. This is the real question we should ask ourselves. 22-23 % of our population lives BELOW POVERTY LINE. Add to this the amount of people just above poverty line. They also can’t be regarded as economically secure.
Article 21 of our constitution guarantees not only right to live but also right to live a decent life with dignity. This should basically be the parameter to judge our or any political democracy of the world. Freedom here should be what Gandhi Ji called, ” the true swaraj”. Also the state should undertake what is intended in the Directive Principles of State Policy ie to provide adequate sources of living and minimize the concentration of wealth.
Another important dimension of individual freedom is INDEPENDENCE. Typically independence is antithesis of SUBJUGATION. It is not only physical independence but freedom of the mind. It means freedom to think in a way that our though is not colored by any HEGEMONY. We perceive things the way we want and not the way we are made to.
A typical example of this is the recently in news BEEF POLITICS. Here the self regarding actions of an individual which he does in his private sphere are being questioned. They are not being questioned on the constitutional directives of MORALITY AND PUBLIC ORDER but sadly majoritarian will. This robs freedom from independence and makes it largely incomplete.
Independence also means freedom from fear. Freedom from fear is breeded by insecurity and lack of confidence. It has very less to do with institutional structure. As is said of Alexander’s empire which had no political set up but there was ” freedom of the mind” .In modern times it is the responsibility of the state and society to ensure that this freedom of fear gives way to freedom to do. This would increase social mobility and make societies progressive.
So how do we make freedom meaningful? How do we ensure that it turns more substantive? How do we ensure it increases self worth? The most important tool to ensure both freedom of pocket ie economic security and freedom of mind ie independence is education. It is however not restricted to literacy alone.
It would be Gandhian system of education which increases capability of humans and their moral worth also. It should be Kantian education which makes people ethical to give worth to others. And finally it should pave way for Aristotle’s way of teaching which included maths, logc, botany, zoology and most importantly Curiosity.
Along with education what is necessary to give individual freedom a real meaning is a responsible state. A truly welfare state which tries to minimize inequality, protect the less off and ensure transparency. It would be a state which represents true representative trust of people to protect their independence.
Policies should be made on such grounds that they end any inequality and discrimination. WE live in a society where new complex threats to freedom may trigger a million mutinies. They need to be converted into a million opportunities to ensure freedom and democracy succeed in freeing people from the sense of inequality in any sphere.
Thank you my frnd ll correct my mistake
Essay Padne Mein Kaafi Achcha Laga Drain Of Wealth aur Dada Bhai Naroji Ka Section Bhi Achcha Hai.Yeh Cheezein Mere Dimaag Mein Aayi Hi Nahi So I Totally Messed Up In My Essay.
All The Bestttt…..!!!
Buddy, i am really sorry to say this. Please donot Plagiarise. It seems whole essay is copied from Paul Bernal Blog -Price of everything and value of nothing. Trust me GS – IV is not a subject but a true implementation by a civil services aspirant.
Pope Francis is usually known for speaking his mind. On his Latin American tour, he said that Human Rights are violated not only by Terrorism, Assassinations but also by unfair economic structure that breeds inequality. He for the first time equated the impact of terrorism and unfair economic structure bred inequality on Human rights. Quite true, isnt it ? The terror which a poor individual faces each day of their life from birth to death is much more brutal than one off impact by real terrorist.
This issue gains more significance when it was highlighted that 1% rich have wealth equal to other 99%. Compounded by extent of population living from hand to mouth and in state of poverty , it becomes urgent to look into the importance of economic security and independence to ensure a free living. Despite the fact that free living is a much wider term spanning across mere access to cash, it seems that money more or less dictates the access to true freedom.
Back in times, when colonial state was looting the nation and in turn hindering the peaceful living of the people, Grand Old Man of India came up with a noble analysis of the condition. None other than, Dada Bhai Naoroji introduced the concept of Drain of Wealth in his book- Poverty and Unbritish rule in India. His analysis was for country as a whole and considering the country as an individual. The idea of subservant indian economy that exports raw material to recieve manufactured goods struck with the masses and made them realise that British are the true cause of their miseries.
Freedom movement pursued based on these revelations and ultimately the freedom was achieved. Politicians in free india adopted a state led development model to ensure that the nation is self reliant, sovereign and free from dependence on foreign imports. It was their view that independece refers to an economically self reliant nation.
Despite the initial efforts, poverty became an all pervasive phenomena and poverty removal became the slogan of the state. This emphasis on economic security of an individual was justified as poor economic condition hinder an all around development of an individual in – social, political, legal and constitutional, Psychological spheres
Access to decent money is necessary for an individual to access food and nutrition. Poor person and their children are malnourished and suffer from various ailments like deficiency diseases, poor cognitive growth and proneness to communicable diseases. Thus, access to food and healthy nutrition would be crucial to ensure freedom from diseases and poor growth.It is not just improper nutrition but also lack of hygenic living, financial access to hospital, well built houses which impact poor individuals. Lack of these impact their overall health.
Due to poor health, children are unable to access proper education in poor families. Although, poverty itself is a barrier in accessing education as parents are forced to send children to work and earn two square meals a day. Lack of proper education is a severe impact of poverty which would otherwise have opened door of various opportunities for poverty-ridden children.
It is these daily stresses that a poor person bears that their children are uneducated, of poor health which leads to adverse psychological impact. An individual becomes a prisoner of self-guilt brought down by depression, anxiety and other mental problems. It is here poverty removal becomes more necessary to free an individual from self – generated clutches.
For such a person, It would be preposterous to assume that they would access their constitutional and legal rights. Poor people cannot access good lawyers, are not welcomed at police stations. This leads to disproportionate effect of crime and frauds in the country on poor.
As a poor individual grows older they are not left with any money to support themselves. Poverty ridden elderlies are more prone to destitution than financially well-off elderlies. Lack of access and awareness of social security program compounds their problems.
Thus, it is clear that access to financial security is essential for independence from all sorts of problem and to ensure access to opportunities in health , education , political and other spheres. But, there are critics who point to the role of other factors in ensuring true independence like gender and caste issues, lack of democracy and rule of law etc.
It is true that caste and gender are important social hindrance to good living. But, it is equally right that ‘lower’ castes and women which are better off financially have better access to education, health and other public services than their poor counterparts.Even in an undemocratic country like North Korea, rich living in Pyongang are more independent than poor living on countrysides.
However, if one compares the living of poverty- ridden women in different castes, the outcome is invariably more favourable in terms of upper castes. Similarly, a poor Afro-american living in USA would have more access to rule of law than the rich individual living in Pyongang, who are even more liable to be persecuted by Kim Jong Un without due course of law.
All in all, it can thus be concluded that given if people live in equal political, social environment, economic security is an essential for an Individual to achieve independence in all spheres of life- health, education, Constitutional and Legal rights, social security. Thus, government has to focus on improving the life of the poor by progressive taxations, well-designed schemes to ensure quality access to health, education and other public services. More importantly, access to Skill based training is essential to ensure poor are adequately capable of earning their decent living without having to rely on government. Government also need to go for Structural reforms in the economy and promote manufacturing to generate more jobs. Food Processing industry can play a significant role in ensuring improvement in living of rural poor farmer with better return on produce and for town poor with jobs.
In addition to economic sector growth, government should also focus on social barriers like gender, caste discrimination, rule of law, transparency in public services via Good Governance to ensure that the independence in true sense is felt by this individual – a poor married low caste female living in a rural setup in an remote part of the country. It would be only when I could say that democracy which started from Constituent Assembly has truly reached the most needy.
Thank u boosting me
Thank you
Sorry Sir, POOR ESSAY.
Could not explore fully…..!!!
Who Is A Cynic ?? A Man Who Knows The Price Of Everything But Value Of Nothing——
We all believe we must have something to give it to anyone.These Days people know the price of everything but the value of nothing,we have forgotten how to value things without a price tag.Hence ,when we get to our most abundant gifts ie attention ,insights,compassion-we confuse their worth because they are well priceless.
Everybody know the prices of things which are needed to ones’ life.We all know how much it will cost one bread,a bottle of water etc.But we are not aware of how many people have worked for these things.
Wisdom–This is something what we can’t count or share. We can’t buy it. Wisdom isn’t for buy and for sell. We read a lot of stupid and expensive books or newspaper. They don’t give us anything. Maybe little fun. But we have fun on TV, DVD. So why we buy something what doesn’t give us nothing? Perhaps we should begin learn some clever experiences.
Money– If We accumulate a lot of money we would obviously think we have everything,Thats’ not right.Many people claim that they are our friends but in times of difficulty those friends turn out to fair weather friends shows the true colour.We can Never buy new friends with money thus it clearly indicates people know the price of everything but value nothing
In Corporate World–It is imperative in business to know the price of everything ,in case we should fall short of our financial targets or over spend our budgets.This is not a bad thing as it helps to instill meaning and integrity ,focussing on the value of things we have.
So where does knowing The Price of everything and value of nothing actually comes together.
In all aspescts of our lives from home,work,family and friends.It is useless to know the monetary price of something and yet not fully understand its true non monetary value
Cost Vs Value Of Employee–We all know how much an employee costs to employ do we truly know what value they can bring to the organisation .Many of us would answer No.Thats not right.Employees want and more importantly to need to feel valued.If An employeer does not fully understand the true value of an individual then the employer to employee relationship will breakdown
Secondly,From business perspective it is employers responsibility to fully exploit in greates possible way.
Business Income vs Value–In terms of customer service and business selling it is not just about knowing what the monetary value of new and existing customers can bring but equally important establishing the often unknown non monetary value.
As we can see ,much can be learnt from getting to grips with what value is in your business-What it is worth to business success and how you add value to your employees’ relationship that too along with Price and Value
Conclusion is very nice – Choosing career in a natural way.
Try To Write More, Bahut Mushkil Nahi Hai Koshish Karoge Toh Ho Jayega.
All The Bestttt…..!!!
Hi, just my points: 1. Capitalism is not industrialisation. 2. Need to write more. 3. If real freedom varies from person to person, write all those variants in the essay.
Tanq!
K if you suggest me clearly ll try to reduce my mistakes whatever it is say yaar
I DO Not Want To Say This Clearly About Your Essay.I Hope You Get My Point…..!!!
What I ve done yaar say clearly
DO Not Do This.Last Time You Also Did The Same Thing …..!!!
Economic Security aur Independence Wala Section Achcha Laga Kaafi Kuch Add Kiya Hai.
Overall,I enjoyed While Reading Your Eassy.
All The Bestttttt…..!!!
Please scrutinise my essay….. do reply
Individual freedom is a multidimensional concept .many political thinkers talked about freedom like rousseau, hobbies, locke etc .They believe that real freedom can enjoy is only in the lap of nature. As time changes when world’s start getting industrialised , one big thing came into picture that is economic security .many sociologist glorified industrialisation as it give economic security and independence to individuals. But sociologist like Karl mark denounced industrialisation as it leads mass pauperisation and polarisation of people into 2 classes ie proletariat and bourgeoisie. Taking into consideration Karl mark words one can easily conclude that individual freedom is lost due to industrialisation .There is no economic prosperity and independence provided by the process of industrialisation .
On the other side of the picture ..individual freedom can’t be protected without economic security .the proponent of this type of thinking includes the persons who glorified the process of industrialisation, globalisation.they believe these processes helped in making working class ie proletariat more independent and economically secure and happy .before industrialisation in feudal and semi feudal societies , individual freedom of slaves were in the hands of masters
In India after independence most of the land tillers were given land because of the land reforms but who benefitted from it were the major landlords .After 1991 real sense of industrialisation came in India when government of india formed theatre LPG REFORMS (liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation).people started moving from rural areas to urban centres in order to earn more leaving the chains of bondage and slavery from their feet towards individual freedom .by earning more ie economic security they can live with pride and freedom
It can be concluded that the real sense of individual freedom varies from person to person .Some glorified economic reforms to get freedom some denounced economic reforms to remain sticked to basic lifestyle they still feel freedom in it
1. True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence.
A person is a seasonal worker. He gets enough money during work. He is able to pursue his interests using the salary. One-day during non-work period he was suffering from illness and he found that the money will be insufficient if had spent it for his health treatment. But, he also realised that health treatment is inevitable and spent the money for the treatment. Finally he left with very less amount which can be sufficient during his non-work period if he spent it very economically. So, he has less freedom to pursue his interest During this process due to lack of economic security he could not be able enjoy true freedom by pursuing his own interests.
Similarly a person cannot enjoy true freedom if he has no independence from the state or society or family sanctions.
Also, a person with economic security without independence or an independent person without economic security cannot enjoy true freedom.
Historically, during colonial rule of India, majority of Indians lost freedom due to lack of economic security and independence. It is evident from the deaths of people due to drought and famine. These deaths could have been avoided if they have some savings which is not possible due to exploitation by colonial rulers. Individuals are not able pursue their own interests due to lack of independence. There are restrictions on work. For example, compulsory indigo cultivation. No rights for the people against the state. No obligations or duties on the state to ensure welfare of the people. In such case of dependence, individual cannot enjoy true freedom. There are restrictions of press, no freedom of speech and expression and only duty exist that is loyalty to British rule. Even after independence from colonial rule, real freedom is still a dream for many sections like women, lower castes, lower classes and other disadvantaged groups.
If we take case of women, they are not able to enjoy true freedom due to societal sanctions and norms. Prevalence of patriarchal attitudes, gender discrimination in employment sector and unequal opportunities in political participation are some of the reasons resulting economic insecurity and dependence. According to a IFC and McKinsey report, women only one-third of SMEs but only 6% of banking portfolio is allocated to women. Personal laws restrict the freedom the women and make them more insecure.
If we take cases of rural masses, people living in remote regions, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, most of them are facing economic insecurity and dependency issues. They need to depend on state as beneficiaries but the benefits may be insufficient or not at all reaching them. Due to connectivity issues, many of them are not able to realise the incomes of their produce or output of work. This is resulting in lower incomes and hence economic insecurity. Some of these sections facing prejudice and discrimination from society. For example, manual scavenging done by dalits mostly. There is exploitation of these sections: Employing tribals at lower wages and making them insecure in future due to lack of work later. Due to price rise, these sections will be most affected because of their subsistence way of living. In these situations, the individual will not have freedom to act as per his thought. The issues of economic insecurity and dependence also result due to unexpected situations.
During exigencies like disasters or serious health diseases, the poor and middle class individuals face more economic insecurity and need to depend on others. In this process, they may not be able to pursue their interests and results in loss of freedom. These individuals may become more vulnerable due to inability to earn and loss of livelihood. For example, bhopal disaster made many sections insecure and facing the after-effects even now. These issues are not confined to India alone but prevalent across the world.
Palestinians suffer from lack of independence and statelessness. Syrian refugees migrate to other parts of world and live on whatever economic activity they get. Globalisation made the people depending on local economic activities more vulnerable due to high competition and rolling back of state. This is more serious concern for third world countries. As the state role is reduced, people are facing multi-dimensional pressures and dependence. Many of the African nations are poor and lack political independence itself. Many of them are facing civil strife still now, border disputes and issues of self-determination. In such context, individuals living there cannot enjoy true freedom. Even the administrators of most countries are not exceptions.
Administrators have to face issues of political interference, low wages, strict code of conduct and vigilance. This makes the administrators loss of true freedom to pursue their goals towards societal empowerment. But due to seventh pay commission, they are mostly relieved from issues of economic insecurity but may face challenges of political interference and traditional structures.
Suggestions:
Promotion of human rights by international organisations, states and respect to them by every individual. This reduces the issues on dependence side. This can curb the discrimination and prejudice due to behavioral changes among the people. School level education can aid the process further.
Promotion of gender equality, gender justice and gender sensitisation with emphasis on behavioral changes can improve the women participation.
Bridging the rural-urban divide, caste divide, religion divide, class divide through reservations, infrastructure and welfare expenditure can promote the equality.
Disaster management funds can be used to compensate the loss of livelihood of victims. Universal health insurance makes the people economically secure from catastrophes and exigencies.
The ideal of democracy should be valued in a highest manner and role of judiciary to prevent authoritarian tendencies is needed.
Apart from these conventional measures, technological measures using Internet, big data and artificial intelligence can make the goals easier to achieve. All these measures work either on securing economically or enhancing independence and hence leading to true freedom.
Finally, Human rights promotion in a multi-cultural perspective is the ideal sense of way forward for enjoying true freedom by all individuals. This result in psychological, economic, social, political and cultural freedoms to all irrespective of any identity like caste, creed, sex, religion and others. Enjoyment of true freedom cannot be possible without multi-stakeholder approach. While enjoying one’s freedom, one should be aware that he allows others are also enjoying their own freedoms. By involvement of international organisations, NGOs, state and corporate sector, promotion of economic security and independence is not difficult and every individual can enjoy true freedom.
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🙂
Thank you friend
Multifacete…
Highly erudite
True Individual Freedom Can Not Exits Without Economic Security and Independence—-
Time Has Changed but some things have not one of those things is True Individual Freedom can not exits without economic security and independence.
True Individual means You have this liberity to be who you are and no need to change yourself for the sake of others.The quote captures aptly the importance of individuality. It candidly conveys a very strong reason for being oneself. One should strive to be oneself- for this is the way God intended it to be. There is no second choice. It means following one‘s heart, saying out loud what one believes in, following one‘s own ambition, and so on. One can excel in life only by realizing one‘s desires, talents, likes and dislikes, personality and above all values. And only then can societies and nations prosper.
But we increasingly find it difficult to realize the importance of individuality because of certain societal institutions who try to impose their views on people contrary to this ideal and this trend impacted the developmental course also.
How children are discouraged from pursuing their interests and the impact of this trend. When a child is asked what she / he wants to become in life, one gets a myriad of answers ranging from dancer to singer, from engineer to doctor, from sportsperson to soldier, from architect to pilot and so on. But by the time he has to choose a degree course he finds himself surrounded by just two to three options. The result is students pursuing degrees just for the sake of completing it and getting some job. This is followed by a lifetime of unsatisfactory professional life. Even in the premier institutes such as IITs and IIMs, we see people joining the rat race for hefty pay packages. The percentage of students who choose to pursue studies and later research has gone down drastically. And so are the number of research papers and international recognitions in the field of Science that Indian scientists of the likes of Hargobind Khurana and Jagdish Chandra Bose earned.
Not only science, in many other fields we see a decline in excellence e.g. Hindustani and Carnatic classical music had so many proponents excelling in varied styles of music. Today‘s contemporary music is reduced to just one kind- the one that gets more likes on YouTube. In the field of sports, our country excels in a handful of sports with the money attracting cricket occupying most of the eyeballs. We have not even been able to maintain our supremacy in our national game Hockey let alone medals in Olympics. Fields may change but the underlying reason remains children not being able to pursue careers in diverse fields.
The debate on LGBT rights also revolves around the issue of denial of expression of one‘s individuality. Imagine the trauma that a person undergoes when he cannot be open about what his sexual orientation is
and has to live a pretentious life. These prejudices have forced the transsexual community into living into ghettoes and living a life of unending misery.
Children not being allowed to pursue their passions is just one aspect to this issue- if we look around we‘ll find myriad of other occasions where people trying to be themselves face resistance.
Reasons that compel children to join the rat race and not pursue what they want to become is ECONOMIC SECURITY which means You should have enough money to survive or to meet your daily expenses.
The basic reason is the increased importance given to money and fame- everything else has taken a back seat. The usual thinking of parents is which is the easiest and the least risk prone way to ensure that their ward is able to get high paying jobs. Their child‘s interest, talent, aptitude; everything takes the back seat. All they are concerned money and fame.
Life without money is undoubtedly a virtual hell, with pangs of hunger and thirst eating into man’s very bones. However, at the same time for man to think that, money is everything, is also a great mistake. In reality, the position of the society today, is far from being enviable, is largely due to this money mania that has caught hold of the society.
In our Hindu mythology, the Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth has an owl for her transport. This is very significant as it is believed that the pursuit of money, as it is today; make an owl of a man.We have all become money maniacs, sacrificing every conceivable pleasure on the altar of wealth.This is truly a owlish sense.It is then When we lose our equilibrium on individual freedom we become the significant owls.
It is so ironical how the very land that used to take pride in being a tolerant society and gave the concept of aham brahmasmi‘ (core of my being is the ultimate reality) has become so intolerant that it is suffocating those who want to express their STRENGHT and WILL to be their own.
There are few virtues more important than independence. Independence is a requirement for leading your own life.
Independence is more than just money–You can be completely financially independent, but entirely socially and intellectually dependent on other people.Independence isn’t just a personal virtue, it’s a moral virtue.
Avoiding debts with other people makes you in control over your own life
Womens’ independece to wearing modern clothes are looked down upon and are blamed for ―calling for being assaulted. Government is every now and then forced to ban this book or that movie in the name of hurting the sentiments of some community taking away the liberity of this feeling of independence.
Social Independence– Social currency is another method of transactions. It is the currency
of relationships, friendships, loyalty and service to other people.Just as you can be financially dependent, you can be socially dependent. This means you are emotionally dependent on the opinions of the people
around you
Intellectual Independence–Intellectual independence is the most important form of independence. Intellectual dependency is so damaging because, if you are dependent, it is incredibly difficult to break those chains. Intellectual dependency is the equivalent of selling your soul.
Helping someone become independent is much more difficult than just helping them.The value of independence is that it makes you a human being. Dependency requires lowering yourself to a lesser animal, becoming a slave to the people around you.
Even today, while taking a stand on international issues- be it climate change or protection of global commons, countries are compelled to tow the line of other more powerful nations rather than keeping their individual viewpoint for consideration.
Human life starts from a single pluripotent cell, which eventually gets differentiated to give birth to thousands of types of cells forming various tissues and organs. Individuality of each cell and decision each cell takes (influenced by growth factors) to turn into another cell type is so important to give birth to a normal healthy body. Nature has its own methods. And we continue to put hurdles in the natural course due to the veil of ignorance cast upon by our greed for money, fear of what would people would say and obsolete norms that society has set for normalcy. It is only logical to break these norms to pave way to a more tolerant and vibrant world where every individual has a place for.
In Lady Windemere’s Fan, Oscar Wilde had Lord Darlington quip
that a cynic was ‘a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.‘ As with so much of what Wilde wrote or said, it’s more than just a nice turn of phrase – it hits at the heart of the problems of society. Lady Windemere’s Fan was written in 1892, but what Wilde wrote is even more true now than it was 122 years ago. These days, our government, our businesses, our media and more seem to be dominated by what Wilde would have described as cynics. The idea that anyone in the ‘real world’ should even consider ethical, moral, philosophical or cultural values to be on a par with financial or economic ‘value’ appears whimsical, sentimental, even romantic. Hard-nosed, sensible, rational, practical people ‘know’ otherwise. It’s the economy, stupid.
And yet have we really thought through the implications of this kind of attitude? For my sins, I used to be an accountant – in the 80s, at the height of Thatcherism – and if Wilde’s saying applies to cynics, it can apply twice as directly to accountants, at least in their professional capacity. Accountants are taught, amongst other things, how to put together models of systems – in particular things like expense systems or tax systems – that allow you to ‘test’ different scenarios so as to get specific outcomes. Turning a set of rules into an Excel spreadsheet makes this easy – in some ways too easy – so that you can easily work out how to get the best from a system. You can look at the probability of getting a particular outcome, and look at the ‘downsides’ of this outcome. You can use this kind of logic to determine the best price to charge to a product – perhaps you’ll be better off selling a smaller number at a higher price, perhaps a larger number at a lower price. You can use it to decide whether to buy a cheap product with a greater chance of breaking, or an expensive product that will last longer. You can use it to work out whether it’s worth breaking the law – looking at the probability of being detected and the penalties if you are detected, and compare that with the extra expense of complying with the law. With a ‘good’ accountant all these kinds of calculations become relatively simple. You need to know prices, have a little bit of expertise in Excel, and be good at estimating probabilities (which is particularly easy in the era of big data) but not a great deal more than that.
Life’s a game….
This can be very useful – and was one of the reasons why, when I left university in the early 80s the accountancy firms were the biggest recruiters of graduates in the UK. The problem is that its ease and attractiveness can be seductive and misleading. To borrow an old idiom, accountancy is a good servant but a very poor master. Being able to quantify things, to measure things, to compare and analyse can make it easy to miss the underlying issues. Focusing on the price makes it easy to miss the real value – and can turn what should be complex decisions based on combinations of ethics, morals, culture, empathy, philosophy and understanding of society into much simpler games based on numbers and calculations.
That word game is the key – when all the values are removed, these things just become games. Mathematical games – where the key is to maximise your results. In the 1980s, when I began my working life, this attitude seemed to pervade almost everything – the growth of the use of spreadsheets mirrored what felt to me like a hardening of attitudes. The idea of ‘efficiency’ was king – and efficiency was intended in a very narrow sense. Cutting costs, maximising income, improving the bottom line… and this was seen as the key to almost everything in life. I remember friends who didn’t just record their mileage in their cars for business purposes, but who kept little books with exactly when they bought petrol, where from, at what price, and what mileage their cars had done, so that they could enter them onto spreadsheets and work out exactly how efficient their cars had been, so they could make better, more efficient decisions about purchases in the future.
So what’s the problem with this? It seems sensible, doesn’t it? You can save money. You can make sure that you live an efficient, practical life – and maximise your results. In fact, you’d be stupid not to do it, wouldn’t you? Ultimately, it becomes a mantra, something basic and unquestioned. It becomes a way of life.
MPs’ expenses and tax avoidance
In these terms, the MP’s expenses scandal is quite easy to understand – and so are the reactions of Maria Miller and indeed the media to the whole affair. Where there is a system for expenses, the sensible, practical and efficient person looks at the rules and finds a way to maximise their benefit. Of course they do. It would be stupid to do anything else. That means things like flipping houses is only sensible. So is claiming expenses for a second home even if you don’t need it. Again, you’d be stupid not to, wouldn’t you?
The story is pretty much identical on tax avoidance – though of course the word ‘avoidance’ wouldn’t be the one that springs to mind. ‘Tax management’ or ‘tax efficiency’ would seem much more appropriate. What might look like ‘avoidance’ if there is any sense of moral or ethical value inserted is simply a matter of efficiency. Lowering your ‘tax burden’ makes perfect sense – and if that means using off-shore investments, getting paid in gold-bars, putting your investments into Scottish forests when you really don’t give a damn about forests or Scotland, that’s neither here nor there. Maximising returns is all that matters.
Doing all of this makes perfect sense – and not doing it would be simply stupid. Anyone brought up in a world where this kind of logic prevails can see that – which is why to MPs, the expenses scandal doesn’t really seem like, well, a scandal. That’s why David Laws was allowed to come back into government after a short penance, and why many MPs seem to expect the same from Maria Miller. She’ll be back as soon as the public furore has quietened down a bit. That’s also why the media – or at least the Westminster media – doesn’t really understand the public anger about this. For many of the Westminster journalists – and you can see it particularly when people like the BBC’s Nick Robinson talks about it – this kind of logic makes perfect sense. Many of them may well have been gaming their own companies’ expense systems in just the same way – and managing their investments identically. This is just a game, and a game that anyone with any sense should be playing.
Thinking on their terms…
That’s where things get even worse. The game is so ingrained in so many of them that they seem to assume that everyone is playing. That, I suspect, is why so many of them think that benefit claimants are cheating – because they assume that everyone is playing the same game. If they were in that situation they’d be gaming the system – so they assume that others must be too. It stands to reason, doesn’t it?
And yet, it doesn’t. Not everyone does think on those terms. Many can’t think on those terms – because they’re too busy struggling just to keep going. The games of expense maximising and tax minimising are luxuries only available to people with the time to play them, or the money to employ others (accountants, lawyers etc) to play them for them. Many people – perhaps most people – don’t have the inclination to play these games, the time to play these games, the skills to play these games – or even the knowledge that these games are available to be played. It doesn’t fit into how they live – or how they would like to live.
Can anything be done?
It’s hard to know what, if anything, can be done about it. For me, this kind of logic is so ingrained in the system it’s almost impossible to root it out. It’s not a party political thing – which is why MPs and MEPs of all parties (very definitely including UKIP) have been found out. They really are all in it together. It’s not just in politics. It’s in businesses, from banks and their bonuses downward. It was one of the key factors that fuelled the toxic debt crisis that lay behind the financial crash in 2008. It’s in government agencies and operations of all kinds, from things like the Bedroom Tax to the target-driven cultures of the police (see the massaging of statistics) and education – and in parents, trying to game the catchment area system. It’s in universities trying their best to achieve official ‘REF’ results rather than encouraging imaginative research. Almost everywhere you look, the same kind of thing prevails.
It’s hard to see anything changing – but I don’t think that means we should give up. Where we see it, we should complain, loudly and clearly. We should not let ourselves be convinced by any arguments that those caught are a few rotten apples – this is far, far deeper than that. We shouldn’t let ourselves be fobbed off with a few little enquiries and a few nice words – we should look for root and branch change. I’m not holding my breath for any change, though.
One thing I won’t do, however, is play their game. I may not know the price of everything, but I do know that there are many things more valuable than money
The whole passage is useful in answering. Lord Darlington obviously believes that a cynic cannot understand that something can have value without having a price. The smile or laughter of a child or loved one has value, but putting a price on it would be absurd. They are, effectively, priceless.
Cecil Graham’s attitude is the opposite, that a sentimentalist will give everything a value but not know the price of anything. That is, a sentimentalist is somehow divorced from the hard realities of the world, relying on feelings of ‘value’ as opposed to what something can be bought and sold at. Probably more to the effect that a sentimentalist will hold on to something valuable because of it’s perceived ‘value’ rather than selling it.
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