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"The poor man is better dead than alive.,
If he has bread, he has no salt,
If he has salt, he has no bread".
This proverb is written on a clay tablet and probably belongs to the Sumerian civilization. The clay tablet is almost 6000 years old. Hence it means that the proverb may be even older than 6000 years since the proverb was already in vogue in the Sumerian civilization.
It seems that nothing has changed in the last 6000 plus years or so of human civilization. The proverb seems as true today as it was during the Sumerian times. The condition of the poor seems to be constant while the other variables have changed.
- What is it that makes the poor, the poor of society ?
- Why does the condition of the poor remain Constant as if it is a permanent part of a mathematical equation of the society ?
These are simple questions, since eternity which we have not been able to answer satisfactorily. Nor have we been able to solve the problem permanently.
Let us take out pages from any portion of human history and we would come to the same conclusion that problems get solved only if certain prerequisite conditions are fulfilled. If not, the solutions evade the problem.
A problem gets solved only if these two conditions are fulfilled. They are :
- The problem is seriously recognised as problem and not merely as a tokenism
- The leadership is willing to solve the problem in all seriousness by changing the mathematical equations of the society and challenging the status quo
Let us take examples where we find that some nations have almost no poverty while others have moderate and some have extreme forms of poverty and inequality.
Why is it so ?
Why have some nations and societies changed the mathematical equations while others have not ?
The answer lies in the above two conditions which I mentioned. The nations & societies that have won over poverty & inequalities are the one which actually fulfilled the two preconditions of the solutions. While the other nations have had half hearted approaches or simply ignored the two conditions.
It is impossible to fathom that if nations & societies really fulfill the above two conditions, even then poverty & inequality would persist. This is simply not possible at all. Somewhere down the line we are not true to our own selves also.
What I believe is that most nations & societies actually do not fulfill the second condition of the two preconditions. The leadership is not willing to change the mathematical equations of the society and is favourable towards the status quo. It is the leadership which is the reason for the success or failure of any great issues of the society. This is the primary reason for the continuation of poverty and inequality in the world otherwise there is no reason why poverty must continue.
There are billions of things that have changed since the Sumerian civilization. We all must be proud of our human journey but there are certain facts which still are a scar on humanity. Poverty & inequality is among them the foremost.
We are thinking of creating new civilizations on other planets and it is a great endeavor in itself. But let us not forget that there are perennial issues of human civilization which still remain unsolved. We cannot leave it fester as every human civilization did before us.
That's Why leadership is essential to human civilization. That's why leadership must challenge the existing and eternal status quo of societies. That is why leadership must keep on changing the constants and variables of the existing societal equations.
What do you say ?
