Editorial

It’s all about money…

You are witnessing the ongoing drama. Long-standing friendships, intimate relationships, immense intellectual contributions–all are ignored completely. All long-standing friendships are thrown away to the dustbin. Why? For money. “I want money.” So? Heavy tariffs, arrogance, ignoring sanity. Then there is the trillion-dollar game-changer, AI. AI is threatening thousands of families with almost starvation due to the evaporation of jobs. Third, there are wars, funded and orchestrated by preachers of peace.

It’s all about money.

We don’t know how it was two centuries ago when we did not have industries. Perhaps people thought of others. Now, at least, human values and ethics have been completely ignored in the scientific age. The idea of doing good to others, working for others’ well-being, self-sacrifice and so on are almost on the verge of being considered lunacy. Everything for self, everything  done and thought of with greed, everything weighed with money. What’s more, even the Nobel prize, they say, is all about oil money.

Just take a look at healthcare. Health is so vital for human beings. We are helplessly bombarded with numerous things which eventually harm us. We are given countless pieces of  advice, which harm us constantly. Why do scientists invent medicines and techniques related to health? Is it to make money? Or is it to cure diseases so that millions may live happily and healthily? Nowadays they may invest money to invent drugs, but in the past, scientists were poor and had no help. Louis Pasteur was not given 10 million dollars to discover things. The same inventions have now become commercial commodities, which bring money to companies. The very purpose of inventions is defeated. Insurance is a scam and a vicious circle with even some medical professionals involved in this. If we can give a concrete example, here it is.  In countries where health insurance is mandatory, doctors and medical shops can overcharge, knowing that insurance companies pay.  Insurance companies in turn overcharge the masses.  A bandage roll which costs one dollar generally may cost 10 dollars because of this vicious circle. With the unknown fear of the future, you keep on paying insurance companies month after month, giving philosophical excuses to your mind and fearing that had you lived without insurance, for a simple treatment you would have to sell your house. True, because of the vicious circle. Actually treatment shouldn’t cost that much. There are worse cases when your health issues are ignored. Suppose you are unhealthy and  wrongly judge that it’s a headache. You think of going to a doctor. You make an appointment with some difficulty, and your doctor [huisarts in Dutch] will talk very very briefly, only treat the headache.  He or she will not think of checking thoroughly, or see how his/her patient is faring.  Even if there is some other serious issue, it’s ignored. In the process, if you have spoken to the doctor for just three minutes, your insurance company has to pay a hundred euros.  Imagine a person earning 100 or even 50 dollars  every three minutes! That’s the reason you can’t be healthy and treatment is expensive. So despite all inventions, we keep on suffering. Just ask google how many patients with different ailments are there in this world. This is the story of the greedy and selfish world.

This is the money civilization we are in. Every human being has the right to live long, live a healthy and happy life. No superpowers can dictate your lives, your health, your survival  by imposing wars to sell weapons or by imposing taxes to earn by, say, life-saving medicines or creating hoaxes like weather-change to make money. The end of the story is, despite all the greed and money-making, rich countries are wallowing in deep debt. Why?  So this vicious circle will never take the world anywhere but to the bottom of the sea of misery.

Take the case of India. A supremely rich nation, tortured, robbed and destroyed for 1300 years by various civilizations.  India suffered hell for 1200 years. When at last India became independent, the nation had to sacrifice two important parts of its land. Millions were killed, again in 1971. If at all India had anything permanent, it was famine. Even till recently India was extremely poor. However, India never thought of attacking others. Instead, India gave everything for free. In the most difficult times, India distributed free rations not only to Indians but to neighbouring nations. Now India stands at the fourth spot of global richness. Those who had conquered India, tortured millions, killed millions are now moving about like beggars!

The concept has to change. Give and it shall return to you tenfold. This is Vedanta. Vedanta teaches something very important. It teaches oneness. When you are trying to harm others due to self-interest, you are not harming others but yourself. So your suffering will never end. Open up and you shall thrive.

Human beings cannot survive in a suffocating system for “me alone”.  Vedanta is the hope and the way for the world. Expand and you shall profit. The other-centered life signifies happiness in giving and not in robbing others. There is joy, which means health and wealth, in seeing everyone happy and healthy.

Having said all this, evil is only transient, a covering. Vedanta teaches us that the Atman is all goodness, all power, all bliss. Evil is only a superficial covering. The basic nature of the soul is Goodness.  Goodness never dies. Developing and cultivating goodness is our goal. If policies change from auto-centric ways of thinking to other-centric ways, the world can indeed be a heaven to live in.

May Sri Ramakrishna, Mother and Swamiji bless us all.

Swami Sunirmalananda