Samaj: March 2006 Archives

By society ordinarily we mean a collective body of men and women, but the innate spirit of the word 'society' is not this. Samája or society in the true sense of the term implies an action of moving together (Samánam' ejate). We come across groups of persons in buses, trams and trains moving together; but this occasional movement cannot be termed society either. Being inspired by a common ideology, when different individuals move towards the common goal and become active for its achievement, this can be called a society. The appropriate English equivalent for Samája should not therefore be society. Social advancement, which is a type of social action, means that the tie of mutual unity among the persons moving together has become strong.

Prout supports intervention in sovereign nation states by a duly created world body. It rejects intervention by particular nation-states, even broad based coalitions. This is largely as the self-interests of nation-states (geo-political control, resource and ideology control) go against the self-interests of the planet.

Ideologically, Prout rejects the UN as such a world body, as the UN is foundations are based on inequitable world order. Moreover, eligibility into the UN is based on acquiring national status, thus leaving out social movements, cooperatives, and individuals.

Ideologically Prout rejects identity politics particularly religious politics, including the hindu variety ( eg, BJP genocide in Gujrat), of the Islamic variety (terrorism globally and in Kashmir) of the Christian Vatican (the feudal politics of the Vatican) and of the Jewish variety (Zionism).

In nearly all countries of the world economically privileged or advanced groups are mercilessly exploiting other economically backward groups and sucking their vitality, gagging their voice and closing all the doors of their future progress. To overcome this tyranny and exploitation, movements will have to be launched for those suppressed people so that they can stride boldly forward, fight against all exploitation and attain economic independence. Nobody can deny the need of such an approach, of such movements, because such an approach is truly humanistic. If such an approach is not adopted, it be something unnatural and anti-human. In fact, to oppose such movements amounts to working as an agent to protect the interests of the exploitative and reactionary forces.

The nation's liberated economy -- portrayed by globalization forces as an antidote to poverty -- has done little for nearly 300 million poor people, the most of any country

New Delhi -- Among India's poor, survival is still won by acts of despair and cunning. It's a daily quest whose reward is a plate of rice or a simple medication.

Last month, numinous luminaries, including President Bush and three former U.S. presidents, honored Coretta Scott King, wife of the great American civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated in 1968, at her funeral ceremonies in Atlanta, Georgia. Though lasting for hours, these ceremonies were rich in story and music and quite impressive. Among those speaking was Atallah Shabazz, daughter of another great African American leader of the 1960s who was also assassinated, Malcolm X. Unknown to most, she used the occasion to undermine her father's legacy. ...... Full Article.

Prout's approach is that the medium of instruction from primary to tertiary level should be in the local language. The sum total of human expression is culture, and language is the best medium to express human culture. While different groups should encourage every language, each unit should use the local language to inspire self-confidence and self-respect amongst the local people. Encouraging a positive cultural identity is an important ingredient in the development of the local area, and is an essential factor in generating a sense of affinity and unity amongst the people.

Every living being has its own inherent tendency to express and symbolise. In the evolutionary process of creation, where higher species have evolved, living beings try to express their feelings by gesture, posture or by some sound. In a general sense, this acoustic expression of ideas is called language.

QUEVEN, France -- Day and night on France's windy western coast, Radio Kerne transmits a bright mix of music sprinkled with local news. It is a new station run by young people for a young audience -- but with a difference. Most of Radio Kerne's operators are volunteers, working with the zeal of missionaries. Their preferred music comes from bagpipes and flutes. And they broadcast only in Breton, a Celtic language spoken for more than 2,000 years that until recently seemed doomed to disappear. "Saving the culture of Brittany is very much on people's minds," said Isig Flatres, who is the manager of the station. "This generation is no longer embarrassed about speaking or being Breton."