By Fabian Lyngdoh
At every era of human history, the people of that particular era thought they lived in a civilized society. It is a natural tendency for people of a particular era to consider the era before it as uncivilized. In the barbaric age people thought that anyone who did not believe that the sun is a goddess was uncivilized. We also believe that today we are living in a civilized society. The present civilized society is based on democracy which is supposed to combine within itself the liberty of the individual and the power of the people. The liberty of the individual is determinate and has been exercised to the full, even to the extent of killing oneself or blasting the life of others into shreds, or raping a woman without any moral constraint but the concept of power of the people is indeterminate and hanging in the air. The positive implementation of the rule of law is left in the hands of an indeterminate rule of the people represented by elected representatives who are in practice answerable only to a political party and to a particular group of electorates in a constituency while the negative sanction of the law lies with an ill-equipped judicial system.
We also believe that now we are living at the apex of human history with the perfect political system, and the Rule of Law as the perfect ideal to protect us. Women are freed from the overwhelming control of patriarchy and now have their own rights, freedom and dignity. Unfortunately this liberal society has no foolproof mechanism to deal with the evil elements of liberalism itself. Therefore whenever some morally depraved individuals prey on innocent, unsuspecting women and rape or murder them, the defence of the rule of the people or the rule of law is never near at hand. The law can at best arrest and punish the rapists but it has no mechanism to protect the women from would-be rapists. Women can only cry and parade with a banner, “Don’t tell me how to dress, tell them not to rape”. To which determinate authority do depressed women address these problems? Is it to the general conscience? The general conscience itself is indeterminate. Or is the appeal directed to the government, or to the Church, or to ideal society? Of course we have to turn to the indeterminate ‘power-of the people’ which is incoherent and the ill-equipped rule of law.
Even in the USA – the model of modern society – women are not safe except in some cases where culprits were arrested and convicted. Therefore it is wise for the womenfolk to remember that modern society with all its rationality is still unsafe as long as morally depraved and abnormal beings exist and may be sitting right near their desks, or roaming the streets and alleys. Under the pressure of determinate individual liberty against indeterminate power of the people, the ideal concept of democracy led to the emergence of libertarianism. Liberalism as an ideal concept of democracy is wishful thinking. The crimes, social unrest and crises we are facing today constitute the predicaments of libertarianism, for which there is no remedy in sight.
The Christian Churches and other religions are facing obstacles in building up a spiritual and moral society because of the increasing secularisation of every aspect of social living including faith and morals. The world today is mistakenly believed to sustain its social order on the hypocritical balance of social morality and arrogant sexuality. There is indeed an accepted social hypocrisy ruling the global society. When the rich, famous and powerful, break social norms regarding marriage, sexual behaviour and moral decency, or when scantily clad celebrities appear in the limelight as models of beauty, it becomes acceptable socially as interesting news and a consumers’ item from the glamorous world. This is projected even by the local news papers as fashionable aspects of modern civilization. But when ordinary people do likewise, it is breaking the law and customs. If an ordinary woman were to marry her tenth husband she would be likened to a prostitute; if an ordinary girl were to have consensual sex with as many men as she chooses, the society would brand her a “prostitute”. But if celebrities or glamorous men and women do the same, the society admires them as if that is the measure of their popularity and greatness. At their burial or funeral all political and religious personalities would congregate to accompany their souls to yet another heaven of independence, freedom and glamour.
In this kind of social situation, crises of various kinds are inherent elements, and the burden of control and order mostly lie with the chair of authority, not with the incumbent of the chair. Quality and character of a leader may provide some improvement but never a solution to the problem because thorns are already there on the chair. So whichever political party comes to power or whoever becomes the Chief Minister of the state the situation would only change slightly for better or worse but is not a solution to problems.
Each one of us is a valuable and essential part of the human society, but we must also remember that none of us is indispensible. Therefore no one should desperately think that the affairs of the world rest on his or her shoulders and irritably blame right and left for the ills of society. Even if mysteriously all the present social and political leaders die, the world would go on as it is, and human society would adjust itself accordingly, or might even improve. Every generation perceives that the social crises they are currently facing are alarming trends of an impending doom. That feeling is natural as social crises at every transitional period of human history are also natural. We should attend to social crises seriously and calmly. The law was enacted on reason and should be implemented on reason. No emotion or sentiment should be allowed to enter the process of law. The criminal murders a victim without mercy so the law should sternly punish him without mercy if he is proved guilty even if he is the son of the judge.
However, one’s reaction to crises and crimes also should not be not irritably and restlessly as if the whole thing rests on one’s shoulders alone, and as if emotional and sentimental reaction would influence the course of the law. Solutions to social crises do not reside in the person of the man or woman in authority, and it is not necessary to bang the table and say, “Give me the chair and I will solve the problem”. Tracy Huang lamented in her song, “Why does the sun go on rising? Why does the sea rush to shore? Don’t they know it’s the end of the world? It ended when I lost your love”. Yes, alarming trends of impending doom seem to be there for those who feel they are in crisis and despair, but for the rest, the sun is still rising and the birds still fly in the air. Human society is an organic being; it has its inherent immunity and adjustment system. Each responsible member of the society knowingly or unknowingly plays a part in restoring a society from its illness; but in its proper time. We need not restlessly press the healing process in the way we think it should be for the illness would worsen through misunderstanding, suspicion, and ill-conceived defensive mechanisms.
Therefore let us honour and respect those on whose shoulders responsibility of any kind is resting, be it the Chief Minister, the Bishop, the priest or pastor, or the Rangbah Shnong. Those without actual responsibility can shout and complain because that is a democratic right, but we should also honour the problems of those who carry responsibility on their shoulders, as an old adage says, “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown”.