If by politics we essentially mean the mobilization of people for pursuing some objectives of great importance, then in the present context such mobilization is most needed for the objective of protecting the life-nurturing conditions of earth.
Once it is accepted that life on earth as well as the planet’s life-nurturing conditions are in fact threatened very seriously by certain factors, whether a number of serious environmental problems including climate change or by weapons of mass destruction, it follows that this is the most important problem of world today and hence must be the topmost priority of politics and mobilization of people.
Unfortunately, history provides ample evidence that the most successful politics and mobilization have been seldom for the most important and desirable objectives, in terms of their protective and welfare implications for humanity and other life-forms.
In human history, the most desirable objective has been to increase the sense of justice and peace/non-violence in the organization of human society as well as in relations of humanity with other forms of life. If these could be organized on the basis of justice and non-violence in well-thought out and extensively discussed ways, then the distress of human beings as well as various animals, birds, etc. would be minimized, and hence clearly the most desirable objective was to organize human society on the basis of justice and non-violence, keeping in mind also sustainability of livelihoods and related human activities, and hence of environment protection.
Unfortunately, in human history we see that such attempts to organize human society on the basis of justice and non-violence could at best achieve only partial and occasional success.
In fact, it is also likely that such success in organizing society on the basis of justice and non-violence even got reduced over time for the most part of human history, as in the simpler organization of humanity tens of thousands of years ago that perhaps the existence of justice and equality was higher, and the capability if not the tendency to harm other forms of life was much lower.
Even closer to our times, looking at just the past 3000 years or so of the history of humanity, there have been many examples of exceptionally noble human beings and social movements that have made very important contributions to the basic idea of organizing human society and relations of humanity with other forms of life on the basis of justice and non-violence.
Unfortunately, with the passage of time, ironically with the so-called ‘progress’ of humanity, such noble persons and social movements have been increasingly marginalized, or else their names have been used for narrow ends while giving up the essential nobility and liberating message of their basic thinking.
Hence generally it has not been possible to have any major, extensive and long-living success in human history of organizing human society and humanity’s relations with other forms of life on the basis of justice, non-violence/peace and protection of environment. On the other hand, in about six previous centuries the most glaring violation of such objectives resulting in unimaginable acts of cruelty and injustice could be seen on extensive scale in the course of the establishment of vast empires and colonies.
This failure has been deeply disappointing, but in historical times people could get some consolation by saying that remedial actions will be taken later to move towards a better world.
However, we have now reached a stage when it may not even be possible to make such consolatory statements, as once the basic life-nurturing conditions have been harmed extensively, then the journey beyond this can only be more perilous and precarious, with the prospect also of much quicker and catastrophic destruction caused by weapons of mass destruction also very much a real possibility.
It is in these conditions and with such a past behind us that humanity must look at the urgency of the challenge of creating a world based on justice, protection of environment and peace that can still protect the world and all its life from existential threats, while at the same time improving daily life and reducing distress based on life-patterns of justice and peace.
This is still a possibility today—saving life-nurturing conditions of the planet while at the same time reducing distress and increasing happiness in daily life for billions of people by following an agenda based overwhelmingly on justice, environment protection and peace.
Can this become a reality with the mobilization of tens of millions of people worldwide on this basis? It is an idea whose time has come. Present-day reality beckons.
At the same time historical experiences are not so encouraging at all as it is the politics and mobilizations based on selfish interests of rich and powerful elites with their vast resources which have been more successful in the past.
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Nevertheless, the task of re-imagining and re-creating the world on the basis of peace and non-violence, justice and equality, protection of environment and all forms of life is so important that this should certainly be attempted and no pursuit is more important or more noble than this. Perhaps this will have greater chance of success in the near future as the great importance of giving topmost priority to protecting the life-nurturing conditions of the planet is realized by more and more people, particularly the younger generation to whom the future belongs.
Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, A Day in 2071, Earth without Borders and Man over Machine—A Path to Peace.
