Welcome to episode seven of Prout Consciousness where we will be discussing Prout’s political thought. At the outset, let it be advised that listening to earlier episodes would enable a better appreciation of what is being presented in this episode, as Prout’s political ideas all rest firmly on concepts presented earlier.
Prout invests economic power with the local people and political power with the politically qualified. It is a system of economic decentralisation and political centralisation. Why such a forked system? In all countries today both political and economic power ends up centralised in the hands of the powerful and knowledgeable. It is only natural and the way of the world, is it not? And why propose to decentralise only the economy and not the political system as well? After all, this is what the ideal of democracy is about; fair and even distribution of political power amongst all, is it not? Now there are a few questions so let us try to respond to them one by one.
The economy is something that everybody cares strongly about and wants to have some control over. Everybody needs their minimum necessities of life and when those are covered most of us want more—an improvement here, some comfort there and so it goes forever. The economy is essential to the quality of our material life and without a sound material base further exploration and realisation of what is truly great and good in life becomes impossible. Prout therefore recognises that increasing minimum standards of living of the people is the indication of the vitality of society.
Political power is something different. Much less people want it; rather most of us seem to cherish ideas about being served by an active, efficient public sector without having to shoulder that responsibility ourselves. We are invested in our own well-being and that of our immediate family, and perhaps to some extent that of the local community and there goes the limit for most. Beyond our little everyday world, the welfare and well-being of others in remote places take an abstract form with no real relation to our own. Yet, the entire world is interdependent, interwoven and the arena of politics is the entire world. In order to be a good politician you need to be genuinely interested in the well-being of others and not only your own. Elected officers should care for all and need to be universalists to keep themselves above narrow-minded attitudes such as those confined to the ethnic, creed, class and gender.
Those are the two main reasons for the bifurcation of economic and political powers under Prout. Decentralised economics were discussed in episode 2 on economic democracy. So let us now look at Prout’s centralised political system.
In a 1978 interview, the Propounder of Prout, Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar offered that , “Democracy can be successful only where the following essential factors are present at least amongst 51% of the voters: morality, literacy and socio-economic-political consciousness. Otherwise democracy is an instrument to befool the public.” [unquote] Prout recognises that democracy is the best political system—so far. Political democracy has given people voting rights and thereby in numerous cases prevented abuse of power, although not in Germany during the 1930s, and there are many other recent examples of democracies backlashing to strongman politics and tyranny. Some of democracy’s obvious disadvantages that may lead to totalitarian disasters are as follows:
First, democracy has reduced or taken away people’s right to economic liberation. Instead of living reasonably well and able to pursue progress and happiness within society, very many live in poverty and isolation. The reason for it is economic exploitation of the many by a few. Today, this situation is out of control because democracy allows prevailing powers, such as those of capitalism, to operate behind the scene and dominate society through political parties and the mass media. Those dominating powers are free to do so because democracies are by nature permissible. Practically, when people have been given the right to vote and perhaps a few other goodies, it is seen as quite legitimate that others also have their ways. The general sense of freedom and tolerance is preyed upon, misused and appropriated by vested interests while the masses of ordinary people rather stay within their means. As a result, any power may start to tell people what to think and do—all within the democratic system and according to the spirit of personal freedom. This is a main defect with the democratic system which is not found in benevolent dictatorships, at least in their early stages when administration is both strong and mostly fair.
Recent references to benevolent dictators are many, such as Turkey’s Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Latvia’s Karlis Ulmanis, Yugoslavia’s Josip Broz Tito, Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, France Albert-René of the Seychelles, Fiji’s Frank Bainimarama and Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso. Such strongmen were at some time or the other referred to as benevolent because their rule benefitted the people. The difference between what is regarded as benevolent dictators and the malevolent ones is that the former ones have the support of the people who generally enjoy some freedom of speech and democracy under their rule, whereas malevolent dictators focus singularly on themselves, their government and their supporters. It should be noted that history has witnessed many transformations of benevolent dictatorship into malevolence, and also of democracy transforming into dictatorship.
So, this is one of democracy’s serious weaknesses, its permissibility or compliance bordering on the docile and passive, which may subject any democracy to grave uncertainty.
A second serious disadvantage of political democracy is that voting rights is given solely on the basis of age. This is far from the case in numerous other jobs where the stakes are a lot lower than in politics. Nobody is let loose on a truck or city bus only because he or she is of a particular age. In order to drive a large vehicle, a person needs to pass thorough theoretical and practical examinations and tests. In fact, in all cases people are not allowed to operate in society without proper qualification—electricians, engineers, dentists, surgeons, teachers, lawyers, accountants, economists—they all need to be qualified. Then why should voters, who elect those who decide on the laws that govern all of us, who drive society, be unqualified? This is where the need for education comes in, a system that sees to it that voters and candidates actually know well what they do.
Third, the system of political parties corrupts politics. Today’s political parties are professional vote-catching machines. Within those organisations, frontbenchers and backbenchers jockey for positions while externally they quarrel with other parties at the cost of generating political substance and genuine progress in the interest of ordinary people. Party mechanics overshadow not only the work of local politicians, committees and parliaments but also that of secretariats, departments and even the judiciary in many countries.
Prout’s first step towards a revised political system is the introduction of restricted democracy where voting rights are qualified and not quantified by age. Everybody knows there are many young who are political conscious and many older who are not. The right to vote should not be based on age.but vested in those who are educated and politically conscious.
There are countries where only literate people can vote. Political parties in such countries launch literacy campaigns and people naturally cast their votes in favour of those parties which have made them literate. Thus, the government remains free from all responsibilities and expenditures in this regard. Shrii Sarkar pointed out that such a system cannot serve its full intended purpose. First, it is not reasonable to think that mere literacy will awaken full wisdom about what to do and what not to do. Second, if the responsibility of literacy is left to political parties, then those parties will spread their respective party propaganda popularising themselves among the people. People will be brainwashed, and this curse will undermine their rational judgement and discrimination. Nevertheless, literacy is of importance to a well-functioning democracy.
The second factor for democracy’s success is personal, voters should, above all, be moral. Morality is a fundamental factor for a well-situated democracy. People sell their votes because of lack of morality, because poverty has rendered them ethically destitute. There are countries where votes are still being bought and sold. Recent surveys showed that around 15% of surveyed voters in numerous Latin American and African countries had been offered something of value in exchange for voting a particular way. In a 2020 Indonesian survey, 60 percent of respondents said they will allow their vote to be bought, and in other countries investigations show that large-scale vote-buying is taking place “in the dark”. Once upon a time, vote-buying was rampant in the western world, too, and in today’s industrially developed countries it is practised prominently by large corporations and the stupendously rich who invest heavily in political campaigns of their choice. In the US, the joke goes that members of the Congress should wear modern sport suits studded with corporate logos so that it would be possible to identify their sponsors. Can we call it democracy? Is it not a farce? Suppose, Shrii Sarkar suggested, that in a certain constituency person A represents powerful economic interests whereas representatives B, C, and D are capable and competent. In such circumstances, representative A is sure to exploit the power of mighty economic backers in order to win elections. Such antisocial activities stir peopleʼs minds and thus deal a staggering blow to their own morality, Shrii Sarkar concluded. Today there are too many obstacles on the path of morality. Urban civilization is one of the chief reasons of moral degeneration. Many people are compelled to live undesirably in small, congested places under pressure of unstable socioeconomic circumstances inimical to morality in individual life. In a democratic society, immorality is the elephant in the room which cannot be avoided.
In a great many countries political leaders are criminals. A criminal is one who break the law, not necessarily one who is also prosecuted and sentenced for doing so. The political party platform is a haven for the devious and corrupt. Vested interests regularly come up through the political party system to lobby and gain exposure, and once there the idea of actual power becomes an obsession and even some of the worst may end up elected. Prout is not in favour of political parties and their politicians. Candidates for political representation should campaign on their own transparent platform and prove their ethical, social and other usefulness to local residents.
Third, voters and candidates should have a sense of responsibility and display socio-economic consciousness. Even academically trained people may be misguided by shrewd and cunning politicians if they are not sufficiently conversant with social, economic and political issues. Democracy can be successful only when people imbibe these three kinds of consciousness. Without such awareness, the welfare of the society is not possible either in theory or in practice.
Now how do you measure such things: education, morality, social, economic and political consciousness? In order to imbue the electorate with relevant knowledge, appropriate values and operational skills, institutions should be established to prepare voters accordingly and issue a certificate after an examination. These institutions will be free from any political or government influence. They will be managed and controlled by an independent, autonomous body such as the Election Commission or the Public Service Commission. Their curriculum will be drawn up by experts who will be free from any political aspiration. Their mission would be to create a well-educated, ethical, enlightened electorate.
Electoral colleges will be formed throughout regions and all administrative units to elect representatives and officers of political institutions. After the formation of the Electoral College, elections will be direct.
Prout preaches that every person should be provided the opportunities to imbibe the necessary qualities for participating in elections. Until that goal of cent per cent participation is achieved, voting will have to be restricted to ensure true and impartial elections. “Without a proper system of selection,” wrote Ac. Raghunath, a close student of Sarkar, “democracy degenerates into ‘mobocracy’ and ‘foolocracy’ thereby creating a circumstance of exploitation.” If all voters possess civic consciousness then politicians will not be able to get elected by appealing to regional, parochial, racial and class sentiments. Big business and money will have little role to play in the election process, and only then will democracy have a chance of success.
Administrators or leaders elected through the selecto-electional system will be fundamentally responsible to the electorate. Empowered by Prout’s principles of maximum utilization and rational distribution the electorate will be conscious and vigilant to make sure that their elected representatives neither go astray, deviate, nor grow ambitious to usurp power beyond the limits imposed by the constitution or the guiding rules of administration. Autocratic dictatorship emerges only when the dictator or his/her group is able to fool the people or the electorate and the latter is not responsive quickly enough to the pressure exercised over themselves.
In fact involvement in the economic-political structure does not stop at the act of voting. It implies that the great number of people and electorate are conscious enough to keep a constant vigil over the people they have elected to power. This is only possible if the educated electorate is socio-economically conscious enough to really grasp the dynamics in this area. It means that Prout stands for active democratic participation and not passive voting. In this aspect, the conscious electorate will also maintain a closeness and constant communication with the aspiration of those who are yet to become the electors. A proutistic system will constantly endeavour to get all adults qualified as electors.
In the preceding episode six on history, it was proposed that part of human psychology, at the present point of planetary evolution, is gradually assuming a new collective dimension outside of the traditionally dominating psychologies of warriors, intellectuals and merchants. This new collective psychology can best be termed as sublime; a mentality of coming together on a deeper and more meaningful moral and spiritual platform in truly profound humanity, of sharing, service and sacrifice for the common good of higher living together. Under Prout, this trend of the emergence of the morally and spiritually enlightened will express itself in organised political participation. This elevated collective psychology will however not seek executive power but will be happy to impact society by their wisdom and by dint of the respect and love humanity has for them. Their personal examples of service and sacrifice will establish them as significant social personalities of guidance and inspiration from the lowest level of administration to the global.
Social boards born out of civic society should be formed to balance the power of political structure. Political institutions are one of society’s many types of institutions. The political institutions should not interfere with cultural and educational institutions, mass media, trade unions and other professional bodies. In economic development, too, its function should be to coordinate only. Social boards should supervise these relationships. Today, in the absence of such social institutions, every one of these functions are controlled by political bureaucrats in totalitarian countries, whereas in democratic countries capitalists directly control the above institutions and thereby indirectly influence the collective psychology.
Social boards will not interfere in the day-to-day activities of the political structure. Instead they will focus on whether the constitution or any human rights are violated. They will be assisted in their function by organised unions and different professional bodies. They will guide the educational policies, assist the growth of value-oriented spiritual culture, and will frame the guiding principles for the mass media. In the absence of such a system the mass media serve the interest of the dominating collective psychology and class.
The influence of the social boards will restrain political and economic exploitation or any misuse of power. Previously, religious institutions played such a role to some extent but their main sphere of influence was confined to a particular class, the clergy, and religious dogma created another form of suppression. The members of social boards will represent different sections of society. Only the value-oriented educated and spiritually awakened should take upon themselves the responsibility to form such social institutions. They should neither be selected by any government, nor be elected through normal franchise. Those selfless persons, whose integrity is beyond doubt, and who can infuse confidence and dynamism in people’s minds, will gain the support of the people through consensus. Common respect for their ingenuity, service and sacrifice will be their power and strength. Such enlightened people should take the initiative to organize themselves from village level up to the global with their respective functioning branches. They will introduce a normal democratic process in their internal functioning.
In present democratic systems, government actions and policies are carefully examined by opposition parties and the press. This is a healthy practice which serves to keep the official arbitrariness under control. But it has also its faults. Quite often the opposition engages in destructive criticism, or plays upon the narrow tendencies of the public. The party in power counters with the same game, and, as a result, the country does get two viewpoints of any issue but not necessarily the best viewpoint. The social boards that Prout calls for will have a different role to play. Since they will not belong to any faction or party, it will be able to offer constructive criticism of governments policies.
The Electoral College should not only elect members of various legislative and executive bodies, but also the constituents of a Collective Body vested with the supreme authority. The process of election by the selected voters should be direct. Even though the Collective Body is given ultimate authority in the land, with no other body restraining it, there is no possibility of autocracy or totalitarianism for various reasons. First, the Collective Body provides collective leadership, and power is not vested with one person only. Secondly, it is answerable to the mass-conscious Electoral College and ultimately to the general public. Thirdly, the members of the Collective Body themselves satisfy certain credentials of honesty and integrity. They can never go against the common good and welfare. Finally, the proutist system calls for a full guarantee of all the human rights including the right to free speech, criticism, assembly and employment. As long as the media are free and independent, no system is likely to lapse into autocracy.
In the proutist system the role of the Electoral College is not over even after it has elected members of various political bodies including the Collective Body. It will continue to remain in touch with the people and apprise them of the points and counter-points of various socio-economic issues. Constant vigil is required to make sure that all the arms of government function efficiently and honestly, and this vigil will have to be exercised not only by the Collective Body but the ever watchful Electoral College.
Prout’s political system is bottom-up where voters at village-level elect their representatives, some of who get elected for the next higher level, etc. Initially, this system takes the form of restricted democracy characterised by voters qualification. In its developed state at every level there will be boards of independent inquiry whose job is to simply observe and be in communication with the masses. The members of the boards have no legislative or other political power, no socioeconomic power, but ethical and spiritual power by dint of their moral standing in society.
Now, let us move on to the foundational factors of this political system, how will the politically enabled go about focusing on the all-round progress of all? What is the central idea, the ideological mainframe? The ancient yoga-master and father of the human civilisation, Sadashiva, stated thousands of years ago: “Supreme consciousness is my father, the force of creation is my mother, and the threefold physical, psychic and spiritual world is my homeland.” In this great perspective, all living beings are the progeny of the same Supreme Progenitor, consciousness and its force of creation. Naturally, they are bound in a thread of fraternal relations. This is the essential ethos. Prout takes this spirit forward in the form of a socio-economic-political system bolstered by the following four critical factors:
First, a common philosophy of life. Spirituality provides human beings and humanity with a subtle and tremendous psycho-spiritual inspiration which enables the individual to move towards an exploitation-free social order and realize psychic expansion and spiritual freedom. With spirituality as a base, a rational philosophy should be evolved to deal with the physical, psychological and socio-philosophical problems of the day. An integrated rational theory dealing with all the three phases – spiritual, mental and physical – of human development will be the philosophy common to mankind in general. This will be evolutionary and ever-progressive, in which small details may vary from one age to another. Such a philosophy of life will discourage thinking in parochial, caste- or class-oriented or conservative terms prevalent in regional societies. It will inspire and encourage unifying and Cosmic sentiments.
Second, same constitutional structure. In this series we have repeatedly pointed to the fact that ours is an age of tremendous collective human evolution with far-reaching socioeconomic and political consequences. Despite several obstacles of narrow regionalism, nationalism, casteism and other “isms” hampering human progress, the present powerful trend of social blending of humanity needs a common constitutional structure to establish world solidarity. A democratically elected world political body is most essential for exercising precise control in certain spheres, such as a world militia. The elected representatives at world government headquarters should progressively expand the scope of these spheres.
For this the world society requires a proper constitution, which will serve as the fundament for the world political body. A state constitution is a guidebook for the proper conduct of a state; it is the written guarantee of democracy. Constitutions emerged in response to the irrational rule of tyrannical sovereigns. A charter of principles or bill of rights should be included in the world constitution and encompass at least the following four areas:
- Complete security should be guaranteed to all the plants and animals on the planet.
- Each country must guarantee purchasing power to all its citizens.
- The constitution should guarantee four fundamental rights – spiritual practice or Dharma; cultural legacy; education; and indigenous linguistic expression.
- If the practice of any of these rights conflicts with cardinal human values then that practice should be immediately curtailed. That is, cardinal human values must take precedence over all other rights.
Prout proposes that these four points is adopted by framers of constitutions throughout the world to overcome the defects of present constitutions.
Why must animals’ and plants’ rights be included in the world constitution? The sentiment of ordinary humanism discriminates against other groups of living beings and this has created environmental disaster. The environmental crisis is not first and foremost a problem of welfare of human beings. By enshrining the dignity and rights of one group – human beings – while mercilessly exploiting other groups – animals, plants and even the inanimate world – ordinary humanist sentiment has sowed the seeds of inter-species war directly and the seeds of intra-species fratricidal war indirectly. The Greek mathematician Pythagoras stated : “For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.” [unquote] Rational global thought dictates us to guarantee the security of all living beings—plants, animals and humans—in order to protect righteousness.
As discussed in episode four, Prout’s socioeconomic and political trend is gradual movement from the local via the regional to global. The goal is a confederation of all states of the world. Those federated states will consist of self-sufficient economic units or zones formed entirely on socio-economic and geographical considerations.
In the initial stage, the world political body will be a law-making body and the different federations will have executive powers to implement the laws passed by the World Government. It means, the federations may or may not fully abide by the laws of the world confederation but they must not go against them. The confederation will, however, have some executive power for limited and defined purposes, namely, for maintaining peace and tranquillity throughout the world. It means that war between and within states in effect will be banned. The federated states and their unit will maintain their own police force to ensure internal law and order.
Here we arrive at the third fundamental factor of a progressive world order, that of a common penal code. Crimes are acts forbidden by national laws while virtue and vice are the outcome of spiritual sanction and traditional customs. The concepts of lawmakers are very much influenced by this ethos. The sense of crime has, therefore, to do with the concept of virtue and vice, which differs from people to people and country to country. Prout realises that as long as differences remain in the concepts of crime and immorality, society and the world will remain split. Hence, Prout advocates that differences between various laws be reduced and the gap between cardinal moral law and human laws should be bridged in order to progressively achieve a similarity in the concepts of sin, immorality and crime. Shrii Sarkar suggested that “All those actions which help in the growth of spiritual, mental and physical aspects of human beings in general should come under the category of virtuous deeds, and those actions which go against humanity in its spiritual, mental and physical development must come under vice”
The fourth requirement is availability of the minimum essentials of life, which includes their production, supply and purchasing capacity: The availability of minimum essentials (including food, clothing, housing, medical aid and education) is a must for the development of human personality and for achieving the goal of a world community. The requisite purchasing capacity should be provided to all individuals so that they become able to satisfy their minimum needs in the minimum time and utilize their surplus time in supramundane, metaphysical and spiritual spheres. This never-ending effort for a proper economic adjustment must continue at all times with a view to assisting the spiritual, mental and physical evolution of human beings and also to let humanity develop a Cosmic sentiment for a Cosmic ideal and world fraternity. Universalism is bound to surge forth as a spontaneous sentiment and natural realisation.
We mentioned the unwholesome influence of political parties on individual law makers and various political institutions. We already mentioned requirements for voters and candidates. Structurally, to provide a fearless and independent ambience to the administration, the secretariat should be kept free from pressures from the cabinet. The cabinet should confine itself to legislation, the passage and passing of the budget, the implementation of its plans and policies, defence etc. The power of ministers should remain confined to the parliament and they should not poke their nose into the workings of the secretariat. The chief secretary should not be under the president or the prime minister but should act independently as the executive head. All the secretaries should work under the chief secretary. Free from cabinet pressures, every department will serve the people well.
In the present system the judiciary functions under a cabinet minister, and pressure from the minister may impair its independent functioning. To remove this defect and to ensure impartial justice, the judiciary should have the right to function independently. In no case should the chief justice be treated as inferior to the president or the prime minister. Only moralists and honest persons should be installed on the hallowed seat of justice. If people fail to keep this issue under their close scrutiny, injustice will take the place of justice.
Finally, for the proper utilization of the nationʼs revenue and to ensure that every penny, paisa and cent are spent on building up the nation, it is vitally important that the audit branch as well be independent. In some countries today, their audit body is well developed and recognised but most countries of the world continue to suffer greatly from corruption. As a minimum, the auditor general should be independent of the head of state. Only the independence of the auditor general can ensure that this branch will be able to fearlessly check the accounts of every other branch. The audit body should be established on par with the legislature, executive, and judiciary bodies. It should be a separate administrative branch of government, and independent of the party holding a majority.
All the four branches mentioned should be given the scope to function independently. Thus there will be four compartments. No compartment will function under another. This system is called compartmentalised democracy.
Now, a few words about revolution. Prout’s theory of revolution says that a socio-economic ideal can be established either by intellectual revolution or physical revolution. Intellectual revolution means propagation of ideals, which renders such revolution largely theoretical in the form of education, training and vocal propaganda such as this podcast series. However, to materialise the ideals of Prout is another matter. Therefore, with time, and as the hopes and aspirations of the suffering and downtrodden remain unfulfilled in a democracy, a non-democratic or sanguinary revolution becomes increasingly realistic. It is reasonable to suppose that the violence of such revolution is proportional to the educational status of the people of the area. Less educated people are less receptive to intellectual revolution, which leaves more of a crude momentum to a violent revolution. Violence is on the whole undesirable but is inevitable and irresistible to a greater or lesser degree in most cases, an exception to this rule being most of the 1989 Eastern European revolutions against communist rule.
The main factor in any form of revolution is the application of tremendous force to move society forward. In general, there are three forces of any change:
- Natural force is responsible for the changing of the seasons and everything else of natural change in our lives.
- Evolutionary change is responsible for changes of evolutionary significance, and
- Revolutionary changes are responsible for epoch-making changes when the entire world of living beings changes for good.
According to their form and character, it is considered that the types of revolution include palace and pyramid revolutions. Palace revolutions involve change within the established edifice of power and is of little or no significance to ordinary people. A pyramid revolution results in wider change to some degree down a step-wise structure but does not lead to real change for ordinary people at the base of the pyramid of power. An example of such change is a shift of power in the political system and its bureaucracy following election with no radical changes to most people. Palace and pyramid revolutions are no revolutions in the true sense because they do not change the collective psychology or affect its further forward movement in the social cycle.
Prout advocates another type of revolution termed as “nuclear revolution”. In nuclear revolution, every aspect of life—social, economic, political, cultural, psychic and spiritual—is completely transformed. Human individual and collective life is thoroughly renewed. New moral and spiritual values and consciousness arise in society which provide the impetus for accelerated social progress. The old era is replaced by a new when one collective psychology representing the common goals and aspirations of many individuals is replaced by another. This type of revolution results in all-round development and social progress.
Nuclear revolution can only be brought about by morally and spiritually enlightened collective drive found at the nucleus of the social movement as discussed earlier. Moral, enlightened leadership will control key points at the nucleus of the social structure. In such nuclear revolution, there is minimum loss of life and property, and the transformation of society is accomplished within a very short span of time. Through the concerted effort of such concentrated value-oriented force, the exploited sections of society are mobilised to overthrow the ruling class—the exploiters. This very struggle for mass upheaval liberates society from exploitation and ushers in a new era of genuine social coherence and prosperity.
Revolution always takes place around a sentiment. If there is no strong common sentiment, a revolution cannot take place. Sentiment is always stronger than logic. Prout is based on a universal sentiment which concerns the whole cosmological order, and Prout is systematically moving towards the implementation of this sentiment. Prout will make the local people conscious of their local sentiments keeping universalism in mind. Materialist, self-centred and dogmatic philosophies cannot do this. Only Prout can tackle all local sentiments and lead everyone in the world to universalism by gradual stages.
According to Prout, there are two types of sentiments: positive and negative sentiments. Positive sentiments are unifying in nature. They unite society and elevate humanity, enhance collective interests and encourage progressive development. Negative sentiments are narrow in scope and divide society.
Some important positive sentiments include anti-exploitation sentiment, revolutionary sentiment, moral sentiment, cultural sentiment, universal sentiment and spiritual sentiment. Some negative sentiments include communalism, patriotism, nationalism, provincialism, lingualism and racism. Positive sentiments are the real weapons to build society. Among the negative sentiments, Prout believes in anti-exploitation sentiment which is universal in character. It is universal because it argues for liberation, which is the basic driving force of evolution, liberation from bondage of limitedness. Therefore, although it is a negative sentiment, “no to exploitation” is on principle positive and constructive.
Spiritually and ethically conscious leaders will be recognized by their exemplary conduct, service-mindedness and spiritual zeal. Their moral promptness and non-compromising attitude will lead the people in their efforts to get rid of corruption and exploitation and establish progressive welfare for all living beings. History bears testimony to this truth – great spiritual men and women has always been regarded as sources of inspiration. How often have we not heard that, “If only there had been many more of such-and-such great spiritual personalities, then the world would have been a better place.” At this point in human evolution more and more such personalities are generated in society, with activist attitude, moral compass and spiritual vision, so that the world will soon sanction their rule and will regard their universal benevolence as the natural order of things.
Proper socio-political control will neutralise power-hungry dictators, minimize the role of bureaucracy and safeguard the rights of minorities and all biological life. At higher levels these boards will neutralize superpowers. They will enable free expression of creative arts without political and other sectarian influence. They will arrest the growth of pseudo-culture which is proliferating in the guise of art and literature. The fear of political repression and economic domination will be eliminated. If in any parts of the world any self styled dictator or group violates human rights and tries to create disunity, the World Government will take direct action with the approval of the global social board.
And with that we close this episode on the political thought of Prout. Thank you and goodbye for now.