Many Kinds of Politics: Aung San
Aung San provides a unique view of the meaning of politics and how its influences life at the individual and community level. Going through the text made me realize that the meaning of politics lacks precision, as it is defined uniquely by various people. I gathered that politics is unique for every community, and cannot have one overall definition. For instance, San (55) points out that politics in Myanmar was not a matter of race, education, religion, or language, but entailed similar cycles of the emergence of different gods, sorcerers, idols, gurus, prophecies, and kinds, which constantly changed the nature of their politics. Another essential concept gathered from San’s text is that politics are scientific. I had never scientifically imagined politics but agreed with the explanations of San.
The scientist’s view is based on two concepts, cause, and effect. I have experienced politics in my time, and realize that the shape they have taken is because of various forces that bring out the cause part, yielding certain results, accounting for effect. Despite this, these changes are always concerned with human affairs. The text also got me thinking of how politics is born in every individual, which is a combination of various changes that occur to someone since they are born. San (58) claimed “when human affairs become involved and complex, from the single person, household, race, belief or state, the level advances to higher and higher, thereby emerges the body politics. Growing up, I began as only a child, the learned to belong to a family, with beliefs, and being exposed to the external society further taught me about races, religion, and state, hence the idea of politics became real to me. However, it takes many people in one society to make politics meaningful. In his text, San (58) argues that “as humans multiply and their problems become too complex for coordination, leading to a breach of the order, the government has to emerge.” From this text, I can relate that people grow up in various settings with quite different views on all social aspects. People from different races tend to disagree and others behave unfairly toward others. In that context, the text helped me understand the role of government in society, which is mainly to bring law and order, among people with varying backgrounds.
For the government to adequately rule people, it all goes back to the idea of politics, where various leaders have to convince people to select them to adhere to their various concerns. This is always a challenge because of the diversity of human requirements. San (60) added that politics is guided by the idea of the state, where the superior class governs the lower classes, which is a clearer way to view politics. Thinking about it, it is always the wealthiest and most powerful people in society who get to rule in governments, and mostly the needs of the poor and powerless are considered the least.
Me and Mine: Democratic Socialism
The current world is filled with people who are always focused on progressing forward, not noticing that they might have missed the way somewhere and are headed in the wrong direction. Swearer (167) claims that “if we drive a car off the road into a ditch, we must back up and get onto the road so that we can go on driving.” This text suggests that people need to look back to where they went wrong in dealing with social concerns to acquire real and meaningful progress. The text made me think of the various ways that societies and individuals have lost their ways, from the ways of dhamma.
Some way people go astray is a lack of personal discipline in light of what is required of each person by the ways of God. This is evident when people have made disregarded religion as a central part of their lives, lowering the levels of morality and absolute truth. I believe that religion lays down essential backgrounds and roots to truth and morality, which has shaped many people over the centuries to live in peace and harmony. However, over the years, people have regarded themselves as higher than dhamma, and thus the basics of morality and truth slowly lost meaning and faded away, leaving a society filled with ruthless, uncaring, and self-centered people. In his text, Swearer (168) says, “Even the current problems of poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance of good health practices arise from our getting off track.” Thus, there is a lot to lose for people and communities that have lost their path, like the current generation we have today, and people have to return to God’s way to restore what has been lost.
I have always known that knowledge is useless unless it is applied in life. Swearer (168) claims that knowledge acquisition is simply getting ready for practice, and real benefits can only be gained upon its practice. The article triggered me to realize the importance of religion to society. By proving the truth and moral guidance, religion attempts to achieve peace for all and end all human concerns despite the many differences based on factors like race, ethnicity, social class, and culture.
Buddhist Genesis as a Narrative of Conflict Transformation
I found the reading to be fascinating, as it provides a detailed account of the development of human beings according to Buddhist teachings. I found it interesting to learn about celestial beings and their gradual moral degeneration, which led to conflict and violence. I think that the Buddha’s story of human origin is a creative way to provide an alternative narrative to the Hindu creation myth. I think that this story has the potential to inspire and provide interpretive possibilities to re-vitalize the messages of the Buddha in the context of violent conflicts in contemporary Thai society.
Solving disagreements is an essential aspect for people, and they need to learn how to do it without adverse costs. “The weight of the celestial beings’ narrative is meant to be placed in the conflicting heart of the two young Brahmins” (Satha-Anand 56). The Buddha is saying that the narrative of the celestial beings is meant to teach the young Brahmins about the importance of conflict resolution. The narrative shows how conflict can lead to violence and how important it is to have someone act as a mediator to prevent this. “The play with ‘birth’ and ‘origin,’ the ‘primary’ and the ‘best’ continues throughout the whole narrative” (Satha-Anand 57). The Buddha is using the story of the celestial beings to show how important it is to understand one’s origins and to emphasize the importance of being the best that one can be. Society can become a better place if everyone adhered to the person their creator made them be.
Works Cited
San, Aung. The Writings of General Aung San. Ed. Mya Han. Yangon: Yan Aung Books. Annexure 8: Many Kinds of Politics. Edited by Mya Han.Yangon: Yan Aung Books, 2015, pp. 55-69.
Satha-Anand, Suwanna. “Buddhist ‘Genesis’ as a Narrative of Conflict Transformation: A Re-reading of the Aggañña-sutta Diogenes.” vol. 60, no.1, 2013, pp. 54-61.
Swearer, Donald. Me and mine: selected essays of Bhikkhu Buddhadāsa. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989, pp. 167-193.