“Where does it come from, where does it lead to?” the Hermit asked the seeker at dawn, waking up to ET on Monday.
“Identity leads to violence,” the seeker said, “Amartya Sen has a new book on the subject? ET’s featured his interview today. Have you read it?”
“No,” said the Hermit. “I am not a man of the world. Why don’t you read it to me.”
Harvard don Prof Sen says economic and social conflicts within communities, nations and the world arise from a unidimensional view of a multidimensional identity, resulting in hate and violence. It really arises from casting identities in fear or hope, good or evil, love or hate. So, the way to the future is not one or one, but one plus one i.e., two.
“Oh really? That sounds interesting,” said the Hermit. “I need to learn more.”
Prof Sen is a wise man, O Hermit! He says economic activity leads to income for some and deprivation for some others. In other words, he says, economic change -- locally, nationally or globally -- will result in gainers and losers. He also reasons that while the richness of disposable income can translate into the richness of human life, its contribution can differ -- quite minimal in some cases, fairly good in other cases, and dramatically good in some particular cases. This itself leads to rich and poor, leading to economic conflicts within communities, nations and the world.
“Is Prof Sen an economist,” asked the Hermit.
“Yes and no,” said the seeker. Like his views, he too has multiple identities. He’s won the Nobel for economics, but the world also knows him as a philosopher. Yet, in his absolute, he’s one and the same person.”
“I see,” said the Hermit, “What else does he say?”
Prof Sen says, when the world forcibly ascribes an identity to you, it can reduce you in two distinct ways. It says, you have no other identity, and by doing that, it degrades you further. So, you need to assert multiple identities to get out of the hole. In other words, the Fear of a singular identity, leads to the Hope of multiple identities. This has been the case with Jews and this ought to be the way out for Muslims. The persecution of Jews by the Nazis led to the assertion of multiple identities. Einstein, not only said he was a Jew, he also said, he was a German-speaking European physicist who also played the violin. And the world accepted him as that. Likewise, for Muslims to get out of the trap of a unidimensional conflict of East-West identity, they not only need to assert Islam, but their several other identities that lie scattered from Indonesia to Spain.
“That sounds interesting,” said the Hermit, “but will this eliminate conflict? Will Fear and Hope cease forever? Or will it give rise to a new conflict as with the Jews whose new identity also led to the creation of Israel that, in turn, led to the Fear of Jewish dominance over the Arab people. And you’re yet to decide the winner and the loser.
“So, what’s the way out?” asked the seeker. “Let me think,” said the Hermit...
To get out, get closer, he said. Instead of a one-track or two-track view of the world, let’s look at it through the Circle of Reason. To do this, rather than split the results of action into good or evil and even good and evil, let’s look at it in a circle. So, there’s need for Good where there’s Evil, just as there’s Evil, where there is Good. Therefore, good => evil => good. The same is true for Fear and Hope. There’s Hope where there’s Fear and where there’s Fear, there’s Hope. Therefore, hope => fear => hope. Put the two together, and the fear of evil leads to hope for good, just as the hope for good leads away from fear of evil.
You can try that with everything in Life: your actions, your emotions. Everything! For what appears, always reappears in one form or the other. Here’s how: connect => disconnect => reconnect; engage => disengage => re-engage; appear => disappear => reappear; hope => fear => hope; construct => deconstruct => reconstruct; begin => end => re-begin. When you break the link at will, it results in conflict. Let it be, and there’s absence of conflict.
“You’ve led me into a continuous chain,” said the seeker, “But then, we can’t have a result.”
“You’re right, the purpose of Life is to let the cycle remain to avoid ‘Identity and Violence’,” said the Hermit. “Because, when a game ends in no result, the result’s Love All.”
That’s the Way of the World! Back to Essays