The Purpose of Liberal Ideals

I consider myself a socially liberal person. I was born and raised in a very conservative family and society. Concepts like gender equality, feminism, racism, casteism, equity, and social justice were alien to me while growing up. Liberal values entered very late in my life but when they entered they provided a solid backbone to fight against many social evils, such as gender discrimination, casteism, and racism, that were and still are prevalent in our society. The enduring relevance of liberalism does not just lie in winning elections and forming governments to reform societies towards more secular and inclusive values but it lies in its ability to create pressure whether directly, through electoral victories, or indirectly, by forcing opponents to temper their agendas. In this context, liberalism serves its purpose, regardless of immediate political outcomes. The real purpose of liberal ideas is to perform the balancing act, where any extremism is tamed due to the mere presence of a watchdog who threatens to take back the power if the situation gets worse. Liberalism needs to be a persistent force of progress irrespective of who is in power. 

As conservatives craft narratives that excite and energize their voter base, liberals remain the unseen hand guiding societal balance. Their role is less about immediate dominance and more about ensuring the long-term sustainability of democratic ideals. This is how liberalism always worked. The entire world was dominated by narrow and conservative ideas that perpetuated discrimination and hate. Under the name of preserving culture, religion, and supremacy so many people were killed or suppressed. Even then, there were people who dared to propagate liberal values and this is the reason social evils like slavery were eradicated and other evils like racism and gender discrimination have been tamed to a considerable extent. 

Moving forward, if liberals want to remain as a viable political option their challenges in the current political climate are clear. First, they need to rebuild the trust. Liberals must reconnect with their base, understanding and addressing the evolving needs of diverse groups is critical for them. One of the most pressing tasks for liberals is to rebuild trust with their diverse voter base. Over time, relying on socially and economically suppressed classes as a core constituency has proven insufficient. Why? Because the social and economic needs of every group evolve. Liberal parties must recognize that no single group can serve as a permanent foundation. A broad coalition built on mutual trust and inclusivity is vital. They must address criticism of perceived elitism or disconnection by demonstrating authenticity and commitment to all sections of society. Second, they need to energize the participation of people who subscribe to social liberal values. Mobilizing voters who align with liberal values is a significant hurdle for liberals, and they struggle a lot in this, especially in the emotionally charged and polarizing electoral atmosphere. Many voters feel detached from electoral stakes for liberals, and their participation often lags behind that of conservatives. Finding ways to mobilize their core constituency, not just online but on the ground and during the elections, especially those who feel detached from electoral stakes is crucial, they must strengthen on-the-ground efforts to reach voters where they are. Creating compelling narratives that make people feel their vote truly matters by connecting political outcomes to their day-to-day lives is crucial. Third, they need to upgrade their communication with electoral voters. In an era dominated by social media and an overwhelming flow of information, liberals must craft their messaging to resonate in a rapidly changing landscape. Simply relying on their reputation as the "good guys" is no longer enough. They must speak to people’s immediate concerns in clear, relatable terms. Abstract ideals or overly intellectual arguments may alienate some voters. They need to utilize social media strategically and understand the platforms where voters spend their time and adapt messaging to suit each medium. Visual storytelling, short videos, and concise messages often outperform traditional approaches. Finally, while adapting to contemporary concerns, liberals must not compromise on their foundational values of inclusion, equality, and justice. 

Liberal parties can no longer assume that voters will align with them purely because of their ideals. They must work hard to earn every vote by demonstrating the tangible impact of their policies and by staying closely connected to their constituencies. This is not just a political challenge but an opportunity for reinvention. By rebuilding trust, energizing participation, and modernizing their messaging, liberals can carve out a new path that not only sustains their relevance but also positions them as a robust and compelling alternative in the global political arena. The political climate is dynamic, and with the right strategies, liberals can regain their electoral footing. No doubt, the work will be difficult and demanding, but it is essential - not just for the survival of truly liberal parties but for the health of democratic systems worldwide. The real purpose of liberal values is to protect democratic principles such as equality, equity, and inclusion and fight against social evils such as gender discrimination, racism, majoritarianism, and communal hate.

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

*Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com 

What is the main purpose of education?

I read this interesting article which raises some very interesting questions about the current academic environment in the USA, but I guess the same is true for any country's education system. Today's education system is heavily oriented towards acquiring skills required to get a job, they are becoming like vocational courses. The cost of education is very high today, so it is obvious that after going through this process of attending schools and college one should be able to secure a job that can pay off all the investment. One can ask, what is the real purpose of education? The question is very general and different people might answer it differently. For some, education might mean acquiring a new skill, for some, it might mean acquiring knowledge, and for some, it might mean getting a degree so that they can get a good job and social status. One of the major purposes of education is to acquire the skills to secure a job to survive in this world. But I guess the real crux of the question is, is this becoming the sole purpose of today's education? Are we trying to produce good workers, managers, and CEOs but somehow ignoring that we also need good humans?

In its true sense education is a continuous process. We start learning new things when we come into this world and keep on discovering something new, learning something new until we depart from here. But for now, let's focus only on school and college education. There is no doubt that today's education system is much better than what we had in the past, and credit must be given for the efforts to improve the system. I personally believe that my kids are exposed to a much better education system than I was. The system is very student-friendly, it tries to support the interests of students. The curriculum is heavily biased towards the job market, actually, this is not a problem in itself as one needs to acquire vocational skills, but at the same time, we need to train students to deal with many other important issues. The world is facing many problems like religious fundamentalism, stress, depression, lack of compassion and kindness towards other human beings, unequal distribution of wealth, political polarization, etc. These issues are very important and affect our society in many ways but unfortunately, the current education system doesn't take any concrete steps to educate students about many of these topics. At the same time, today's parents have become so busy that they can't devote enough time to educating their kids about these topics. In this changed scenario, there is much more responsibility on our education system not only to produce trained and skilled workers but also sensible humans who are good citizens of the world. If our education system can instill compassion and tolerance in its students, if it can stress the importance of equality and equity, if it can educate them about their rights and responsibilities then we will have a generation of sensible and sensitive citizens.

However, there is no easy solution to this problem, as I said current education system is much better than what we had in the past but the changed scenario of our society has made its job much more difficult and complicated. What I feel today is that parents or guardians of any student, who are a very important and critical component of this education system are not doing their part. Today's parents have many reasons starting from their business due to work, day-to-day stress of modern-day lifestyle, and pressure to fit into society's definition of a successful life for not having enough time to interact with their children. This is why I am saying that we can't depend on parents anymore to educate their children in an unbiased way. First, they don't have enough time and normally they try to instill only their own beliefs in their children. This is not wrong in every case but this is also not how we should be educating our kids. Kids need to know all sides of any problem or issue so that they can think of solutions to the problems independently which they will face in their lives. If parents bias the minds of their children we will lack free thinkers in the next generation and already we do not have many of them. With the easy availability of information, I expected more free thinkers, but somehow that is not happening, people are more siloed and read only that validates their beliefs, and stay away from everything that challenges them. I hope that current education also focuses more on the overall general development of students along with technical skill development. We need leaders who are free thinkers, we need entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, and artists who are also good humans. This is a very challenging task and there is no set formula to achieve all this but I believe that experts from the education field will come up with some design that will allow us to build a curriculum that will focus on the overall development of every student. I hope parents start realizing their responsibility and playing their part in this process. I believe that the main purpose of education is to produce intelligent, compassionate, skillful, and sensitive individuals and I really hope that we will be able to achieve this one day.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League

What Is the Purpose of Human Life?

Many religious texts dwell on this question. Many people also think about this question. After all, what is the purpose of human life? How are we different compared to other animals? Why do humans control most of the things on this planet? How do they get this superiority? Is there some special reason for it? Is there any special reason for the presence of humans on this planet? Different texts take somewhat different approaches to this question, but if we read religious texts, most of them say that the ultimate purpose of human life or birth is to serve the supreme entity, God. Some even go to the extent that we are all born to entertain that superpower! Many offer different rewards or explanations for why one should serve God, some say we have to liberate ourselves from the cycle of life and death, and some say we need to do this to go to some higher planet where life is better than what we get on this planet that is without old age, disease, miseries, and death. Some say to achieve liberation from human suffering. There are many explanations for why we have to indulge in the service of that superpower. There are many ways or methods recommended for that service. We can't see that superpower in person so there are many indirect ways recommended to fulfill our service requirement, some say by serving its creation (humans, we are believed to be created) we can serve God. We can engage in prayers or worship imagining God in some form or in a formless way to achieve that goal and I think this is the most popular way (praying in temples, Churches, Mosques, Synagogues, Gurudwaras or any other place).

So, what is the purpose of human life? We don't see many people following whatever is recommended in those books of various organized religions. Many people who claim or seem to be following that path are also filled with tremendous hatred toward people who are not from their camp, and their only purpose seems to be to bring more and more people into their camp so that it becomes bigger and bigger. Their ultimate aim seems to be to conquer the whole world and make it mono-religious. Are we supposed to be camp followers?  There are so many camps, which camp to follow? If the whole purpose is to serve God, why don't we start doing it since our childhood and leave all other distractions aside (like family, school, job, etc.)? Are we missing something?

Human beings have a more developed brain compared to other animals on this planet; the capabilities of our brain have allowed us to conquer many of our physical limitations. We can do many things easily for which our body is not designed; other animals can't do it because their brain is not developed like ours. Our universe functions based on some laws or principles, some we know, and many we are still trying to understand. We now know more about the origin of life on this planet, the process of evolution, the reasons for many diseases, and their possible treatments. Science and technology have helped us to solve many mysteries. Can it help us to solve this one??

According to me, there is no universal purpose of human life; all of us are different and unique. We are social beings and have some social responsibility and role to play, but apart from that, we are different. Everyone has to find their own purpose in life. Michael Jackson was born to dance, Sachin was born to bat, Lata Mangeshkar was born to sing, Michael Jordan to play basketball, and Pelé to play football (soccer). They were lucky to discover the purpose of their life. Somehow, we have attached a very grand meaning to the phrase 'purpose of life'; most of us think that the purpose of life has to be something grand, big, and spectacular. I think it's not necessary; one can have very simple aims in life and still live a very happy and successful life. Money, fame, or social status cannot be the only criteria to judge a successful or happy person. A housewife who takes care of her family and plays a major role in the upbringing of her kids or teachers who train future citizens of this world, are equally successful people like any other entrepreneur or celebrity. I hope we all can discover our purpose in life and work towards it. We all serve humanity by discovering the purpose of our own lives.

Thanks for reading, and please share your comments.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)