Window
Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 3.10.21
Time to reinvent Gandhi
Mahatma
Gandhi is universally known as an apostle of peace
and non-violence. At a time when it seems peace is receding and violence is
taking over the world- it is time to turn to Gandhi for guidance.
But first, what is the cost of violence? It has
economic social and civilizational cost. Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP)
estimates the economic impact of violence and conflict on the global economy.
In 2019, it was estimated to be 14.4 trillion US dollar. This is equivalent to
10.5 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) or 1,895 US dollar
(roughly Rs 1. 38 lakh) per person.
Violence not only has a
direct impact on the economy, but it also reduces the positive benefits that
peacefulness has on the macroeconomic performance of countries. Since 2000,
countries that have improved in peacefulness have seen an average 1.4 percentage
points higher GDP per capita growth when compared to
countries that have become less peaceful as measured by the Global Peace Index
(GPI).
Small improvements in
peace can have substantial economic benefits. For example, a two per cent
reduction in the global impact of violence is roughly equivalent to all
overseas development aid in 2019.
As
per the IEP report, democracies tend to fare better than authoritarian regimes
with the average economic cost for democracies
being four per cent of their GDP,
while in authoritarian regimes it’s 11
per cent. Additionally, since 2007, authoritarian regimes recorded the largest
increase in their economic impact of violence, increasing by 27 per cent. Full
democracies recorded the largest reduction at 15.9 per cent.
The
social cost of violence includes stunted social growth, lack of happiness, rise
of anxiety and animosity, leading to further violence.
Globally,
the numbers of those forced to leave their homes due to war, persecution or
natural disaster have reached staggering heights: at the end of 2014, United
Nations estimated 19.5 million of these are people who have fled their country
as refugees and half of them are children.
More
than 1.5 billion people live in countries affected by violent conflict, and the
gap between those countries enjoying relative peace and those afflicted by
conflict is growing. Consider the fact that the fact that no low-income
conflict-affected country achieved a single one of the framework’s predecessor,
the Millennium Development Goals.
Violence,
resulting in traumatic stress, can have psychological and physiological effects
on the brain and body, some of which can manifest much later in life.
Mitigating these effects requires early intervention.
Violence
is contagious in nature. Violence does not occur in a vacuum, and often the
undercurrent or environment of violence normalizes violent response in other
settings. As well, witnessing or being a victim of violence can increase the
risk of future violence.
Violence
has a civilizational cost too. The
social, cultural and spiritual growth halts. The society regresses.
We need peace not just to survive
but to live to our potential. Living in peace
is a way of life in which
we respect and love each other in spite of our cultural, religious, and
political differences. Inwardly, each of us needs to cultivate peace. This
means understanding and overcoming fear, anger, intolerance, and lack of social
skills that causes violence.
There are examples and roadmaps for peace set
up by the sages, thinkers, philosophers and mass leaders like Mahatma Gandhi.
It is he who had said, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. It flags
the issue of revenge. He had said, “the world has enough for everyone’s need
but not for everyone’s greed. It flags the issue of environmental
sustainability and conflict over natural resources. He underlined the necessity
of living in harmony.
It is time to reinvent Gandhi.
Are we becoming more
violent or less?
Contrary to the popular notion that violence is growing,
Steven Pinker in his sweeping 2011 work The
Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined, makes the
audacious claim, “today we may be living in the most peaceable era in our
species’ existence.”
Referring
to a huge mass of data from ancient times to the present- he says, since the
end of the second world war, the rate of deaths from all conflicts has
decreased, with the most noticeable decline in conflicts between states.
Though
his claim is contested, there is no denying of the fact that the scale and
volume of violence has decreased. Pinker cites five historical forces behind
the reduction in violence. These are: a. Nation-states: the
rise of societies ruled by a central government, in particular democracies, with a “monopoly on
the legitimate use of force”; b. Commerce: trade
between nations allows us to engage in positive-sum interactions meaning our
neighbors are worth more to us alive than dead; c. Feminization: increased role of women in society and
positions of power. Societies
that oppress women are far more likely to be violent and unstable. Policymakers
who fail to consider the interests of half the population cannot hope to
understand the world. (The September 2021 Cover story of the Economist also
discusses this point); e. Rationality: Increased
reliance on logical thinking instead of tradition for making policies and
interacting with other humans; f. Mass
media and communication: made it possible for people to see
outsiders not as dangerous, but as humans with a common humanity.
Esports Journalism
I
first heard about Esports Journalism at an International online conference
titled Future of Journalism orgsnied by Cardiff University, UK. I was curious
and did some googling.
Esports
(also known as electronic sports, e-sports, or eSports) is a form of
competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized,
multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players,
individually or as teams. Although organized competitions have long been a part
of video game culture, these were largely between amateurs until the late
2000s, when participation by professional gamers and spectatorship in these
events through live streaming saw a large surge in popularity. By the 2010s,
esports was a significant factor in the video game industry, with many game
developers actively designing and providing funding for tournaments and other
events.
E-sports
Journalists cover e-sports and e-sports events and competitions.
Industry
insiders predict that esports will rival the biggest traditional sports leagues
in terms of future opportunities, and between advertising, ticket sales,
licensing, sponsorships and merchandising, there are tremendous growth areas for
this nascent industry.
As
competitive video games continue to integrate into popular culture, global
investors, brands, and media outlets are all paying attention. Consumers are as
well. In fact, there will be 26.6 million monthly esports viewers in 2021, up
11.4 per cent from 2020, according to the estimate of an market investigator
agency.
Lata Mangeskar
On
last September 28 'Queen of Melody' Lata
Mangeshkar turned 92. Born in 1929 at Indore the 'Nightingale of India' has
enthralled music lovers of India for over 7 decades now. She has been conferred
with Bharat Ratna, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and countless other awards.
+++
Journalist turned
media academician Mrinal Chatterjee lives in Dhenkanal, Odisha. He also writes
fiction and plays.
mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
This column is published on every Sunday in Gangtok based English daily Sikkim Express and www.prameyanews.com
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