Culture of Cruelty

Culture of cruelty is sweeping the world and it cuts across ideological as well as national borders. In India last week, the murder of Gauri Lankesh, a prominent journalist was met with bliss by her online supporters. BJP minister wrote on Twitter, "the messages on social media is expressing happiness on the dastardly murder."

Background

For the last 40 years, the world has pursued a ruthless form of neoliberalism that has stripped economic activity from ethical considerations and social costs. One consequence has been the emergence of a culture of cruelty. In that the financial elite produce inhuman policies that treat the most vulnerable with contempt, relegating them to zones of social abandonment and forcing them to inhabit a society increasingly indifferent to human suffering.

Again, the repressive state and market apparatuses that produced a culture of cruelty in the 19th century have returned with a vengeance, producing new levels of harsh aggression and extreme violence in the world.

Analysis

The agony between Sri Lankans and Tamilians led to murder of several including women and children.

Myanmar’s neighbours show a no less vicious face to the victims of genocide. Though Bangladesh has helped distribute aid to the Rohingya in recent days, it's previously refused to recognize many of them as refugees. Modi, who visited Myanmar failed to even mention them. An official in India's Home Ministry claimed that many Rohingyas in India were "illegal immigrants" and "as per law, they stand to be deported."

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump scrapped DACA that allowed immigrants who had arrived in the U.S. illegally as children to remain in the country.

Each one of these incidents are streamlined to a high-minded cruelty. Denying hundreds of thousands of young people their right to a stable existence, Trump claims that "America is a land of laws."

On the other hand, according to the right-wing trolls, “the murdered Indian journalist was asking for it with her persistent critiques of India’s present government.”

Assessment

Our assessment is that today the culture of cruelty thrives globally, because we have lost sight of this fundamental basis of human coexistence. Compassion has been missing for some time from our political and economic ideas, though people continue to manifest it in everyday life.