Selfish genes!
Though there are divergent views about the budget, its emphasis on the power sector is welcomed by all. On the other hand, if anybody expected even a few innovations in budgeting this year, they must have been rather disappointed. The budget has proposed to impose Value Added Tax/VAT on all services. This reminds one of the remarks made by Sir Winston Churchill.
While opposing the bill to grant independence to India and Pakistan introduced by Clement Atlee in the British House of Commons, he said, "Not a bottle of water or a loaf of bread shall escape taxation; only the air will be free..." Perhaps our government's national budget has neglected to provide more funds for the free and fresh air even!
During the political and parliamentary turmoil regarding budget and other national issues, cutting off the chain of hate should be thought-provoking and timely. Nietzsche and Martin Luther King Jr. present two mutually exclusive models: one model that represents unrestrained power and is devoid of any love; and the other that is selfless and divine, submerging all our powers in the service of humanity, especially the marginalized. While the recent advances in neurobiology leading to the discovery of a genetic basis for altruism, our politicians must also keep in mind the contribution of scientists like Richard Dawkins, who have spoken of 'selfish genes.'
Unless our leaders choose the path of non-violence and love in their exercise of power, humanity is bound to sink into turmoil and anarchy.
Avik Sengupta, Student of Biochemistry , McGill University
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