Prof. Bhupa P. Dhamala

In a rapidly globalising world, people are turning more and more individualistic. This can be seen in all affairs of life – community, institution, enterprise, and the society as whole. This began to happen when capitalism grew at the age of industrialisation, when capitalists began to earn more than they needed and sell their products beyond their neighbourhood, the major motif being profit earning and hoarding the capital for further enterprises to gain more. With this growth of capitalism, self-interest has become predominant in our age.

It is natural that human beings have some fundamental behavioural attributes that are indispensable. The most common characteristic traits are food, sleep, and sex. These are the basics without which life cannot continue. As a matter of fact, all activities are essentially driven by interests. If somebody assumes that human action is guided by disinterest, then they are apparently mistaken.

Fundamental emotions
To be disinterested is to be devoid of individual interest, to act for social welfare with no hope for personal gain, or to be altruistic to think of the others first. This is theoretically an ideal thing if it ever happens. But practically speaking, no one can be completely disinterested although they claim they are. Even the divine beings like Buddha, Christ, and Mohammad who are hailed as gods by their disciples cannot be proved as absolutely disinterested, let alone ordinary human beings of blood and flesh. We can read ancient tales where Greek gods behaved like humans replete with fundamental emotions such as love and hate, kindness and cruelty, reward and revenge.

There are some people who say they have renounced the physical pleasure to reach the heavenly abode, to be one with the ethereal one. But that is also done for their own interest despite differing in degrees. I would argue that even the readiness to sacrifice one’s life for the sake of country and people is guided by the interest of being immortal. Some people who vow to remain celibate by restraining their sexual desire are also motivated by the interest of being one with the god. Widows abstain from second marriage killing their desire for physical and emotional pleasure with the interest of being faithful to their husbands which would enable them to have heavenly abode. Those who take the path of abstraction at the cost of concrete sources of tangible pleasure are thus guided by interest. So, interest is unavoidable in any case.

Although interest is an inherent part of life, we can distinguish between two types of interest. While some forms of interests are natural and thus acceptable to some extent, there are some other forms which are human generated as part of culture. A few examples are the hunger for power and the tendency of amassing wealth even more than one needs. Less devastating but more engaging is devotion to gods and goddesses of one’s own faith. These forms of interest have already caused social problems.

The hunger for power is one of the most devilish interests. I refer to a play written by a sixteenth century English dramatist Christopher Marlowe. In this play, Dr. Faustus does extensive study of all subjects and becomes a knowledgeable man but still he is not satisfied because he thinks he is not as powerful as he wants to be. Then he practices black art with the grace of Mephistopheles who assures him to make him powerful if he agrees to sell his soul after twenty-four years. Dr. Faustus agrees to this condition because he wants to fulfil his strong desire for becoming so powerful that whatever he wants to enjoy, he would be granted by the devil. Then he practices necromancy to satisfy his desire which enables him to enjoy physical pleasure to the utmost level. But when the bonded twenty-four years come to an end, his tormented soul is forcibly torn away by the devil.

This is a simple story which nonetheless illustrates the serious point how much devilish self-interest can be and to what extent it can influence the psychology of human beings. In modern day politics also, almost the same thing is happening. We have known how some politicians have killed their kinsmen to become powerful – in Shakespearean Macbeth how Macbeth killed King Duncan despite both being the two grandsons of the same grandfather, how Jung Bahadur in Nepal became so cruel to murder Mathavar Singh Thapa despite being his maternal uncle. We have also seen how some politicians make an alliance with the nation’s enemy to remain in power and how they have compromised with undesirable forces to fulfil their personal interests.

Corruption scandals
Another form of self-interest is to amass wealth on large scale. The capitalists want to make more and more money. Even the politicians and civil servants are allegedly engaged in corruption scandals of one kind or the other. Even ordinary citizens are becoming individualistic. Behind all these sinister activities lies the personal interest of becoming richer and richer. If this tendency continues, there will be nobody to think of the national interest.

Nepal has experienced such plight since long ago. Despite people’s expectations, politicians have failed to cultivate democratic attitude and evolve the culture of public interest. No matter how loudly politicians promise to bring socialism in the country, they are practicing quite the reverse of it. The leaders of mainstream political parties have turned so individualistic that they try to always remain in executive position by hook or crook. Some of them have been engaged in factionalism with the self-interest of obtaining the executive position.

They would like to spend a huge amount of money in election which they would have to earn by making unfair decisions in favour of the comprador class to the harm of the nation and the general people. This is obviously deplorable state that promotes self-interest so alarmingly. If we do not take serious steps to curb this situation instantly, self-interest may be even more menacing soon.

(The author is the chairman of Molung Foundation. bhupadhamala@gmail.com)