By Justice Markandey Katju
Before the Industrial Revolution which starting from England in the 18th century spread to many parts of the world, there were feudal societies everywhere. The means of production in feudal society were so primitive and backward that little wealth could be generated by them, and so only a handful of people ( kings and aristocrats ) could be rich, while the rest had to be mostly poor.
In sharp contrast to this situation, after the Industrial Revolution modern industry has become so big and powerful that enough wealth can be generated by it, and now no one on earth need be poor, and everyone can have a decent life.
Yet the situation in the world today is that there are actually two worlds (1) the world of the developed countries i.e. North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, and now China, where most people are relatively rich, and (2) the world of the underdeveloped countries, which comprise the majority of the world's population, where the vast majority of the people are poor.
I have explained in the articles and video below that there is a secret, unwritten, and unspoken rule in the developed countries that underdeveloped countries must not be allowed to become developed, for if they do, the industries of the developed countries, which have expensive labour, will not be able to withstand the competition from those of the underdeveloped countries, which have cheap labour, and then the former will have to close down, throwing millions of workers out of employment.
The developed countries no doubt have disputes amongst themselves, such as the present one between USA and Europe on the one hand, and China and Russia on the other. But when it comes to the underdeveloped countries they gang up, to prevent these countries becoming developed, for the reason abovementioned.
And how do they prevent it ? They prevent it by making the people of these countries fight each other in the name of religion, caste, race or language, using their local agents e.g. the political leaders in these countries, who polarise society and incite hatred between local communities.
The basic struggle in the 21st century will therefore be the struggle between the underdeveloped countries to rapidly industrialise and modernise, for only then can they hope to escape from grinding and massive poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of proper healthcare, etc, and the developed countries which will oppose this transformation tooth and nail.
India is the most developed of the underdeveloped countries. It will therefore have to give leadership to the underdeveloped countries in this historical struggle.
For this, an ideological revolution is required
Indians must therefore do their duty to the rest of the underdeveloped countries, and prepare for a long, arduous struggle, in which tremendous sacrifices will have to be made
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
