Moral Dilemma (in the United States)

I have spent a significant time of my college life traveling around India. My team used to perform Nukkad, which is Hindi for street play. In that process, I got a chance to meet some of the best coming of the age philosophers, activists, artists, and leaders. Before we begin, I have some questions for the readers.

• Let's say a train is approaching and there are 4 common men tied to the track who are on the verge of death. You are given a chance to pull a lever and divert the train to an adjacent track where an alleged terrorist has been tied. Would you pull the lever?

• Amari is a poor laborer from DRC working for a marginal income of $50 per month. In his recent treatment at a hospital, he learned that her kidneys were stolen and sold in a black market. The person who unknowingly bought his kidneys for his own treatment was a world-renowned scientist in London. Upon learning that his treatment was illegal, he had 2 options:

• Pay a lumpsum compensation of $7,000, additional compensation of $300 per month, and find another donor for Harish and pay for the operation. He agrees to do so and Amari is happy as well.
• Perform an operation to return the stolen kidney to Amari.

            What is the right thing to do?

• Acme Corporation is a US multinational company and the largest producer of computer software in the world. They are planning to open an IT park near Konza Technology City, Zimbabwe. They have asked the government to provide them with land, laborers, and other support. They are planning to open training centers to train the local community. They are also going to provide employment to the local tribals whose lands would be claimed by the government. Additionally, the US is looking for strengthening its relationships with Zimbabwe and this seems to be a great opportunity for that. Should they be given an approval for the plan?

• The US Congress has presented a bill that would remove the per-country cap for permanent residence. This would help immigrants from India and China who usually see wait times of decades. A survey is conducted among Indians who already have American citizenship in New Jersey. The question is - "Should this bill be passed by the Congress?". [FYI] 92% of Indians with American citizenship responded "No". Apparently, they didn't want to increase competition for themselves and their children in America. 

I would answer, or rather I should say, provide a hint to the answer to these questions. All these questions are classical problems of moral dilemmas. Humans have not evolved enough to answer these questions or accept ethical answers to these questions.

America has numerous national parks and each one of them is gold. The natural beauty and heritage are at par with anywhere else in the world. After all, America is one of the youngest countries in the world. It has hardly seen a war on its very own land. Yeah, America never fought a war on its own land! It's not like India which has hundreds of battles on its land. But does that mean that no blood has ever been shed on the land of America? The answer is no. America never belonged to the Britishers or the Spanish. It belonged to the Native Americans. The Native Americans were butchered in large numbers by the Britishers to build the concrete form of capital America that we see today. The US is built on the blood of those Native Americans.

The Native Americans were innocent and had no means to fight. Thankfully, other colonies like India saw leaders who fought for independence. However, the very concept of colonialism has now changed. In fact, today it is seen in the form of corporations. In the name of progress and development, corporations establish big manufacturing units in developing countries around the world. They claim the land of the localities and then employ them as sweepers and dishwashers on their own land while capitalist America enjoys offices with white-collar employees. They pollute the local river, wildlife, and places of worship - everything happens in the name of progress and development. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the best joke that you can tell your colleagues.

Has it not gained independence, India would have been a developed country by now. But that development would have come at the cost of every Indian life whose fate would have been no different than that of a Native American. India has fought for independence and is the largest democracy in the world.  In the contemporary era, India has already seen a large number of foreign investments and corporations coming. 

Progress is bound to happen, but, every Indian has to pay the price for it. 

The only real progress that humans can have is moral progress. Moral progress is the only way to enlightenment. Every generation thinks that they have attained the highest morality, however, their morality is rarely up to the standards of their children. Moral progress is extremely slow and sometimes it also goes back. It was not until the 21st century that we began to accept the ideas of LGBTQ+. It will take at least 500 years from now to normalize that idea (given that our current civilization survives for that long). Till then, we need to have pride parades every year to make people realize the importance of themselves. This is how slow the evolution of morality is.

I don't think science and technology are signs of progress in humanity. They are merely means for corporations to sell meritocracy. I am not favoring aristocracy by any chance but meritocracy is not good either. Indeed, meritocracy has inculcated so much competition that the moral evolution of humans has been deeply shadowed. Every American has been a consumer of the world. An average American consumes 10x more than an average Asian. Americans are doped with advertisements, thereby creating a deep sense of FOMOs in them. I have been working in the Ads industry for the last 4 years. I can tell for sure that I can predict what is upcoming in your life. Earlier, Ads were designed for consumers. Nowadays, Ads are driving humans. The product placements are so subtle that you won't even notice.

Most Americans think that the life that they are living is the best that can be lived ever. They force the same world on their children. They force the same education on them. According to them, everything in the work can be colored black and white (not in racial terms). Patriotism, religion, college, white-collar jobs, marriage, settlement, and other life mantras are white in color. Corruption and terrorism are black in color. They are given examples of why Vladimir Putin is bad. They are told that the US retreated from the Vietnam War (which they actually lost). The children are doped with America's own propaganda of the world. They are taught about artificial first-world problems and how they can solve them.

America (and other European countries) think that their problem is the world's problem. However, their thinking so is the real world problem. The developed countries have been growing strongly in terms of technology. Technology has been strongly fueling militarism forcing poor countries to invest in the military rather than growth. The developed countries hardly understand the real problems of the world. Their actions are mostly to maintain their supremacy and slow down the growth of other countries. Hello, climate change! - said Europe after burning fossil fuels for centuries for its own progress. Fuck terrorism! - said America after helping Pakistan with war equipments for decades. As a message for the children of America, I would like to say 2 things - First, there is a world beyond America. Their problems are extremely different from yours. If you ever get a chance to visit Asia or Africa, don't miss out. Meet the people, meet their culture, and understand why they think socialism is right and capitalism is an evil virus of satan. Second, the entire world is gray in color. All goodness and badness are relative to one's own thoughts. The only way to know the truth is to question everything!

For our beloved Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who have given up their Indian citizenship and become true Americans, I wish you would stop oppressing your children and forcing them to follow pre-defined paths to success. I wish you would stop killing their imagination by letting them come up with their view of the world and their definition of good and bad. Often, NRIs say that they have evolved their ways of raising children -

We only did academics all our life. But, we are ensuring that our children participate in a wide range of activities beyond academics - art, music, dance, sports, etc.

What BS! NRIs think that the real problem was that they were forced into academics only. The real problem was that they were being compared to others. Their vision of the world was never respected. This aspect has still not changed, except that, the parents have a much wider number of excuses to compare their children beyond academics. Meritocracy has induced an immense sense of competitiveness. This competition is inherited by your children. I have immense respect for institutions of higher studies of America and the work they have done to improve the standard of education. However, improving education doesn't imply that the concept of "educating children" is correct. American society is based on the idea of Darwin's Theory of Evolution (survival of the fittest) while in reality, humans are social animals. Meritocracy has killed the concept of togetherness and empathy that several generations have taught us. Our future generations need to be more enlightened. Imagination is the single greatest weapon for enlightenment. It is the only weapon that can be used to create a much better world than we have today. 

As an NRI, you decided to leave India. Please don't justify the brain drain by saying that you meant to serve humanity because you are serving no one by working for corporations of America. Accept that you left to earn more money for your family which I am not saying was a bad thing. You planned your child's birth in America so that he/she has an American citizen from the very first day of birth. Your children should no longer be called Indians. They are Americans. They are born to serve America. And they should because America is the one that needs to be rescued from its corrupt capitalism and propaganda (FYI, the HDI rank of the USA is over 20 now). You and your children have no obligations to India. Stop asking "How do you feel after coming to America?" to every new person from Asia visiting America. Stop seeking validation for the decisions that you took years ago!