In the law of Manu it explains to everyone exactly how Hindus think. It is written that, ‘Whether he is well off or in distress, he must not pursue wealth through degrading or harmful activities, nor through forbidden occupations, nor through accepting presents from others. All Hindus feel that in order to gain wealth, we must be greed free, and live a truthful and virtuous life. It is written in the Shikshapatri of Lord Swaminarayan that the Hindu mustn’t gamble or steel even if it is for a benevolent or religious cause and they must not accept bribes. It is also said that they must pay the correct wages to any workers they have employed or any servants they have.
In Hinduism people have different views on Artha (wealth). Many years ago, people measured wealth by the number of cattle or land owned by a person. These ideas soon changed when the Hindu society became more settled. People began to consider the fact that a person didn’t become wealthy just by the number of cattle, or amount of land they had; they began to realise that as long as a person had enough clothes and food and somewhere comfortable to live in, they should be considered wealthy people.
WHY THERE IS A NEED FOR WORLD DEVELOPMENT
There is a need for World Development as right now most countries cannot cope with major disasters either natural or man made (wars). Today in the world there is a lot of poverty and it is greatly affecting many people. The world’s rich and poor people come from different parts of the continent. The rich people are generally from the ‘rich north’, which is the developed world, and the poor people are generally from the ‘poor south’, which is the developing world.
The North or ‘developed world’ consists of those countries that have a high standard of living and includes North America, Western Europe and Australasia. Along with a higher standard of living, they have health benefits including a much greater life expectancy. In developed countries such as the UK, on average, men can hope to reach the age of 75 and women 80. There is a higher life expectancy.
The South or ‘developing world’ are those countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America that have a low standard of living. Developing countries are usually very poor, e.g. Sudan, Somalia, and Afghanistan. Along with a lower standard of living there are many health problems including a shorter life expectancy. People in the developing world die younger and it is mainly due to poverty in the world. People in the developing world have a shorter life expectancy then the people in the developed world.
As a result of wealth and poverty in the world there are many negative effects. For example it causes a great divide between the rich and poor people. The increasing difference between the rich and the poor is a major influence in the world today. As a result of it there can be regional and national conflicts, environmental degradation, crime and violence, and the increasing use of illegal drugs. All of these are consequences of extreme poverty and they affect many individuals and nations. Increasingly we are becoming aware that we are all members of a single human family. In a family the suffering of any member is felt by all, and until that suffering is lessened, no member of the family can be fully happy or at ease. Few are able to look at starvation and extreme poverty without feeling a sense of failure.
As a result of the poverty in the world many people are suffering. There is a need in the world for the rich to help the poor, and if they did the world would be a better place. Although some countries may be considered as developed countries it does not mean that everyone is wealthy in those countries. An example is the UK, which is a developed country but not every person is wealthy. There are many that are homeless and have no family or money. Although there are many homeless people in the UK, it is still considered a wealthy country because only 20% of the UK’s population is poor and the rest of the people are fairly rich.
There is a lot of difference in the standard of living in the poor south and the rich north. This is the reason why many people in the rich north want to help the people in the poor south. The rich people provide this help by organising different charity groups that raise money and send it to the poor countries so that they can get enough medical care, food, clothes, and water to survive. In the UK there are well known charity groups such as Oxfam and Barnados.
In the world there is a need for many more similar charities so that the world’s poorer countries can become more developed. To help the world’s poorer people there are many things that can be done. The world’s richer countries help the poorer countries in many ways.
- The rich countries can give financial aid (money), in which they give loans to poor countries.
- They give food aid. The rich countries often have a lot more food than they need, so they can send food such as wheat, corn, flour, powdered milk and cheese to the poor countries.
- There is emergency aid. When, disasters occur in poor countries like floods and earthquakes, the rich countries can help by sending blankets and food.
- Experts- Rich countries often send out experts and volunteers like doctors, teacher, engineers and managers to help the poor countries build up their own businesses and industries and to help ordinary people.
- Machinery-Special farming like tractors and harvesters can be sent to poor countries, and machinery for use in factories can be sent to build up industries. There can also be military aid. If, a government is under attack from enemies, rich countries can help by sending guns and maybe even soldiers.
- There can be military aid. If a friendly government is under attack from rebels, rich countries can help it by sending tanks, guns and sometimes troops to stay in power.
Many leading charities such as Oxfam have already started doing these things to help the poor people in the developing world, but I think that more can be done. If you are a poor person you may not be thought of very highly and you may be treated differently. I think that this is wrong and that’s why there is a need for world development. I think that if the rich people wasted less money on unnecessary things that they may not need, they would be able to help the poorer people, whether in the developing world or even the developed world. I think that the world would develop more if more people from the rich world spared some money for the people that were poor.
B.A.P.S
One Hindu agency working for world development is B.A.P.S, which is known as the Swaminarayan Hindu mission in the UK. B.A.P.S stands for Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purashottam Swaminarayan Sanstha. It has grown into a worldwide movement with over 51 mandirs, 8100 centres including 2710 adult centres, 1320 youth forums and 4070 child forums. B.A.P.S is a worldly organisation that is actively involved through a network of volunteers in relief work, especially in India. It is a charitable organisation, and it is involved in 160 humanitarian services in local and international projects for social, moral, educational, ecological, health and spiritual care of uplifting through a dedicated volunteer force of 45,000 youths and 680 sadhus.
The main aims of the B.A.P.S Hindu organisation are to:
- Preserve culture and tradition, create community unity, and promote inter-religious understanding.
- Provide centres of enlightenment and mobilise young people towards morality.
The B.A.P.S organisation has a number of roles and functions not only in the UK but also throughout the entire world. This organisation also helps people when they are in need, for example, it made a large contribution to rehabilitating victims of the earthquake in Latur and is also involved in rebuilding ten schools within the cyclone affected region of Kandla. It also helped out during the rehabilitating after the 2001 earthquake in India.
The inspirer of this charitable Hindu organisation is Pramukh Swami Mahraj.
Pramukh Swami Maharaj is the 5th spiritual successor of Bhagwan swaminarayan and present leader of BAPS. He leads a very simple life of a, lifetime celibacy, without personal wealth or comfort. He is striking humility, wisdom and simplicity has touched all. However most important is his quiet undisturbed love for God which rises beyond all borders of national religion and race.
B.A.P.S has many functions and activities in the UK that involve both youths and adults. They include the following:
1. Annual national sponsored walk saw over 2000 participants walk the 10 km
route, in all 41000 people were contacted to help raise funds for charitable
purposes.
2. There is the largest gujrati learning Sunday school in Europe
3. Parental guidance seminars are hosted.
4. Specialised weekly assemblies that are regularly conducted of all ages of people.
5. Swaminarayan mandir has started Akshar IT centre offering free computer training facilities to the community.
6. Annual careers open day held in the mandir provides advice to over 1200 students.
These are just some of the functions of this organisation in the UK. The Swaminarayan Hindu Mission volunteers send money to people who need it and carry out regular health checks on people just like most other charity groups. All these charity groups are alike because they all have one main aim and that is to keep everyone happy in the world and to try to get rid of poverty.
THERE SHOULD BE NO RICH PEOPLE AS LONG AS THERE IS POVERTY IN THE WORLD
DO YOU AGREE?
There are many different views on this quotation. Some people agree with it and others do not. A lot of people feel it is not fair for there to be some rich people in the world, when there are other people that are no where near as wealthy as them. These people say that it is only fair that all people have a good standard of living as there are many people in this world that are homeless or they live in poor quality houses, and they can’t afford to buy the basic needs of life. This may be a good point but I have a different point of view.
I think that there is nothing wrong with having rich people in this world even though there is poverty in this world, because on many occasions it is the rich that help the poor. Also another reason that why I think that there is nothing wrong with having rich people in world because it is not the fault of the rich that there are poor people. Many people are poor because it may be part of their karma, and therefore there is nothing that they can do. However, the rich people of this world should help by giving to charity, as it also helps their own karma.
Some of the people that disagree with this quotation say that it is alright for people to be rich as long as they give to charity, and that is something I agree with. A good example of someone who has helped charity is Sir John Templeton, who, in 1992 sold his businesses for $400,000,000. Even when he was a student and didn't earn a lot he gave 10% of his income to charity, this is because he was brought up like that. He has now started the Templeton Prize, it is a prize worth more than the Nobel Peace Prize, it is given for progress in religion, he also gives to projects all around the world. He was knighted in 1987.
These days a lot of rich people have been known to help the poor, by giving to charity. This proves that there is nothing wrong with have rich people. Although it would be better on the whole if there was equality and no rich or no poor, there is nothing wrong at all with rich people in the world. Many rich celebrities are active in calling on governments to do more to help the third world countries. We should be grateful to the rich people of the world because it is mainly the rich that help the poor.
Another example of a person who has helped charity is Clive Lawton, he is a headmaster at a Jewish secondary school in Liverpool, he was also brought up on the basis of giving 10% of income to charity, he says that the welfare state has only existed for 100 years but Jews have had a welfare state for centuries. Also in the Shikshapatri written by Lord Swaminarayan it says that everyone should give 10% of their income or if they can't afford that 5% but everyone who earns money should give to charity.
Also I think that there is nothing wrong with rich people in the world because the people that are rich have become rich by working hard and earning it, and therefore this should not be taken away from them. This is one of the main reasons that I do not agree with quotation. I mainly feel that there is nothing wrong with the rich in the world as long as they help the poor. This point is also written in the scriptures and holy books of many of the world’s religions, and that is another reason that I feel this way.
