"The star possesses no anger; the dawn bears no malice … An invasion of armies can be resisted; an invasion of ideas cannot be resisted. …. the glory of darkness is to be conquered by the torch”
-Victor Hugo, The History of a Crime
These words have inspired many a famous line including, “More Powerful than a thousand Armies is an idea whose time has come”. As we see the streets of Copenhagen erupt in passion over “Global Warming”, can we truthfully answer the question “Ideas are more powerful than armies of selfish interest?”
The harshness of the economic order due to the industrial revolution saw the birth of communism. It was such a potent force that it wiped away czarist forces in Russia. In China too the might of Chiang Kai Shek's army backed by modern weapons could not resist Mao’s peasant armies, and was swept away. The idea was that of equality of an economic nature, a great leveler of wealth bringing about equal opportunity and growth. However the reality was quite different and today this great idea has all but been condemned to die a natural death.
-Victor Hugo, The History of a Crime
These words have inspired many a famous line including, “More Powerful than a thousand Armies is an idea whose time has come”. As we see the streets of Copenhagen erupt in passion over “Global Warming”, can we truthfully answer the question “Ideas are more powerful than armies of selfish interest?”
The harshness of the economic order due to the industrial revolution saw the birth of communism. It was such a potent force that it wiped away czarist forces in Russia. In China too the might of Chiang Kai Shek's army backed by modern weapons could not resist Mao’s peasant armies, and was swept away. The idea was that of equality of an economic nature, a great leveler of wealth bringing about equal opportunity and growth. However the reality was quite different and today this great idea has all but been condemned to die a natural death.
The Indian subcontinent was born to the idea of "Non Violence", if there was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in India, there was the frontier Gandhi, or Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in the North West Frontier Province. Today the North West Frontier is the heart of the most dangerous place on Earth, and India too erupts in violence every now and then.
The end of the First World War saw the birth of “The league of Nations”. It was a cry of peace, an idea of oneness in humanity to unite against future wars. The timing was perfect, but could it stop the Second World War? The Second World War’s end saw the birth of the “United Nations”. If one were to do a checklist today, what would you sense?
The latest battlefield in the human mindscape of "Ideas" is that of Global warming and Environmental Protection. Global Warming is a reality, seen in the disappearing icecaps, in the melting of glaciers and the rising temperatures worldwide. We should sense that floods in Jeddah and snow and Ice in the UAE, are occurring due to vast changes in the environment. The changing monsoon patterns and drought in the breadbaskets of the world is a sign of danger.
So we see that Global Warming is a clear and present danger, and the idea of Environmental protection is so strong that it produces extreme passion. However the world is divided between two warring halves to preserve the environment, and to preserve economic interests. So is the idea strong enough to defeat the armies of economic interest? Will the selfish armies of self interest decide the fate of humanity for eternity?
Is it possible that “the glory of darkness is to be conquered by the torch?” We do not need enduring ideas, we need enduring action, else like so many great ideas, which should have been all conquering, this idea too may be defeated.
“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” - Buddha
The end of the First World War saw the birth of “The league of Nations”. It was a cry of peace, an idea of oneness in humanity to unite against future wars. The timing was perfect, but could it stop the Second World War? The Second World War’s end saw the birth of the “United Nations”. If one were to do a checklist today, what would you sense?
The latest battlefield in the human mindscape of "Ideas" is that of Global warming and Environmental Protection. Global Warming is a reality, seen in the disappearing icecaps, in the melting of glaciers and the rising temperatures worldwide. We should sense that floods in Jeddah and snow and Ice in the UAE, are occurring due to vast changes in the environment. The changing monsoon patterns and drought in the breadbaskets of the world is a sign of danger.
So we see that Global Warming is a clear and present danger, and the idea of Environmental protection is so strong that it produces extreme passion. However the world is divided between two warring halves to preserve the environment, and to preserve economic interests. So is the idea strong enough to defeat the armies of economic interest? Will the selfish armies of self interest decide the fate of humanity for eternity?
Is it possible that “the glory of darkness is to be conquered by the torch?” We do not need enduring ideas, we need enduring action, else like so many great ideas, which should have been all conquering, this idea too may be defeated.
“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” - Buddha
6 comments:
Ideas conveyed by strong leaders and enthusiastic minds, yes.
Thank you for the post - lovely.
Melania
Ideas alone die impactless in someone's mind. It's people deciding to adopt ideas that defeat armies.
Last night I went to a posh party and we drank water with a slice of cucumber in it. cucumber is the new lemon. Ridiculous as it may sound our choice to use cucumbers instead of lemons isn't that different, in my own opinion from whether we choose to protect our living environment.
Ideas are just ideas until someone figures out how to get the masses to believe they are the new truth.
I deeply hope we'll find a way soon.
Thanks for a great question,
Reut
An idea is stronger than an army.
In general, every army follows the orders from his or her superior officers.
Most of people say that changing the world or economic structure all starts with ideas.
Everyone might say that it is the crazy ideas to put our brain in to the robotics.
In the end, he or she never died of keeping his or her ideas.
Our body might died, but our minds and ideas are never died.
Thanks to our technology. This is what I learned from one of my professors.
Nay Lin Maung
The concept of an idea whose time has come is not an accurate description of the global warming debate. What better describes this is a quote from Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
We know that individuals who depend upon the fossil fuel industry for their livelihood are reluctant to accept evidence of global warming. But, . . has anyone considered that the desire to prove humans are causing global warming is also providing a living for someone?
If it were determined that human activity does NOT cause climate change or global warming, would anyone continue to fund research in this area?
We need to understand that the source of funding for global warming research is also an incentive and that it is biasing scientists. We have seen the evidence of this in the emails that recently became public.
After reading the comments in some of those emails, I believe the only science we can rely on is that which is contrary to the ideals of the funding source. Only then can we be assured that the scientists have put integrity ahead of money.
Thought is the mother of action
Intent and desire create thoughts
Ideas are but thoughts
Ideas moves armies ....
The behaviour of most of the countries at Copenhagen is tragically funny...if not stupidly selfish... the arrogance and power plays are just so perfectly in tune with the idea of bringing in climatic changes which will wipe off man and his kind first. So no point worrying about EP. The environment will clean itself of its most polluting agents and that is man himself...before bringing in the next generation of wiser men...after all the cleaning up is done...
This is just the calm before the storm.
Cheers
Harish Nair
This is a tough question because one immediately wants to point to ideas that changed history where armies could not. But just like for every victorious army there could be 100 failed ones, for every great idea that changed history, there are likely thousands of ideas that showed promise but died out. Since everyone (hopefully) thinks for themselves, it can take a cataclysmic event to set everyone's thinking in line. The League of Nations was a great idea, but it took a second world war for people to take the United Nations idea seriously. Nuclear weapon's are obviously a problem, but it took almost 30 years of cold war tensions for countries to agree to limit their weapons. And both the UN and Non-proliferation ideas appear to have lost a lot of support (by policy makers, if not average citizens).
As far as climate change, I do think the idea will catch on and last, but unfortunately I believe it's going to take a terrible event to force its hand. In short, history shows that the world's leaders are going to have to feel some discomfort themselves before they implement real change.
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