Freedom in Anarchy and Despotism

The competition as it has been envisaged by the market economy leads the whole society either into anarchy or into despotism. Anarchy results in the disintegration of both the individual and the society. Freedom can never be identified with anarchy because in an anarchic set up there is no regulation at all. Without regulation there is no freedom guaranteed. Freedom requires regulation and an individual is always regulated by some force. Whenever and wherever our society is being regulated by itself then it can enjoy freedom. That can never be equated to anarchy. Market economy takes the whole society either to anarchy or to despotism. Despotism can be practiced in a novel manner in the new world in the form of corporate management tactics. The corporate world believes in an open world that is the free world – an unregularised and liberated world. In a liberated world the corporate giant must be able to establish itself. This shows that after the establishment of the might over the meek according to the corporate giant, what remains there is despotism. In a despotic set up, either in economic sector or in political field, or in cultural arena, wherever it may be, it ultimately leads the whole society to slavery. In effect, the present day economic practice takes the whole world into different islands of slaves through despotism, unfettered competition and unregulated life pattern and life mode. This can never be treated as a sign of freedom because freedom can never be guaranteed by any despot. Freedom is not something that is not given by somebody to someone but it has to be taken by the individual himself, the society itself and also the nation itself. If the individual never takes the freedom to experience freedom, such an individual will never be able to enjoy freedom. One has to prepare oneself by self-regulation, for this unique enjoyment of freedom. Freedom can never be enjoyed without giving its price. Its price means the individual has to take up the responsibility. Responsibility of an action can be established on the individual, only when he is being regulated by himself. But in the other cases of an individual being regulated by some external forces, then naturally such a society of individuals can never be treated as a free one. So freedom in this sense either at the individual level or the societal level or at the national level can be enjoyed only by regulation by itself. This factor has been totally eliminated by the market economy or the new economic system. This is a very serious thing; when we think of a society in terms of the competition that has been permitted by or that has been enjoyed by the present day system of economic practice, then we have to think of the one fact that such a society can never give or guarantee freedom. Advaita believes in self regulation as an effective means of enjoying freedom. Equality, fraternity and liberty, can be enjoyed in a democratic set up only within the frames of self- regulation. No society can be said to practice equality if it denies self-regulation. Fraternity is the direct result of self-regulation. To maintain fraternity one has to admit that there are differences of opinion and such differences has to be admitted as pre-condition for the existence of society and the individual.