By Sawraj Singh
A far more confident and assertive China emerged in the 19th Party Congress than has ever been seen before. China not only declared itself a great power, but put itself in the center stage of the world by presenting itself as a role model for the developing countries. China not only rejected western capitalist model of development, but also rejected traditional Eurocentric Marxism by declaring that it will build socialism with Chinese characteristics. This declaration tantamounts to total rejection of western domination either in open or in concealed form.
In the last two centuries, we have seen western domination not only in economic field, but also in political and ideological fields. The world had two models to follow, a capitalist model and a socialist model. The capitalist model was openly a western model. However, the socialist model was also in reality a western model. Traditional socialism was purely a Eurocentric phenomenon because it completely lacked any eastern experience. It was based on the wrong assumption that western experience and western values are universal. By giving a call to build socialism in China with Chinese characteristics, China completely rejects both these wrong assumptions.
President Xi Jinping, in his three and a half hour speech, said that China has entered a new era and should take center stage in the world. He said that China had played an important role in the history of humankind. He also lauded the Chinese model of growth and suggested the developing countries to learn from this.
I found it very interesting that he appeared to predict that by 2050, China will be the most prosperous and overall leading country in the world. In other words, western capitalist era will be completely replaced by a new era where the east will come to center stage. Xi talked about chaos and crisis in western societies. I have made all of these points in my recent articles. I have also pinpointed 2050 as the year by which western capitalism is most likely to collapse.
The last two centuries were western-dominated centuries. Both dominant philosophies were western, capitalism and Marxism. Moreover, Marxism had lost its revolutionary spirit and was reduced to economism, which becomes second-rated capitalism. Therefore, people had no choice but to follow western ideological leadership. By asserting the concept of socialism with Chinese characteristics, China has liberated Marxism from western hegemony and opened it for new interpretation as well as new development.
If there can be socialism with Chinese characteristics, then there can also be Indianized Marxism. I have been talking about Indianizing Marxism for many years. I feel lack of molding Marxism to Indian conditions is one of the main reasons that Marxism could not take roots in Indian society. Moreover, Indian society, with its strong philosophical and spiritual base, can help to enrich Marxism with eastern philosophy and spirituality.
Indian Marxists, thoroughly influenced by western liberalism, have never asserted that Marxism needs to be Indianized. They have been comfortable with the concept that Marxism is an exclusively Eurocentric phenomenon and east has to remain subservient to west. This is what the East India Company, which laid the foundation of our educational system, wanted us to believe. Therefore, Indian Marxists have not been able to liberate their minds from slavish mentality to the west.
The Indian Marxists should also liberate their minds from western absolutism and try to embrace relativism and pluralism, the hallmarks of Indian philosophy and spirituality. If the Indian intellectuals fail to do that, then India can become irrelevant in the coming Asia’s century, when eastern philosophy and spirituality will prevail in the world. It will be a great tragedy if India, the seat of eastern philosophy and spirituality, becomes marginalized when the east will be leading the world in these fields.
In light of new developments of rise of the east and decline of the west, the Indian intellectuals, including Marxists, should take another look at the sound concepts of eastern philosophy and spirituality like relativism and pluralism. These concepts are very relevant today as they are going to lay the foundation of a new world order of a multipolar world. Siri Guru Granth Sahib is one great source of these concepts.
Russia has played a very significant role in weakening western absolutist domination of the world and in the movement toward a multipolar world order. Putin is likely to go down in history as one of the founding leaders of the new era and the new world order based upon multipolarity. India should join Russia and China so that the world can be liberated from Absolutism of the west before this wrong philosophy completely destroys the world.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
