Assignment: Plan for Living

Plan for lining an economically sustainable, civically engaged, meaningful life

During this course we have studied many topics related to understanding a meaningful life and then spending a life that is beneficial for both ourselves and others who share the society with us. In this final paper I would like to answer the questions posed in the light of different philosophies and theories we have studied and provide my personal perspective on it.

Question: What does it mean to be a human?

I have been raised in a conservative Muslim society. The foundations of the Muslim society are based on the teachings of the Holy Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). I have learned from my parents and others around me that the whole purpose of the human life is to serve the commands of Allah. I have throughout believed that but I have not been so sure about what are the commands of Allah and how they affect my relation to other human beings. Now, after studying about different philosophies of Kant, Marx, Buddha, Gandhi, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and others, I have realized that the commands of Allah must be to serve the humanity. For me, Buddha has put this in very nice words “to try and remove the sufferings of other” is the meaning of a human life.

Question: What kind of society is require to make full humanity possible for myself and everyone?

I believe a society where there is freedom of speech, which is a Liberal Democratic society where the market is open for everyone and different social classes have equal rights to the basisc necessities of life and where is no racial and gender discrimination would fulfill the needs for a full humanity for me and all others.

Question: What are the principal obstacles o the creation of such society?

There are many obstacles to creating this kind of society. First is the class differences that exist in the society. The open international market has made it difficult for the poor farmers and small business owners to compete with huge multinational corporations. This is exactly what was predicted by Karl Marx. Then the society has made women a sex item on the name of feminism. As we studied in the theories of Feminism that Freud thinks that the overall behavior of the society to look at the women is sexually motivated. This is what we see today. On the name of Feminism and gender freedom, women have been made sex dolls for advertisement.

Question: How do I believe social changes takes place over the very long duree?

I believe that for the social change to take place, first we need to have some people who are able to provide a direction in the form of written literature and who have the capacity to identify the grievances of the people and its causes. I believe we studied a lot of this literature in this course that served as a guide for different people in different times to take revolutionary steps. Then we need people who can use these philosophies and guidelines and guide a group of people with it. For example Gandhi used the concept of “Ahinsa” or non-violence and guided people towards independence from the British rule.

Question: What is my principal contribution to this process?

I think, in my own capacity at present I try my best to help people that are in trouble. Acting on the teaching of Buddha, I try to remove their immediate suffering. I will try to learn more about the grievances of my people back home and devise strategies that could bring positive social change. This does not have to be in form of violence or establishment of new organization. We have to keep in mind the economical sustainability factor and civically engaging property in mind. I can identify other groups and organizations and work in collaboration with them.

Question: How will I build the organized mana, people and money necessary to make this contribution?

As I have discussed earlier. I would either form my own organization or become a part of another already established organization to be a part of a process to organize people. Finances are an issue in the modern world. I believe that once I am in the practical field I will come in contact with the different financial resources necessary for my struggle.

Question: What major campaigns or operations will I need to carry out in order to make this contribution?

In my country there are restrictions on organizing any political activities. I believe I have to work with caution as I do not want to get myself in trouble or others who share my point of view. I will study the political structure of my country and then come up with plan to organize people that is not against the law. I can also try to meet the influential and powerful people to convince them to trust me as I am not doing anything illegal and it is only to help the community.

Question: What tactics do I need to have in my repertoire?

The first step is to identify the problem that would guide me and others in a direction. In my country we can work on the rights of immigrants who are discriminated on daily basis. Then is can gather like-minded people via social media. We have seen social media playing a great role in the Egyptian revolution in the recent years. I have to look for funding resource to organize events. I will also need to arrange meetings with the immigrants and ask about their grievances. There would also be a need to talk to the people in the government and who are related to the labor law to convince them that the intension of the struggle is in no way against the government. It is just for a social change in the society that is going to move the overall society in a positive directions.