All Cruelty Springs from Weakness

The covid 19 pandemic has shown that a microscopic organism is capable of changing the face and space of human flourishing. During the pandemic, we saw attacks at the very saviours of this crisis. Domestic violence cases shot up across the world. People (resented) each other's company, Ignored their plight and entered their cocoons? From petty crimes like stealing vegetables from street vendors to illegal wildlife trade experienced a spike. Companies went on to lay off employees without regards to their services. Nations indulged in vaccine nationalism as they could not provide the elixir of life to those beyond their borders. All these acts of cruelty, in one way or the other sprang from weakness—to handle the crisis, to look beyond the self. In this essay, we will try to explore how, why and is what forms weakness leads to cruelty and its possible implications.

Journey of Man: From weakness to cruelty According to Albert Einstein, man is just an advanced breed of monkey. But it is his power of reason that makes him special. In a bid to impose this specialty as superiority, he started using the bounties of nature to (satiate) his greed. When he could not tame animals in the beginning, he killed them. Only when he gained the strength of domestication and cultivation, did he gave up his cruelty towards them. Modern man is no different. When Hitler sent geus [Jews] to concentration camps and the world witnessed the most gruesome and heart-wrenching cruelty, it was a grim reminder of his weakness to accept that all men are equal. semelar [Similar] instances of crusting [crushing] revoltts by use of force was witnessed during British colonial rot [root] rule. It was not their military strength but moral weakness when thousands of innocent people were open fired upon is Jallianwala Bagh.

Political twys [trends] around the globe reveal the weakness of our political system. The self emmodation [immolation] of a man in broad daylight sparked off the Arab Spring and was a direct consequence of the system's weakness to accommodate the aims and aspirations of its people. Protests worldwide, be it Yellow Vest movement in Frounce [France] or Chile's unrest are due to political instability and lack of capability to govern. Not just this, man—a social animal—often neglects the social aspect and shows his animal traits when he endulges [indulges] in acts of sexual violence. It is nothing but his own weakness to contrd [control] his load [lewd] lust. The rape of a young veterinary doctor in Hyderabad is suggestive of man's weakness to sie [see] women as a commodity rather than an equal partner. The encounter of those rapists, a double wrong, brings to the fore our weak criminal justice system.

The Mechanics of Weakness An analysis of weakness which means any type of urability [inability] suggest that when we are in a position of weakness, our rationality—the raison de tre of man's superiority—takes a backseat and negative emotions like anger, greed, vengeance etc takes a front foot. This leads a person towards the path of cruelty and selfishness. This adage holds true not just for individuals but also for socities [societies] and a nations at large. The society treats its one part comprising of the vulnerable sections bee [more] cruelly in order to cover up its weakness to embrace reforms and progressiveness. Dalits have historically been meted out with cruel treatment by the upper classes because the traditional social order was based on the weak and rotten ideas of purity and pollution rather than the pristine ideals of "Liberty, Equality Fraternity". Similarly, LGBTQ community was ill treated && never mainstreamed in the society because the society could not accept their "Otherness." The Supreme court of India in its recent Navtej singh Johan case said that the nation owed an apology to them for the historical injustice. To mention of nations, countries like USA continued to wage continuous wars in Vietnam, commiting acts of cruelty not just towards the Vietnamese but also towards Americans who were aimlessly fighting on a foreign land. Be it Russia's bid to maintain its control over Afghanistan or Jaliban's [Taliban's] attrocities towards the Afghan prople [people], both are reflective of their weakness to agree on the idea that the process of governance should be Afghan owned, Afghan led and Afghan controlled.

Beyond Weakness: A Choice for Compassion Having established that weakness is the prime reason for all forms of cruelty, it is important to take a pouse [pause] and dwell upon questions like—does weakness always leads to cruelty? Are there other drivers of cruelty? can cruelty and weakness undergo any metamorphosis in its fam [form]? The story of Ashoka, the Great telles [tells] us that weakness does not always lead to cruelty but can even make man more compassionate towards others. This is possible only when we realise our weakness and try to rectify our wrongdoings. People like Mahatma Gandhi ve did [who did] not ret [let] his bodily fragility and Indiai [Indian] military weakness to turn him cruel, rathe [rather] he decided to give the world a new tool of non violent mass struggle against the cruel foreign rule. Thus, what is required is fortitude of mind and a conscientious heart to 'shake the world in a gentle way. And the world has witnessed equal cruelty because of strength, it [if] not more. Multinational companies cruelly crush small businesses in their "pursuit of profits" due to their strong market presence. Powerful countries like china flex their muscles in the south china sea against the small, weak island nations who are both militarily and ecoremically [economically] weaker than It. Despite living in the world's most powerful democracy and most advanced society, Black Americans get crushed down by the strength of racial Americans and millions like George Floyd barely breathe. Sometimes, mans helplessness also makes him cruel. society's inability to accomodate and government's inability to rehabilitates forces many tribals and other villagers to take up arms against the dominant notion of normal life and livelihood. Similarly, repeated attempts of robbing the material and soul of co [our] mother nature has made is hee [her] cud [cruel]. Cities like Mumbai and Kolkata will be submerged by 2050, high instensity [intensity] and increased frequency of extreme weather events like Cyclone Amphan, Indian ocean Tsunami, Nepal earthquake etc are testimony to nature's resistance towards man's cruel acts of depriving nature of its onen [own] oxygen.

Going Beyond Weakness & Cruelty The above ideas suggest that cruelty is just an option to overcome weakness even as weakness is an option for the brave and determined. If man can go till the moons and stars and other planets, can we not go beyond our narrow sey [self] interests towards being more caringe [caring] compassionate? A few miles in this direction is sure to reap yeild [yield] richer dividends, by making Earth a better place to live in. The only way out of this trap of weakness and cruelty is self awareness, self management leading social awareness and social management. It is said that ships do not sink of water around them but because of the water that goes into them. If we do not let our weakness overpower us and work on it until it becomes a strength, the boat of humanity will always stay afloat. Let us together take a pledge to save mankind from its own Weakness. Let us replace cruelty with thoughtful actions. Let us learn lessons from Ashokas and Grandhis [Gandhis]. Let us be Ashokas and Gandhi. Let us strive for a thriving world community with shared prosperty [prosperity] and peaceful coenistence [coexistence] progress. Let us remember Bertrand Russels words—"Its coexistence or no existence." Let us be kind, not cruel. Let us be strong, not weak.