07_(138-153)Trans Forative Education TRANS-FORMATIVE EDUCATION FOR THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY1 Joseph I. Fernando Assumption University, Thailand บทคัดย่อ การศึกษาในฐานะท่ีเป็นการบอกข้อมูลข่าวสาร การอบรมบ่มนิสัย และ การปฏิรูปน้ัน ไม่เพียงพอท่ีจะเผชิญกับความท้าทายต่างๆ ในโลกปัจจุบัน เช่น ความเส่ือมโทรมของส่ิงแวดล้อม ความยากจน ความอยุติธรรม ความวุ่นวายไร้ สันติภาพ และความเสื่อมโทรมของมนุษย์เอง เพื่อที่จะรับมือกับสิ่งเหล่านี้ การศึกษาจำเป็นต้องคำนึงถึงการแปรสภาพด้วย นักศึกษาทุกระดับช้ันต้องได้รับ การปลูกฝังให้มีจิตสำนึกท่ีจะต้องรับมือกับความท้าทายต่างๆ เหล่าน้ี ดังน้ันจึง จำเป็นท่ีจะต้องผนวกวิชาต่างๆ ท่ีตอบสนองต่อการเผชิญหน้ากับส่ิงท้าทายเหล่าน้ี ในหลักสูตรของมหาวิทยาลัย (ท้ังในภาคทฤษฎี และภาคปฏิบัติ) การท่ีสถาบัน การศึกษามุ่งผลิตแต่บัณฑิต นักวิชาชีพ ช่างเทคนิค นักบริหารจัดการ แต่ว่าขาดจิต สำนึกในหน้าที่ของตนในการปกป้องรักษาโลกนั้นย่อมไม่เพียงพอ ถ้าหากเรา ตระหนักว่าโลกไม่ใช่ของเราแต่ตัวเราต่างหากเป็นของโลก นี่แหละจะเป็น ก้าวแรกท่ีนำไปสู่การปกป้องตัวเราเองและโลกได้ Abstract Education as information, formation and reformation is inadequate to meet the challenges of the contemporary world. To address such chal- lenges as environmental decay, poverty, injustice, lack of peace, and the degradation of humans, education could become trans-formative. Almost at all levels of education, students need to be made conscientious with regard to these challenges. So it is crucial to incorporate in the regular university curriculum courses (consisting of both theory and field work) 138 Prajna Vihara, Volume 11, Number 2, July-December 2010, 138-153 2000 by Assumption University Pressc ~ which address these challenges. It is not enough for the university to merely produce graduates, professionals, technicians, and administrators, who lack a commitment to protecting the world. If we realize that the world does not belong to us but we belong to it, this will be a first step towards saving ourselves and the world. Education can be viewed variously as in-formative, formative, re- formative and trans-formative. It involves more than mere information because information is insufficient for human development __ a kind of formation - which is vital for social life. In addition to formation, education needs re-form as well. But in the final analysis, education as transforma- tion will be the translation of information, formation, and reformation into a meaningful praxis. There are five major challenges to the survival of the world today, and educational programs in all disciplines ought to include courses on these challenges. Such a course will consist of both theory and field experience. It is not enough to study such subjects as medicine, engi- neering, science, humanities, and professional courses if the students are not critically aware of what is happening to the world and communities everywhere and what they ought to do for the sake of global well being and fellowship. Students need to be exposed to such ideas at a tender age so that lasting impressions will be formed in their minds. This is not indoc- trination but conscientization for the sake of the survival of the world and humanity. It would be tragic if educators ended up teaching all sorts of courses without paying attention to the very survival of the world and humanity. If the world and humanity are in grave danger, what will be the use of all the subjects educators have been busy teaching all along? Most fundamentally, humanity needs a world to live in. 1. Informative Education: Today’s education seems inadequate to equip students to face the challenges of the world. Education has come to be seen primarily as information in service to a world of information technology. Some educators advocate the educating of minds as if the human being were mere mind or intelligence. This view is a fallacy be- cause it ignores the multidimensional reality of the human person and the 139Joseph I. Fernando need for the development of the total personality. Contemporary educa- tion only provides people with knowledge and development of skills needed for employment. Consequently, we have increasingly efficient employees, managers, administrators, professionals, yet for millions of people, the world does not seem to be a good place to live in. ‘The wretched of the earth’ are getting more wretched. Science and technology, economics and politics, philosophy and religion have not sufficiently succeeded in enabling people to live a truly human life. So education as information cannot constitute a satisfactory definition of education. 2. Reformative Education: There are attempts to “reform” education from time to time. The factors contributing to reform may be new discoveries in the field of knowledge, new demands placed by the society, industry and so on in keeping with the changing times, and new international relationships. Educational reform is generally initiated by those with wealth and power because education is in their hands and they have the resources. Industrialists and businessmen in collaboration with educa- tional institutions mould education to suit the needs of their enterprises. I tend to think capitalist profit has much to do with educational reform. The market dictates education. Capitalism creates artificial needs. It is said that the best salesman is one who makes you buy what you don’t need. As Rousseau would say, civilization brings about a certain decadence. In his Emile he explores how children can be educated and saved from the decadent influences of civilization. Geraint Parry writes: “In Emile [Rousseau] produces an account of an education that is designed to allow persons to live an honest life even when surrounded by the pressures of a corrupt society. It is intended to portray an ideal of education that is as close to nature as it is possible to attain in the world as we now find it”.2 Such an education sounds utopian since humans cannot be isolated from society. Rousseau is right in his advocacy of closeness to nature; but that does not mean the savage was always noble. Rousseau believed in the natural goodness of humanity. If humans have natural goodness, how is human-made evil explained? I fear even Rousseau’s Emile would not es- cape the effects of an exploitative consumer society. Nowadays an MBA is a coveted degree because of its “value” in 140 Prajna Vihara~ a market economy. Software engineers are some of the most wanted employees of the technocrats. Such reformative education is not going to save the world because it does not address the fundamental maladies of our societies. It only provides cosmetic therapy. If educational reform is radical, then it becomes transformative education. But, in my opinion, the market economy would not want that to happen and would do all it can to prevent it from happening. I think educational reform will continue till capi- talism will collapse under its own weight. There seem to be signs of such a collapse. 3. Formative Education: On the one hand, information is es- sential to humans, without which life on earth would be impossible. On the other, education as information would be incomplete without the multifac- eted development of the human person. That is why education has to be seen as formation as well __ formation of the human person physically, mentally, intellectually, morally, emotionally, socially and spiritually. Mere possession of knowledge without a humane dimension would be disas- trous. Education as information would end up producing highly knowl- edgeable and skilled brutes devoid of empathy. Today’s education can be best described as information due to technology and commercialization. As Marx pointed out long ago in Capital Vol.1, Chap. XV technology in the hands of the capitalists would lead to greater exploitation of the masses. Commercialization of education is business as usual. Profit is the highest goal for the capitalists, and education as information serves this goal. There is a worldwide crisis with regard to formation of the human person. Some educators reject the view that the human is a moral being. They say there is no such thing as morality and humans act out of mere self-interest. If that is the case, how would they explain such traits as self- sacrifice, patriotism, humility, loyalty, tenderness, laying down one’s life for others? Are all these virtuous deeds motivated by self-interest? If the answer is yes, what kind of self-interest is served? Persons doing such virtuous deeds often lose their lives. Losing their lives cannot be in self- interest. Was Gandhi’s nonviolent struggle against British rule in India an act of self-interest? Some may argue that he was interested in fame which is an instance of self-interest. Those who know Gandhi truly well would 141Joseph I. Fernando disagree with this argument. T.S. Elliot in his Murder in the Cathedral portrays so well the argument of a tempter who tempts Thomas Beckett with the fame and glory of martyrdom to which Beckett does not yield. He is interested in what he believes to be truth to which he is deeply committed. Parry comments on Rousseau’s position. “Rousseau saw the impossibility of constructing society on the basis of self-interest alone. Members of society willy nilly take an interest in one another. Unlike ear- lier modern thinkers… he concluded that if man was naturally asocial and motivated solely by self-interest, he also could not have actively desired to do injury to others. Without society, he would also have lacked lan- guage, and with it the abstract concepts necessary for the pursuit of goals other than those resulting from pressing material need”.3 Nevertheless, it cannot be argued against the fact that some human actions are governed by self-interest. But to say that all human actions are based on self-interest would go against human experience. Denial of morality is the primary cause of the crisis of formation. Although a lot of people are highly knowledgeable, they may lack a moral sense. They may not be capable of being warm, compassionate and car- ing, which are essential for communal and social life. Tension in the world is mounting day by day because of an increasing inability to live together, to accept others, to create communities and so on. Self-interest can de- generate into excessive forms of selfishness resulting in personal and struc- tural injustice, hoarding, violence, exploitation and so on. Without em- bracing certain moral ideals, the human race would not survive. Whether humans like it not, they are condemned to be moral! Today more than in any period in human history, there is a greater need of the formation of the human persons to make social life possible. 4. Trans-formative Education: Although information, forma- tion and reformation better constitute education, the latter would be in- complete without transformation. Education as transformation would mean that the educated persons are not only aware of contemporary challenges, but also sufficiently trained and committed to tackle them. Thus education can become praxis, a saving power. Education as transformation presup- poses information, formation and reformation. Information provides one 142 Prajna Vihara~ with the facts, the ‘what-is-what’, the state of affairs, so that one is aware of what, how, when and where is to be done. Formation enables one to identify oneself with others, to strive to be virtuous especially in terms of goodness, truth, justice, peace, fairness, fraternity, respect for life, and so on, to set reasonable goals for oneself and for the community, to realize the importance of social life and so on. Reformation is the updating of education. Education as transformation would be involvement in the world both natural and social. Humans’ relation to the natural world needs to be defined and their relation to the social world calls for radical change in their perception in terms of economics, politics, race, religion and so on. If education is not trans-formative, the educational enterprise will be an ex- ercise in futility because it defeats its own purpose. I think trans-formative education cannot succeed without critical thinking which is of paramount importance. Trans-formative education is embedded in critical thinking. Let me try to portray briefly the virtue of critical thinking essentially needed for the realization of trans-formative education. 5. Critical Thinking: Thinking is the unique ability which dis- tinguishes humans from other beings. Thinking is a natural endowment. Humans do not give it to themselves. Rather they are born with the capac- ity for thinking. Everyone thinks. But what is the content of their thinking? Not everyone thinks critically. Some people, like philosophers and intel- lectuals often think critically. But all those who think critically need not be philosophers and intellectuals. In my opinion, critical thinking cannot be easily taught. I tend to believe that thinkers are born, not made. But I believe people can be trained in critical thinking to some extent. Training presupposes the capacity for critical thinking. Reflecting seriously on cer- tain principles, events and happenings, reading good books, listening to great lectures, participating in inspiring seminars, interacting with critical thinkers, and so on provide opportunities for critical thinking. Critical thinking is intrinsic but can be developed by extrinsic factors. To be critical means to disapprove of something or to disagree with something or to say something about what you dislike or to find something wrong with something or to say something when something is not in order or to be unwilling to accept things as they are, and so on. 143Joseph I. Fernando Philosophy itself is a critique. It is a critique of existence. Critique means a work of criticism or an enquiry into, or an investigation of, something. Here, one is reminded of the works of philosophers like Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, Husserl’s Logical Investigations and Hume’s An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding. Critical thinking does not mean repeating someone else’s ideas though one may agree with them. Critical thinking means to reflect criti- cally on things on one’s own. It means what sort of ideas one has on certain issues. One may ask oneself: What is the purpose of life? What is the best life? Do I have a reason for living and a reason for dying? What is the best form of government? Why is there so much poverty and injustice in the world today? Wouldn’t it be possible to live in a world without wars? Couldn’t nations settle disputes through non-military means, through negotiation and dialogue? Wouldn’t the world a better place to live in without a superpower? Isn’t racism irrational and antihuman? Isn’t pov- erty inhuman? The list of questions would be very long indeed. One can- not provide world-changing responses to such questions unless one thinks critically. To think critically means one cannot accept things at their face- value. One cannot accept something just because it is said by some fa- mous personality, a great authority, or religious scriptures. One needs to critique it before subscribing to it. Skepticism is a stepping-stone to truth. Truth demands an honest inquiry into things. Criticism can be both constructive and negative. Negative criti- cism fails to appreciate the strength of someone’s arguments. It can undo someone’s good work and damage their reputation. Instead of edifying, it can lead to destruction. On the other hand, constructive criticism appreci- ates others’ arguments. It may suggest how to argue better or point out what the argument lacks. Constructive criticism builds up communities, leads to progress and advancement in knowledge. It contributes to the eternal quest for truth. 6. Traits of a Critical Thinker: I think the following traits can be found in a critical thinker: 6.1 Passion: One needs to be passionate, enthusiastic and com- 144 Prajna Vihara~ mitted to the search for the truth. Without passion one cannot be a critical thinker 6.2 Ability to argue: One needs to argue one’s case and state the reasons for holding a particular position. For instance, if one says God exists, one has to demonstrate His existence through arguments. If one says the contrary, one has to argue one’s case as well. The strength of one’s statement lies in one’s arguments. 6.3 Knowledge of the subject matter: One needs to be familiar with the discussions in the field before criticizing others. 6.4 Prophecy: The critical thinker is in some ways a prophet because he says what others usually do not say. He sees what others do not see. Thus his utterances can have a saving power and be a prophetic warning in some cases. Totalitarian regimes always view his activities as subversive. 6.5 Courage: If one is not daring and brave, one cannot think in new ways, challenge the prevalent concepts and order and blaze new trails. 6.6 Concern: Without concern for the welfare of others, it is hard to seek and love the truth. Social concern and welfare is a part of one’s quest for truth. 6.7 A disciplined and trained intellect: One cannot say what- ever one likes. One’s thinking must display discipline, responsibility and rigour. A critical thinker does not accept any and every truth without sub- jecting it to scrutiny. This may take years of training and hard work. 6.8 Creativity and originality: A critical thinker not only sees what exists but also what does not. He creates something new, and brings forth something unseen and unheard of before. He reads not only the lines but also between the lines. He listens to not only what is said but also looks for what is not said. He perceives the subtle and the unrevealed and tries to see light in darkness, hope in despair, life amidst death, truth amidst untruth, immortality amidst mortality. 6.9 Innovation: He sets new standards, challenges tradition, em- ploys new methodology, new writing style, and so on. Innovation is not for the sake of innovation but at the service of truth in a new age, in new circumstances, in keeping with the demand of the community. 6.10Self-criticism: A critical thinker is his own best critic. One 145Joseph I. Fernando with an inflated ego hates criticism whereas a critical thinker not only wel- comes criticism but also criticizes his own work. For example, Wittgenstein wrote Philosophical Investigations by way of criticizing his earlier work Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. 6.11Openness to truth: One opens oneself to truth through what Heidegger calls meditative thinking, listening to the word in humility, and long hours of work without which there is no reward. Openness to truth presupposes giving up one’s prejudices, preconceived notions and un- healthy mindset. 7. Challenges to Contemporary Education: Critical thinking may enable one to identify certain challenges to education today and to respond to them as effectively as possible. I have identified the following five important challenges to contemporary education. 1. Environmental decay 2. Poverty 3. Injustice 4. Lack of peace 5. Objectification of the human being 7.1 Environmental decay: The greatest challenge to contem- porary education involves saving humanity by saving the planet. So far the planet earth is the only home we have. But today it is under severe attack. We are destroying the ground under our feet. The life sustaining eco- system is threatened. Air, water, food and land are massively being pol- luted and poisoned. Many species of flora and fauna are rapidly disap- pearing forever. Their disappearance may foreshadow that of humans. But capitalist greed does not concern itself with the welfare of the world. What is the origin of environmental decay? I think Descartes’ body-mind dichotomy has much to do with it. The thinking thing (res cogitans) and the extended thing (res extensa) hardly have anything in common. The belief in the primacy/supremacy of the mind could be a cause of human domination over nature. It is the belief that the human being is the lord of the earth because of his rationality. He is the subject and everything else an object. The object is under the control of the subject. Since the object 146 Prajna Vihara~ cannot think, the subject is free to deal with it as he likes. Francis Bacon’s inductive logic was one more step towards exploitation of nature. Nature was meant to be controlled and used to fit human purposes. It must be reordered, rearranged, redesigned to suit human needs. Polluting the atmosphere began with the Industrial Revolution as factories were set up for large scale production. The Industrial Revolution and colonialism fortified capitalism. Raw materials were shipped from the colonies to European factories and the colonies were gradually devas- tated by both material and human exploitation. Capitalist profit paved the way for greed as well. Everything came to be seen in terms of use-value and cash- value. Today the world is viewed as a totality of commodities. The world is for sale. It is partitioned and sold in installments. Humans have imposed their brokenness on the world and consequently the world is suffering this brokenness, and longing for redemption. We need to save the world to save ourselves. We need to understand that the world does not belong to us; but we belong to it. We have to redeem the world from decay and destruction. The world is not only for the present generation to live in but also for those in the future. 7.2 Poverty: A huge challenge is how to eradicate poverty so that the marginalized, the underprivileged and the disadvantaged will be enabled to live a life of decency. Throughout the world, the poor are becoming poorer and the rich richer. Poverty has become globalized. The number of the poor is alarmingly on the rise especially in the Third World. Millions of people live under subhuman conditions with no access to de- cent housing, food, clothes and medical care. Thousands of children die every day because of malnutrition and lack of medical care. There are several causes of global poverty, the chief being colonialism. The Euro- pean powers exploited the colonies so severely that some of the former colonies are still very poor. E.F. Schumacher writes in his Small is Beau- tiful: “The primary causes of extreme poverty are immaterial, they lie in certain deficiencies in education, organization and discipline”. Some Third World countries have chronic political instability affecting development. I tend to think although colonialism is a thing of the past, neocolonialism exists and the developing nations are still exploited by the developed ones. War and fear psychosis drain the resources of several developing nations. Western armament industries are the beneficiaries of wars be- 147Joseph I. Fernando tween poor nations. Racism too is linked to poverty. Those who believe in racial superiority behave as if they are the first class citizens of the world and all others exist for their sake. If the so called first class citizens keep grabbing for themselves much of the resources of the world, then not much will be left for others. Whatever may be its causes, poverty is an evil and must be eliminated. It will not vanish automatically; people will have to struggle together against the forces which perpetuate poverty. But this struggle cannot be violent because violence generates more violence. Humans need to have a world without poverty because such a world would befit human dignity and decency. But the question is, does every- one believe in dignity and decency? No, there are people who do any- thing for the sake of profit. Poverty is essentially a moral issue __ much more than a socio-economic-political phenomenon. 7.3 Lack of peace: Humans live in a world where peace is elu- sive. The deadly weapons piled up on the earth can blow up the world sixteen times. What an unethical waste of resources! Our civilization is characterized by fear psychosis, terrorism, large scale violence, suicide bombs, xenophobia, paranoia, fundamentalism including the secular type, racism, militarism and so on. The rarest thing in the world today is peace. People are dying in some countries almost every day as terrorist bombs explode. The Islamic fundamentalists and the West have been engaged in violent attacks on each other. Why do they target one another? We need dialogue to air differences and settle disputes, yet there seem to be no global structures to accomplish this. There is insecurity everywhere. Even a mechanical error can trigger a nuclear holocaust which is a devastatingly apocalyptic possibility. There cannot be peace without disarmament. Peace is more than disarmament. Absence of peace too is fundamentally a moral problem. It is an outcome of humans’ inability to dialogue, to have fellow- ship, to transcend narrow barriers. No social life would be possible with- out peace. The hardest question is: how shall humans redeem the world from violence, destruction and death? 7.4 Injustice: There has never been a just society in the fullest sense of the term, in the history of the world. Justice is not a constitutive but a normative principle. There have always been instances of injustice. A perfectly just society is an ideal realizable perhaps only in Plato’s World of Ideas or in heaven. Yet today, humans find themselves in a glaringly 148 Prajna Vihara~ unjust world shaped by selfishness, indifference and callousness. Peace is a byproduct of justice. Unjust structures perpetuate injustice and thereby destroy peace. With increasing injustice, social life would not be possible. How shall the humans be human and social? How will they redeem them- selves from unjust structures? These are hard questions indeed since the world is very complex today. The issue of the process of redemption from unjust structures will have to be discussed in the philosophy of liberation. 7.5 Objectification of human: Human dignity, worth and value are increasingly eroded by the market economy and consumer society. Pornography treats humans as objects. That means sexuality is taken out of the context of the mutual self-giving of the spouses in acts of love in marriage. Pornography caters to the base instinct of lust. Like much of contemporary violence and terrorism, pornography is an immoral excess of unbridled capitalism. Human persons are being treated more and more like things for use. They are valued as resources like money, water, elec- tricity and so on. Even the terminology used nowadays reflects such an attitude. For instance, what was earlier known as Personnel Management is today Human Resource Management. The human body can become raw material for products. Human beings can be produced in factories. To put it in religious language, what is happening to the human person, atman/created in the image and likeness of God, called to a life of dignity and decency and finally to mukti/nirvana/everlasting beatitude? Hu- mans need to rediscover the philosophy of the human person to under- stand what it means to be human. 8. How to Address these Challenges? These challenges can be best addressed by trans-formative education. I suggest the creation of an academic course which would deal with these and other challenges. Students in high schools, colleges and universities need to be conscientized about these issues. It is not enough to teach them only the courses relevant to the respective disciplines. More has to be done. Teaching a course on saving the world through transformative education can certainly have some impact. They may realize how important it is to work for the creation of a world without alarming environmental decay and poverty, a world where peace and justice are largely possible, and a world where humans will be 149Joseph I. Fernando treated as persons and not as objects. Some educational institutions run courses on Environmental Awareness, Justice and Peace. I feel they are not enough; much more concerted academic and practical efforts are nec- essary to prepare students for social praxis. Those interested in enormous profits may not bother about the major challenges to the survival of the planet and humanity. Addressing these challenges may even entail loss of profits for some. But then what would be the use of profit if there were no world to live in? What would it be like to live in a constantly violent and insecure world? What would be the quality of life in an increasingly unjust world? If humans were treated as objects, would that signal the cessation of the distinction between things and persons? Could humans be human in such a society? To say that human is not a moral being is to ask for trouble. The being of human is unthinkable without a moral sense. I believe humans need to transcend even morality to recognize the spiritual dimension of humanity. Human is more than a moral being. Openness to Transcen- dence marks the plenitude of freedom in humans. Without reference to a beyond, human life would lack meaning and significance. The world will be a safer place to live in with less crime, poverty, degradation and injus- tice, and more of fellowship, compassion, forgiveness and fairness, if hu- mans are awakened to the realization of the transcendent within them. I hope trans-formative education would make such a realization possible. It is not enough to do merely the routine things of everyday life without responding to the existence-threatening challenges the world faces today. Humans have to make the ultimate choice between saving the world and perishing. Time is running out! In the last analysis, love shall save the world __ love of God/Transcendence, love of neighbour, and love of nature shall save the world. 9. Trans-formative Education and Hope: Some people pre- dict the end of the world as imminent. Some others say there is going to be no escape from a nuclear holocaust and Frankenstein will destroy his creator. There are others who say that fundamentalism is a greater threat to the world than a probable nuclear conflagration. For some, there is no room for optimism and an optimist is one who does not understand what 150 Prajna Vihara~ he reads in newspapers. Despite the major challenges to the survival of the planet and humanity, everything is not lost. There is reason to hope for a better tomorrow. The predictions of the prophets of gloom and doom may be proved false. Humans cannot afford to lose hope because if hope is lost, every- thing is lost. It is hope that keeps one going. Humans find themselves in a three-dimensional temporality of the past, present and future. They are in touch with the past through memory and with the future through hope and anticipation. The events of the past and present are seen in relation to what is yet to come. The meaning of one’s life lies in the ongoing realiza- tion of one’s potentials. What matters is not just being but becoming. For instance, an undergraduate student looks forward to the day of her gradu- ation, then to successful completion of further studies and training, career, achievements and so on. It is hope that keeps motivating humans towards fulfillment. To be human is to hope for something. Take away hope from humans and they will collapse like a pack of cards. To be human is to make mistakes. To be human is also to learn from mistakes. Humans have made many mistakes and messed up the world. The world is a mixture of good and bad. It is not entirely bad; it may not be so good either, but humans have the tremendous capacity to make it good. They can undo the bad to a great extent and move forward to create a better tomorrow. They are not governed by fate but by their intentions. They need not be victims of circumstances since they can over- come them, though not always easy. Trans-formative education seeks to understand how to bridge the gap between the powerful and the power- less. The powerful have access to the world’s resources. They have the power of politics, decision-making, money, influence, technology and power over people’s lives. They enjoy privileges and supposedly desire to have them always. Understandably, those who are used to privileges will not easily part with them. The Western model of development combined with technology has three serious drawbacks: one, concentration of wealth in fewer hands; two, rapid depletion of natural resources and three, poisoning of the envi- ronment. As a result, a small minority gets rich and the majority poor. To maintain their status quo, the rich, if needed, resort to violence covertly and overtly. They are not averse to perpetuating structural violence too. 151Joseph I. Fernando The consequence of their actions is obvious in the prevalence of glaring injustice, abysmal poverty and retaliatory violence. Their greed results in environmental decay (due to excessive consumption, indifference to the laws of nature, etc.) objectification of human and so on. On the one hand, it is not a sin to be rich. On the other, the re- sources of the world belong to all of its inhabitants. The trouble with the world today is that a few have too much and the rest have too little or nothing. To make matters worse, the political and economic environment favours the rich in a world where there is a greater interest in becoming shareholders than being good citizens in communities. It is not wrong to be shareholders. But excessive interest in shares may work against the shared interests of the community and citizens. Scanty attention is given to morals and faith/Transcendence which are necessary for civilizing hu- man beings. The current emphasis on humans as consuming beings in a market economy is lopsided and will result in social upheaval, wars, men- tal and family breakdown and so on. Humans need to be understood in their multidimensional reality. There is an ongoing confrontation between the rich and the poor of the world. The powerful would resist any attempt to strip them of power. Nietzsche asserts that humans have the will to power. Does will to power mean only power over humans and nature? It may mean even power over God by declaring him dead. I do not think that the will to power is a universal phenomenon. Everyone does not have the will to power. There are several cases of those who renounced power for the sake of certain higher pursuits in life. Persons like Buddha (born as prince), St.Francis of Assisi (born in a wealthy family in medieval Italy), St.Thomas Aquinas (born in a castle in medieval Italy) and so on did not have the will to power. There are religious men and women who take the vow of obedi- ence to renounce their will and thereby to seek the will of God. Neverthe- less, few would voluntarily give up power, position, wealth, comfort, influ- ence and so on for the sake of a higher goal in life. A historical fact is that thousands of people all over the world who protested against dictatorial regimes, demanded justice, worked for pro- motion of human rights either disappeared or were imprisoned, perse- cuted, tortured and so on. Confrontation with the ruling class is an ongo- ing phenomenon and the brave cannot be silenced. Threats, persecution 152 Prajna Vihara~ and loss do not deter those filled with hope, though they are not numer- ous. The poor will continue to struggle against the rich and mighty. Mass movements, mass protests and mass solidarity are not without success stories. Hope plays an enormous role in energizing people for action. International organizations, geo-politics, global economic struc- ture, state machinery and so on are hardly pro-poor. Democracy which is considered the best form of government does not necessarily guarantee the legitimate welfare of the poor, since it can be manipulated by the rich. But the struggle against oppression and injustice must go on. The long nonviolent struggle of the Indians under Gandhi’s leadership against the British led to the independence of India. Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters of the Civil Rights Movement had hope. They had a dream and believed deep in their hearts that they would overcome oppression. Gandhi and King were protagonists of trans-formative education which is rooted in hope, compassion and courage. Unfortunately, these values are rare today and humans need to rediscover them. Endnotes 1I am thankful to my colleague Dr. John Giordano for suggesting the title of this paper. The original title was ‘Save the World through Trans-formative Educa- tion’. He felt ‘save the world’ is a clicheè to avoid. However, that does not minimize my concern about saving the world. 2Parry, Geraint, Emile; Learning to be Men, Women, and Citizens. In (Ed.) Riley, Patrick, The Cambridge Companion to Rousseau, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p.249. 3Meld, Shell Susan, Emile; Nature and Education of Sophie. In (Ed.) Riley, Patrick, The Cambridge Companion to Rousseau, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p.274. 4Schumacher, E.F. Small is Beautiful, Rupa &Co, India, 1990, p.140. 153Joseph I. Fernando