Weapons of Mass Empowerment

[Pukhtoon]

A clear vision for future is the first pre requisite for the survival of a nation in the 21st century. Due to the absence of a futuristic vision a nation cannot synchronize its efforts in one direction. Human history has evolved from agrarian age through industrial age to Information age.In the agrarian age the basic asset was land, in Industrial it became labor while in contemporary Information age it is learning. Learning implies earning in today's world.

Technology is the weapon of mass empowerment in the modern world due to the cut-throat competition among the nations of the world. The developed nations of the world have found the secret to progress and prosperity and are trying to control the nature by concentrating on just one thing – Science and Technology.

The world is divided into three camps. The nations which are creating technology are leading the world. The ones that are copying technology are second in the race. The ones that are just consumer nations are at the tail-end and are the victims of imperialist policies of the leading and industrialised nations. Technology is the most effective method of raising the development level of a nation and making it at par with the developed nations of the world. There is only one way for a nation to lead and it is to create technology and make it a part of its culture.

The one point agenda for underdeveloped nations of the world to secure real freedom from the exploitation of the imperialist nations is to concentrate on science and technology. The implications of the Information revolution have compelled all the nations to aim at the following targets in order to survive in the modern world.

1) Techno-Creative Culture:

Creativity is the most important asset human race possesses. Technology is the product of Creativity. The culture which aims at creating technology is called techno- creative. Techno-creative culture is a trigger and catalyst for the development of a nation. In essence all divides in the human history have infact been techno-creative divides. The visible techno-creative divide of our age is the digital divide. The products of techno-creative culture in the contemporary age are Electronic, Nuclear and Genetic Engineering technologies.

2) Knowledge- based Economy:

The economy which is based on knowledge will be able to survive in the modern age because economy is based on capital. Capital is the product of technology and technology itself is the product of knowledge. The market pressures are compelling the businessmen to use technology not only to survive but also to become upto mark in the market. The international standards and quality assurance benchmarks like ISO and CMM in various industries signify the fact that business is becoming complex and need knowledge and technology for its proper functioning and operation. Knowledge based economy is the sole guarantee for a secure and sustainable economy in the modern world.

3) E-governance based Politics:

21st Century requires e-governance as the basic tool for state-craft. Unless and until planning, policies, development, growth, education, agriculture, industries etc are based on the transparent and predictable principles of e-governance, there is always a danger for a nation to be mislead by fake tools like propaganda by state controlled media, hypnotic emotional speeches by dummy leaders, personality cults, leadership charisma and dogmatic creeds . It is the cry of the day to base the politics of a nation on the scientific principles of e-governance in order to make it synchronized with the speed of history. The ideals of good governanace, accountability, transparency, merit and national interest can only make sense if e-governance technology is in place to translate them into a reality.

4) Industry-based Education:

It is never too late to take a bold decision of converting Education into Industry. The education system has to be made industry-oriented to produce skilled human resource capable of running enterprises, industries, factories, beaureocracy etc and have the ability to compete in the international market. The curriculum which is in accordance with the zeitgeist and requirement of the market should be the major focus of the education system. If the education system produces quality assured product ,industry gets a boost due to presence of skilled human resource, production increases ,industrialization process gets expedited and hence more job market is created for the skilled human resource. Any other educational system by a government would produce academically qualified but economically unproductive human resource which would be a liability instead of an asset for the society.

The non-productive human resource contributes to unemployment and corruption in the system. If the educational system produces human resource having no demand in the market then the government has to face the music in the form of unemployment pressure from the jobless junta. When the unemployment pressure crosses a certain limit then it gives birth to crime for which government has to allocate more budget as crime by the literate ones is more sophisticated in nature than by the illiterate ones. On the other hand if the product of the education system is incompetent then the system is bound to get corrupted.

5) WWW-based Morality:

The code of ethics which has helped the developed nations of the world to progress is what I call www principle viz: worth is work and work is worship. WWW principle means that the worth of any person is measured solely by his work and unless work is considered as worship by the person it has no worth.