To Render a Person Unemployable Is a State Policy

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 18 December 2024 I travel a lot and come across a wide spectrum of people across the globe. The widespread unemployment, esp. in India, and the dissipation of youthful energy can shock anyone. The current political dispensation just parries the uncomfortable issues like unemployment, inflation, yawning disparity and poverty. Unemployed youths have nothing worthwhile to do. In Maharashtra, youngsters who don't get jobs, join dubious political outfits and lick the boots of criminal politicians. Polish-American writer and Nobel laureate in Literature, Isaac Bashevis Singer aptly said, "Without a job, a man is just a puppet to the state and to the society." This observation encapsulates the significance of work and its impact on an individual's agency and independence. In this remark, Singer emphasizes employment as a source of empowerment and as a means for individuals to actively contribute to their society. By suggesting that without a job, a person becomes a puppet, Singer highlights the vulnerability and dependence that arises when one lacks meaningful work. A job provides not only financial stabilitybut also a sense of purpose, self-worth, and the ability to make choices that shape one's own destiny. This statement serves as a reminder of the crucial role employment plays in empowering individuals and safeguarding their freedom and autonomy. One must keep doing something or other to engage oneself meaningfully. An Urdu poet rightly said, "Khaali Na Baith Kuchh Kiya Kar/ Bhale Hi Pajama Phaarh Kar Siya Kar. " Anthropologist Irawati Karve believed that unemployment in Indian context was actually a tacit (state) policy of a ruling political party: Make the people completely jobless and penniless so that they could be easily exploited by the government and other nefarious agencies. This is happening at the moment. Unemployed and also unemployable people are indulging in all sorts of shady and shoddy activities and are being used by unethical politicians. An unemployed person is like a rudderless ship who's ready to stoop to any level for survival. But mind you, unemployment is not a separate or independent phenomenon. It's a process and an outcome of a systematic procedure in which a person is rendered so useless that he/she can't find a job anywhere. In other words, a person is simply unemployable. He or she just can't do any work/job in an efficient manner. When you'll teach Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Ayurveda, mantras, Sanatan Dharma and all that jazz at school, college and varsity levels, can you produce employable youths? To render a person unemployable is a state policy. Such worthless students and wastrels will eventually become puppets to the state and also to the society. Think over it. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URl: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/person-unemployable-state-policy/d/134055 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism