Whether members of the executive branch of the government or average Joes in the streets, Nepalis in the highly stratified society along caste and class lines grow up not giving sufficient consideration — where and when it matters — for the lives of people who are not within their circle of concern.
No. of reasons behind Nepalis
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) April 24, 2021
struggling to respond appropriately
to d #pandemic.
One is d lack of practice with having
to take into consideration something
they are NOT used to: d impact of what
one does to/one’s behavior on ppl
outside their circle of concern.#Nepal #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/X08IGWg2iX
What is the reason behind our lack of practice with that?
While Nepali society is highly multi-ethnic and outwardly appear to be a melting pot, we live pretty exclusive lives — from who we marry to who we socialize or spend most of our time with to the social and professional network we move within etc. We clearly define “us” and “them,” — the “them” or the “other” are those from ethnicity and/or caste they have limited engagement with or understanding of. Worse, forget expend limited time, energy, and effort to understand the “others,” Nepalis maintain a safe distance from them most of the time, as it were. Consequently, we learn to value human life differently.
That is, the value a Nepali places on the life of another person is dependent on their direct or indirect relationship to/with the person, their gender, caste (Nepalis are still very highly tribal), financial worth, and the person’s connection(s) to the influential and powerful, among other things.
The State demonstrated not all lives have equal value in the aftermath of the earthquakes of 2015 and the coronavirus pandemic…as it has always done throughout history BUT dramatically, flagrantly, and regularly during the two calamities!
As for ordinary citizens, the following two-tweet thread partly reinforces their mentality.
2/2
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) January 21, 2021
She didn’t understand d point I was making.
Reason? Grading value of human life–based on Jaat, job, title, gender etc.–is an everyday practice & few think twice about it!
In #Nepal, d life of someone who works for–or under– you, for eg, has less value than your own!
At the extreme end, there are cases of Nepalis committing murder on the basis of caste — such as Dalits — as well as raping and murdering disproportionately highly Dalit females.
Valuing human life differently, not thinking through the consequences of one’s actions on the lives of others, not giving sufficient consideration to that which we should (such as ignoring minor but important details) etc. etc., as far as I am concerned, is one of the many reasons behind Nepal’s failure to tackle the coronavirus pandemic adequately.
Again, privileged, well-to-do, and entitled Nepalis as well as others who think or believe their life to be more valuable than that of others, for whatever reason, don’t think twice about making other people do work that they don’t want to because they are too “important” to be “stooping so low” and “getting their hands dirty.”
What they are failing to recognize during these unprecedented times of the pandemic is that, to put others in danger, even those whose lives they aren’t really concerned about, is to put oneself in danger, potentially! That, of course, is no different from a vast majority of ordinary Nepalis not following traffic rules and, at the same time, not realizing how that affects them — how that puts their own selves in danger!
But again, how many think or have thought about that?!
Not doing so has had devastating consequences for the population of the country all throughout its modern history and, not surprisingly, glaringly during this ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As a matter of fact, the following is my own take about the reasons behind many of the pain and suffering of the population the last two years.
So, in a twitter thread, I shared the need to raise and educate children to be compassionate, to show empathy, and how to do that. Here it is.
Given how #money has been
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) July 16, 2020
d driving force behind
what a majority do & given how
little people w/ power &
influence value other people’s
lives, even during #CalamitousTimes,
we in #Nepal must #educate
children abt #empathy at
home & school & raise them
to be #compassionate humans.
.The leadership failed us completely
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) July 16, 2020
during & in d aftermath of d biggest
natural calamity to befall d country in
living memory–d quakes of 2015.
They have also ALREADY failed us during
these times of d #coronavirus #pandemic.
They have displayed little to no empathy.#Nepal
.How do we instill sense of #empathy?
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) July 17, 2020
1. Transform #EducationSystem:
* revise & update curriculum
* eliminate d horrible textbooks
* eliminate examinations
* focus on #HigherLevel #ThinkingSkills
* EMPHASIZE reading & instill reading habit
* cater to children’s emotional needs
.Additional ways we MUST
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) July 18, 2020
transform #EducationSystem:
* cater to students’ intellectual needs
* eliminate d #culture of “discipline” & “control”; focus on GUIDANCE & MENTORSHIP
* eliminate d use of #verbal, #emotional, #physical violence
* empower teachers
* decentralize
.Another thing we must do as far as transforming #EducationSystem goes:
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) July 18, 2020
* EDUCATE GIRLS
* EDUCATE GIRLS
* EDUCATE GIRLS
* EDUCATE GIRLS
* EDUCATE GIRLS
* EDUCATE GIRLS
If we do that we will have won at least half d battle in our fight against #poverty among other things, for eg.
.How do we instill sense of #empathy?
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) July 19, 2020
2. dramatically modifying our child-rearing practices
* eliminate verbal, emotional, & physical violence
* value children’s emotional & intellectual well-being
* cater to children’s emotional & intellectual needs
.Others ways we must raise children differently to instill a sense of #empathy:
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) July 19, 2020
* read to them & instill a reading habit in them
* LISTEN to them & SHOW respect
* raise them with pets or, if you already have animals, HEAVILY involve them in caring & looking after them
My recommendations are NOT exhaustive, of course. If interested in more, see the additional reading materials below.
What do you think?
* * * * * * * *
Additional Reading Materials
- “Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear”: Want Respect? Show Respect!, Adults Go from Awareness to Attitude to Behavior, While for Children It’s the Reverse, Raise And Educate a Child By Showing Respect, and Child Rearing and Education: “Best Discipline” Through No “Disciplining” are about, among other things, why one should respect children and how to educate and raise children by showing respect.
- IEF 2018: Read To Lead and KVS: Read To Lead are reproductions of presentations I made students and teachers about the importance of and value in reading and instilling a reading habit in children.
- Picking Up the Slack: Preparing Children for The 21st Century is a reproduction of the important points I made at a presentation to a few dozen parents on educating and raising children.
- “Let’s Raise Children Who Won’t Have to Recover From Their Childhoods.” and Raise the Child, NOT the Rod are about why we in Nepal raise and educate children using the threat of and also by meting it out and why we should NOT.
- When Structural Privilege Blinds and Subtle Internalized Casteism Guides, Nepalis Struggle to Recognize Life Experience They Haven’t Had, or Can’t Imagine Having, Does or Can Happen, Lynching of Half-a-Dozen Dalits by a Mob of Dozens in Rukum in May 2020 and Nepali Media, In the Land Everyone Takes Pride in as the Birth Place of Buddha, We are Very Short on Compassion, Caste System Can Corrupt The Mind, Kill The Spirit, And Strip One of Humanity, and Nepal: Citizenship, Ultranationalists, Marital Status, And Our Inhumanity are about the ABSOLUTE NEED to raise and educate Nepali children to be compassionate human beings.
