Category:Modern Government
Theme Analysis
Śrīla Prabhupāda offers a severe critique of modern government systems, contrasting them sharply with the Vedic ideal. He points out that modern governments are primarily concerned with tax collection and material comfort, completely neglecting the spiritual welfare of the citizens. Unlike the trained Rājaṛṣis (saintly kings) of the past, modern leaders are often untrained politicians elected by an unqualified populace. This results in a "government of the śūdras" where thieves and miscreants flourish, and the most vulnerable citizens—animals—are ruthlessly slaughtered. Democracy is viewed skeptically as a system where people who are "not twice-born" elect representatives who are equally ignorant of the ultimate goal of life.
- Misplaced Focus: Modern governments focus on material comforts and taxes, ignoring the soul's destination.
- Lack of Qualification: Leaders are untrained representatives of an unqualified populace, unlike the trained monarchs of yore.
- Failure to Protect: The state fails to protect all citizens, especially animals, and cannot stop the "thieves and miscreants."
- Democracy vs. Monarchy: A "so-called democracy" is inferior to an enlightened autocracy like that of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira.
- Corruption: Without spiritual culture, the government becomes a tool for exploitation rather than protection.
- Explore a synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Critique of Modern Government.
- Explore a synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Government and Spiritual Responsibility.
Pages in category "Modern Government"
The following 18 pages are in this category, out of 18 total.
I
- In contrast to the principles of the kings of old, the modern state is concerned only with propaganda for levying taxes and is no longer responsible for the spiritual welfare of the citizens
- In contrast with the modern, advanced, civilized form of government, an autocracy like Maharaja Yudhisthira's is by far superior to a so-called democracy in which animals are killed
- In modern society the prajas are not protected from the hands of thieves and miscreants. The modern democratic state, which has no ksatriyas, is a government of the vaisyas and sudras, and not of brahmanas and ksatriyas as formerly
- In modern times, since the protection of the government or the king has been withdrawn, social order has practically collapsed
- In modern times, the Krsna consciousness movement is trying to introduce the right principles of management for human society, but unfortunately the governments of Kali-yuga do not properly support the Hare Krsna movement
- In the modern democratic government, no one should be elected after the age of fifty. Otherwise the storm of the ocean of nescience cannot be stopped to allow the ships and boats to sail back to Godhead
- In the modern setup of the democratic states, the people themselves are fallen to the qualities of the sudras or less, and the government is run by their representative, who is ignorant of the scriptural mode of administrative education
- In the modern state the government has many rules and regulations for conducting the duties of the prajas, but the government neglects to see that the citizens advance in spiritual knowledge
T
- The asura is concerned with how much wealth he has in the bank today and how it will increase tomorrow, but unrestricted accumulation of wealth is not permitted either by the sastra or, in the modern age, by the government
- The king, or in modern times the government, should act as the guardian of the citizens by teaching them the proper goal of life
- The modern human society is not twice-born by spiritual culture. Therefore the people's government, by the people who are not twice-born, must be a government of Kali in which everyone is unhappy
- The modern theory of dialectical communism, set forth by Karl Marx and followed by communist governments, is not perfect. According to Vedic communism, no one in the state should ever starve