It is strange to see that most people are silent in society when there is so much exploitation all around. Why would millions of Indians keep quiet when they are being enslaved by the British Empire? In organisations, when an employee is being bullied, why would others keep quiet? Probably because the foundation of society as a whole is fear and isolation. All of us are individual units, fighting against each other for the maximisation of pleasure, and actually, there is a zero-sum game. The profit of one company is the loss of the other.
What if a person tries to treat the maid at home on par? If somebody asks what price he will charge for the same type of work and what conditions of service he will demand, I think he would immediately understand what's happening. However, the question is quite uncomfortable, and that's why we brush it aside. I once asked a relative, who is an industrialist, whether the labour class is getting its due share of the profit he earns, and he immediately admitted that no, it is not. They are not. I don't think anybody has a doubt that the poor countries are being exploited by the rich by exploiting so many standards at the global level. I have seen many officers who become very warm and compliant with seniors, but when dealing with their subordinates, they are quite exploitative.
The big manipulators understand psychology. They will offer the exploited what he needs most and take away the rest. The British rulers also brought us some development in sectors such as postal services, Railways, and legislation, while taking away our freedoms. They snatched all our economic resources. Why do we keep quiet? Because our fragmented mind calculates the cost and the benefit. There is an immediate cost to standing against British rule. On the other hand, there may be a benefit of standing against, but that benefit is uncertain and also distant. What's the benefit of standing for truth in society? The cost may be immediate. We may be ostracised. The benefit is quite uncertain and distant. That's why the easiest option is to stay quiet. By keeping quiet, we have not played our cards and will play them to our advantage at an appropriate time. We are just trying to maximise the pleasure.
In the process, the mind fails to understand that it is actually doing the stupidest thing. First of all, we have never examined the fundamental presumption that maximisation of pleasure will maximise happiness. In fact, the experience tells us otherwise. The most famous personalities and the wealthiest people are often psychologically the most disturbed. Because the others are still living in stories, while they have seen the reality. They have reached there and found it hollow. Since they are reluctant to admit it, the inner hollowness makes them mental patients. So, by maintaining silence, we are actually falling into the trap of ignorance. Second, unless we speak out, we are likely to be always unsure. We are afraid of being judged by others, so we keep quiet, believing it is a smart strategy. Actually, it is dumb because this silence will slowly lead us into a domain of self-ignorance, where we are unsure of our own life framework and stay confused when it comes to making crucial decisions. Third, we lose the company of the people who are in the process of self-examination because we resist and close our ears. Duryodhana could have very well listened to Krishna. But he closed his ears. Silence may seem quite smart, but in the end, it makes us dumb and vulnerable.
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