Left & Right: Balance
The equation is simple: Nature = Balance. You may call it what you may like: Yin-Yang, Black-White, Right-Left etc… What we need to understand is that we need create balance. We find this idea as a core belief of some of the most ancient civilizations such as India(Bharat), China, Egypt, Maya etc… We always find ourselves, quite often actually, talking about work-personal life balance. We make amends to generate this balance in our life altogether. The more balanced our lives are, the happier we feel.
I have the same opinion about the politics of a country. The opposition is the balancing part of the system. It is there to keep the system in balance. But there we seem to forget this concept. One wants to be labeled as right-winger or left-winger. Why? “Why can’t we fly on both the wings” as Rajiv Malhotra says. We must understand the fact that a country or a system is like a bird, flying on both the wings, balancing itself, taking off and landing smoothly, gliding as it wishes, achieving new heights. Now imagine the same bird with only one wing.
Now let’s take an example of the human body itself. We have a pair of most of our limbs and the internal organs. Would we desire to chop off or remove any one of those just because the other one “SEEMS” to be more useful? I don’t think so. We can’t even bare the idea of chopping off the Pinky Toe for any reason whatsoever, regardless how useful or useless it seems. Even in the case of a medical emergency, it is a very serious thing.
The exclusivity of going only for right or for left is called “Ativaad” “(अतिवाद)” in Indian civilization. Every Hindu is taught the harmful effects of Ativaad (अतिवाद) since the beginning in every household. Hence, kids are aware of this idea of balance from a very early age. This is introduced to most of us when we suffer from eating something too much when we like it, as kids.
Balance is the true nature of the nature. I think that is why we are trained to do righteous things as it automatically balances out the other one in the world. Apparently, the darker side is naturally more powerful to have its impact on the society. According to some psychologists we need 5 positive thoughts to kill one negative thought, or at least balance it out. That’s why so much literature is available on “righteousness” of all sort.
But then again, why do we choose Ativaad (अतिवाद) over Balance? The answer is simple. Balance takes a whole lot of constant effort, which most of us don’t like to make. The reason could be anything, but mostly because we have become lazy. So let’s just stop being lazy and have a wonderfully balanced life.