I agree with the sentiment of this article. ISKCON members need to get a lot more politically active. ISKCON is not on anyone’s radar screen at present.
Srila Prabhupad was ambivalent about politics…while he criticized Gandhi for being a political activist, he expected to influence governments himself. He had a list of demands for Indira Gandhi, he tried to communicate with the Pope, and so on.
There is a newly formed party in South Africa called the UBUNTU party. This is highly radical, and is essentially aimed at shutting down the capitalist exploitative system that Srila Prabhupad criticized so much. This UBUNTU party seeks to shut down the central banks, eliminate the use of debt and money, strip the corporations of their so-called “rights”, provide free food and energy for the people, take back all the country’s natural resources that have been plundered by the corporations and the government for the benefit of the people, shut down the “schooling” system and replace it with proper education, and so on. All the goals are congruent with SP’s vision.
The model is based on self-governing and self-sufficient rural communities, just as SP envisioned. The UBUNTU party is essentially proposing to carry out SP’s mission of eliminating capitalism. I would suggest that ISKCON members who are motivated to do something form UBUNTU parties in all countries of the world rather than trying to form our own party. The UBUNTU party raised its initial start-up costs through crowdfunding, and they were able to achieve 600,000 supporters in only one month. This shows they have hit a nerve. Over 50% of the hits on their site are coming from the US, so this is a worldwide phenomenon.
I agree with the sentiment of this article. ISKCON members need to get a lot more politically active. ISKCON is not on anyone’s radar screen at present.
Srila Prabhupad was ambivalent about politics…while he criticized Gandhi for being a political activist, he expected to influence governments himself. He had a list of demands for Indira Gandhi, he tried to communicate with the Pope, and so on.
There is a newly formed party in South Africa called the UBUNTU party. This is highly radical, and is essentially aimed at shutting down the capitalist exploitative system that Srila Prabhupad criticized so much. This UBUNTU party seeks to shut down the central banks, eliminate the use of debt and money, strip the corporations of their so-called “rights”, provide free food and energy for the people, take back all the country’s natural resources that have been plundered by the corporations and the government for the benefit of the people, shut down the “schooling” system and replace it with proper education, and so on. All the goals are congruent with SP’s vision.
The model is based on self-governing and self-sufficient rural communities, just as SP envisioned. The UBUNTU party is essentially proposing to carry out SP’s mission of eliminating capitalism. I would suggest that ISKCON members who are motivated to do something form UBUNTU parties in all countries of the world rather than trying to form our own party. The UBUNTU party raised its initial start-up costs through crowdfunding, and they were able to achieve 600,000 supporters in only one month. This shows they have hit a nerve. Over 50% of the hits on their site are coming from the US, so this is a worldwide phenomenon.