7.
Instruments
of Change
by Sara Schippert
As our world is becoming more
technologically advanced, many countries are being forced to change their ways.
Many Third World countries are in the process of modernization, though some are
ahead of others. Besides modernization, there are other factors that can
influence a country to change. These factors consist of the military, a
charismatic leadership, ideology, bureaucracy, and religion.
The military can be a very
powerful instrument of change. For example, the majority of countries in the
Middle East are ruled by the military. The military is seen as a very capable
institution because of the fact that it can build or destroy nearly anything.
It is also most representative of the society because it includes all classes
and types of people.
An illustration of the military as
an instrument of change is the military takeover of Egypt, led by Nasser in
1952. The military takeover of a government is often referred to as a coup
d’etat. Nasser was a member of the Free Officers. Nasser, like other members,
came from a lower-middle class background and was frustrated with the feudal
system that was being enforced in Egypt. Under the feudal system, only two
percent of the people owned an entire 75% of the land. Due to the unfairness
and the people’s hatred of the current king, the military took over the land of
Egypt.
The second instrument of change is
leadership, which plays a significant role in the process of change. Nasser
became the leader of Egypt after the military revolted. In 1953, Nasser gave a
famous speech in Alexandria where someone fired four shots at him but missed.
Nasser was praised for this speech, stating "I live for Egypt, I die for
Egypt." These words turned Nasser into a charismatic leader- a leader who
is seen as a type of God and is a huge role model to the people. During his
rule, Nasser wanted to give Egypt back to the Egyptian people. Nasser
accomplished this by giving extra plots of land to peasants, passing Agrarian
Reform Acts to help out the lower classes, and by gaining control of the Suez
canal. Needless to say, Nasser was seen as a great leader and hero in the Third
World.
The third instrument of change is
ideology. Ideology is simply a belief system- what one feels is good or bad.
Ideology can also be referred to as a set of political ideas or values. Many
Third World countries have taken on the concept of socialism. Third World
socialists prefer to reject both capitalism and communism. Capitalism reminds
them of their hated feudal system and the injustices inherent in that system. They
also feel communism lacks incentive because it states that people should work
only according to their abilities, yet people will receive what they need from
the government. Obviously, that system will not provide any motivation for its
people to work harder.
Third World socialism is also
admired because it advocates the idea of natural resources belonging to the
nation and its people and not to the individual whose land they are located on.
Another idea influenced by
socialism is that all public services should be nationalized. These public
services include health care, transportation, utilities, and education. It does
not feel that it is fair for basic needs to be influenced by a person’s wealth.
They want them to be run by the government to emphasize service over profit.
Socialism accepts the idea of
public property but rejects monopolies. Monopolies occur when there is only one
company who sells a certain good to the whole country. The concept of
monopolies are unfair to the people because the companies can raise their
prices since they are the only source of particular goods and services.
The last concept of Third World
socialism is land reform. Socialism believes that the government needs to
intervene to make sure no feudalism or unjust land ownership systems are being
enforced.
The fourth instrument of change is
the bureaucracy, which is sometimes called the civil service. A bureaucracy is
run by the government and is important as an institution because it forms
dreams into reality. However, the bureaucracies in the Third World countries
have many problems. The first problem of Third World bureaucracies is that it
has a very old culture. Bureaucracies were developed many years ago in
non-western societies. The bureaucrat was a representative of the king instead
of the people. Furthermore, people looked at the bureaucrat as someone with power
because they worked for the government.
Secondly, bureaucracies have a
very new structure. This structure began as Europeans came and colonized the
Third World. In the case of Egypt, the designers of the bureaucracy were
British, but the workers were Egyptian. A clash of the two cultures often
resulted.
The third problem of the
bureaucracy is the behavior associated with them. It is now much more relaxed
due to an increase in security. The problem of nepotism arises, also, in which
hiring decisions are based on who a person knows in the bureaucracy, rather
than how knowledgeable or experienced one is for the particular position.
Political intervention is also a
problem with the bureaucracy in the Third World. The bureaucracy is used as a
dumping ground for the unemployed. The bureaucracy has been overcrowded and has
more people than needed to complete the jobs. Unfortunately, this lowers the
morale of the institution because nothing productive is accomplished. The
bureaucracies in America clearly seem like heaven compared to the ones in the
Third World.
The last instrument of change is
religion. In most cases, a person needs to understand the religious foundations
of a nation in order to be able to understand a country’s culture and political
system. The dominant religions in the Third World are Catholicism, Islam,
Buddhism, and Hinduism.
Islam is the fastest growing
religion on Earth. Indonesia has the largest Islamic population. The Islamic
religion is important when making political decisions and is governed by the
ways of The Quran, the holy book of the Muslims. Moreover, Islam was
revolutionary in the areas of slavery and women’s rights.
Hinduism is found mostly in
Southern Asia and is the most dominant religion in India. The holy books of
Hinduism are called Vedas, and followers have a strong belief in Karma- the
idea that one’s actions have a consequence in a later life. They also believe
in the Caste System. This system based on religious belief rather than economic
status. Hindus believe in capitalism, for it allows their system of classes to
exist.
Buddhists, on the other hand,
believe in socialism, where the working class is honored. Buddhism was founded
by Sidhartha Gautama. He was originally a prince but later ran away to become a
beggar and to find the meaning of life. After accomplishing his goal six years
later, he was known as The Buddha, which means "the enlightened one."
Buddhism is prominent in East Asia and has had a revival in China in recent
years.
Change, though sometimes much
needed, can be hard to accomplish. It can be difficult for a Third World
country to accomplish change. These instruments of change amount to stepping
stones for the Third World countries to rid themselves of old ways and to
progress into new ones.
