Latest news with #Jean-JacquesRousseau
Hindustan Times
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Suicide and the burden of social responsibility
The recent pronouncement by the Supreme Court in Sukdeb Saha v. The State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors. (2025 INSC 893) transcends the confines of a mere legal dispute; it serves as an urgent call for introspection. While directly addressing the tragic death of 17-year-old girl who enrolled in a coaching student preparing for the NEET examination at Aakash Byju's Institute, Vishakhapatnam, the judgment is structured into two primary parts. Part A addresses the specific factual circumstances of X's death and the investigation, while Part B delves into the broader societal issue of student suicides and proposes interim guidelines observing with gravitas that the very "soul of education appears to have been distorted". The Court critiques the contemporary academic paradigm, especially the rigorous competitive examination systems, for fostering a "high-stakes race" where the "joy of learning" is supplanted by "anxiety over rankings", and "failure" is perceived "as a devastating end". The court further lamented that instead of fostering "dignity, confidence, and purpose," education has transformed into a 'pressure-laden path toward narrowly defined goals of achievement, status, and economic security," replacing the "joy of learning" with "anxiety over rankings, results, and relentless performance metrics". Vaccination (Getty Images/iStockphoto) The Court emphasised that mental health is an integral component of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, reinforced by India's international human rights obligations. It alludes to philosophical insights from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Émile and Jiddu Krishnamurti's Education and the Significance of Life to underscore that true education should be holistic, nurturing reason, autonomy, emotional well-being, and integrated intelligence, rather than fostering fear, competition, or conformity. The current system, the Court argues, is a tragic deviation from these ideals. The disturbing statistics cited in the judgement from the NCRB Accidental Deaths and Suicides report, 2022 are a grim testament to this crisis: India recorded approximately 13,044 student suicides in 2022, with 2,248 attributed directly to examination failure. This number has more than doubled from 5,425 in 2001 to 13,044 in 2022. The Court reiterated the phrase "suicide epidemic" given in Amit Kumar & Ors. vs Union of India & Ors. (2025 INSC 384) to describe this alarming rise, attributing a majority of these deaths to "unbearable pressure imposed upon students by institutional and societal expectations". Emile Durkheim, the French sociologist and pioneer in the study of suicide, argued that suicide is a social fact shaped by collective forces rather than individual pathology alone. In India, several key social factors contribute significantly to suicide trends, including the disintegration of families, weakening of social bonds, the isolation that often accompanies urbanisation, property disputes, medical illness, examination stress, and failure in romantic relationships. The Union Government had taken several preventive measures to address student suicides. In 2023, the ministry of education released the UMMEED Guidelines to sensitise schools and identify at-risk students and launched MANODARPAN under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Yojna to provide mental health support through helplines, counselling, and digital resources. The National Suicide Prevention Strategy (2022), introduced by the ministry of health, adopted a multi-sectoral approach focused on youth. Responding to rising student suicides, especially in hubs like Kota and Hyderabad, the Supreme Court directed the formation of a National Task Force on Student Mental Health, chaired by Justice (retd) Ravindra Bhat, to identify root causes and recommend reforms. The Court, invoking Article 21, recognised mental health as integral to the right to life, dignity, and autonomy. The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 further decriminalised suicide attempts, presuming severe stress and mandating State care and rehabilitation instead of punishment. India's obligations under international frameworks such as International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and WHO's Mental Health Action Plan reinforced its duty to protect mental health. However, despite these efforts, a unified and enforceable national framework for student suicide prevention remained absent making urgent, coordinated action imperative, especially in high-stress educational environments. Recognising a legislative and regulatory vacuum and the urgency of the crisis, the Court, drawing parallels with the Vishaka Guidelines, issued interim guidelines under Article 32 read with 141 of the Constitution to establish a preventive, remedial, and supportive framework for mental health protection and suicide prevention across all educational institutions. These guidelines include mandates directing all educational institutions in India including schools, colleges, universities, coaching centres, and hostels, regardless of affiliation, to adopt uniform mental health policies; appointment of qualified counsellors in establishments with over 100 students, optimal student-to-counsellor ratios and mentorship during academic transitions; prohibition of unethical academic practices like batch segregation and public shaming; prominent display of suicide helpline numbers; inclusive engagement with marginalised students; confidential grievance mechanisms for harassment and bullying with accountability for institutional inaction; regular parental sensitisation programmes; and a focus on holistic development through extracurricular activities and exam reforms to reduce academic pressure. Suicide is a mirror held up to society, reflecting the deepest anxieties and failures that a person faces. This advocates for a call to action for policymakers, so that through interventions, a deeper connection, compassion, and a sense of community can be formed trying to heal the social fabric and bring hope to those who feel most alone. It also calls for the promotion of teaching well-being and happiness through education, empathy, emotional literacy, and destigmatised dialogue. This article is authored by Jisu Ketan Pattanaik, assistant professor, sociology and Sumit Kumar Singh, research assistant, National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi.
Economic Times
11-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Billionaires, you need a change of tack
Even as we wait for the advent of the world's first dollar trillionaire, the world is awash with billionaires - last count being 3,028 of them, according to the 2025 Forbes World's Billionaires List, with a combined wealth of $16.1 tn. The US leads this Sinatra-ian rat pack with 902, followed by China with 450, and our very own 'sovereign socialist secular democratic republic' with 205. Not to get too nit-Piketty about it, this plethora of billionaires in an ocean of non-millionaires has led to bad press. Which is understandable, if you think about human psychology. It has been so at least since the time of 18th-c. wine merchant-philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who quite logically stated, 'When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich.'The 'people' have not yet come to such a pass but, undoubtedly, conspicuous consumption of megacapitalists has led to a backlash in the age of social/antisocial media. Even if the wealthy are not on the menu of the '99%', demands for downsizing billionaires is growing in loudness, with the likes of NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani even wishing for 'no billionaires'. Instead of getting into economics, and pros and cons of existence of billionaires, the narrative can change in the public imagination from being meme fodder back to industrial problem is not wealth, but optics. Where once wealth signified aspiration, it now signals alienation. Billionaires tweeting about 'hard work' while their companies pay peanuts have less credibility than a broccoli endorsement from Big Mac. Philanthropy now raises eyebrows. Is that donation altruism, or tax jujitsu? Did they fund climate research, or just offset their third rocket launch? Billionaires should pivot from tech-bro enlightenment to something resembling earthly humility. In an age where influence is measured not just in net worth but in net likeability, the super-rich must adapt their storytelling. Or risk being cast as cartoonish oligarchs in the public's grim fairy tale. Even Gatsby had better parties.
AU Financial Review
26-06-2025
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
Labor's ‘eat the rich' super tax will harm the young aspirationals
'Eat the rich' may be the guiding principle of Labor's new superannuation tax, but aspirational young Australians will be gobbled up instead. At first blush, Labor's new super tax reflects the politics of class conflict in the spirit of French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose phrase 'eat the rich' warned that the poor may take the heads of the rich who build wealth at their expense.
Asahi Shimbun
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: An 18th-century Rousseau tune immortalized as a children's song
The song begins with the familiar lines: 'Musunde hiraite, te o utte, musunde' (Clasp your hands, open them, clap and clasp again). Nearly every Japanese person likely recalls singing this classic children's song, a nursery rhyme that playfully guides little hands to open and close, clap and move into different positions. The melody, surprisingly, is believed to have been composed by the 18th-century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), best known for 'The Social Contract.' Over time, the tune has traveled the world, taking on new lyrics and meanings in various cultures. While watching the Chinese film 'Gone with the Boat,' now showing in Tokyo and other cities across Japan, I was struck to learn that the familiar children's song is sung in China as a lullaby. The film centers on a daughter and son as they grapple with the emotional weight of saying goodbye to their elderly mother, recently diagnosed with a brain disease. One especially poignant scene lingers in my memory: The daughter softly sings the lullaby by her mother's bedside. 'The boat is small/ The waves are high/ But I'll row gently/ Bobbing and drifting' The melody is the same, yet the Chinese lyrics are strikingly different. Curious why director Chen Xiaoyu, 30, chose to include this tune in his debut feature, I sent an inquiry—and received a prompt reply. 'A child in a cradle seems as if they are in a boat, and it is the waves that rock them.' Set in Jiangnan, the director's hometown and a region south of the Yangtze River renowned for its interwoven canals and waterways, the film gently evokes memories of a life surrounded by boats. Chen explained that the song, deeply rooted in local culture, serves as a vessel for recalling those quiet, water-bound rhythms of daily life. In his book 'Musunde Hiraite Ko' ('Thoughts on Musunde Hiraite'), Japanese musicologist and educator Bin Ebisawa, former president of the Kunitachi College of Music, traces the song's curious journey. According to his research, the melody is thought to have entered Japan during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) as a Christian hymn, and was even adapted at one point as a military song. Why has this tune, reshaped countless times, continued to resonate across generations? Its enduring appeal remains something of a mystery. Having traveled so far, it seems to carry with it a faint fragrance of nostalgia. And when I hum it softly, as one might a lullaby—ah, this version, too, is beautiful. For a moment, I am quietly moved by the subtle strangeness of its charm. —The Asahi Shimbun, June 16 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Epoch Times
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Epoch Times
Rousseau and the Performance of Being Yourself
Commentary 'I have entered upon a performance which is without example, whose accomplishment will have no imitator. I mean to present my fellow-mortals with a man in all the integrity of nature; and this man shall be myself.' — Rousseau, 'Confessions' Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) didn't just preach sincerity—he tried to live it, even when it meant showing himself in an unflattering light. In 'Confessions,' he infamously admitted to placing his five children in the care of the state orphanage, where they likely died. It's tragic, wrong, and disturbing. But what's striking is how he tells us this without self-justification or spin. He claims he's not writing to impress, only to be honest. He doesn't seek admiration—just the cold comfort of knowing he told the truth, even if it makes him look awful. Unlike modern autobiography—or the YouTube vlog where someone cries, then plugs their merch—Rousseau isn't performing virtue. He's trying, for once, not to perform at all. It's all about being real . 'Be yourself' is the thing now. Instagrammers, TikTokers, pop psychology magazines, self-help guides, even your cereal box tell you to do it. It's everywhere. The desire not just to seem natural, but to be , is ever-present. But behind our modern obsession with authenticity is our 18th-century philosopher, already wrestling with this idea long before the puppy-face filter existed. Rousseau might've viewed LinkedIn bios the same way he viewed powdered hairpieces: fake, stiff, and yawningly dull. He believed that true freedom wasn't just doing whatever you wanted—it was living in alignment with your natural self , the one crushed under social norms, labels, but especially our endless thirst for validation. Related Stories 5/4/2025 4/5/2025 For Rousseau, sincerity was only possible in private life, because social relations were full of norms, expectations, and virtue-signaling. Modern society has turned humans into evolved monkeys climbing a social ladder made of appearances. Some hide behind filters and curated feeds; others flash academic titles or job promotions. The platforms vary, but the goal is the same: to be seen, admired, validated. And to Rousseau, there was something deeply fake—and deeply damaging—about this. That's why he sparked what we might call the 'authenticity cult,' a countercultural rebellion against society's performance-based living. Let's be honest, though—society needs those public morals to function. 'Thank you,' he said, even though he wanted to scream. 'Lovely weather today,' she muttered, in the middle of an existential crisis. 'Let's have lunch sometime!' (They both hoped it would never happen.) These polite lies make peaceful, prosperous lives possible. So, there's a case to be made for maintaining appearances. Rousseau might push it too far by claiming sincerity should be society's highest value. That road could easily lead to a world where cruelty is excused as honesty. We have to tread carefully here. After all, we don't want serial killers or unfiltered narcissists running wild in the name of 'just being themselves.' Still, Rousseau raises an uncomfortable truth: our obsession with 'being yourself' online is rarely about actually being yourself. What we want is to appear natural—but in a way that still gets likes, followers, and brand deals. We're not removing our masks; we're just putting on a new one labeled 'authentic.' It's the same old performance—just with better lighting and a self-care hashtag. It's like showing up to a costume party dressed as 'someone not wearing a costume'—only it took you three hours to put that outfit together. So, is real authenticity—and with it, real freedom—now only possible off the grid? According to Rousseau, yes. That's why in 'Émile,' his book on education, the child is to be raised without social comparisons. Rousseau's idea was radical: educate a child by shielding him from social influence so that his natural self could develop without vanity. The only book Rousseau allows Émile to read is 'Robinson Crusoe'—not by accident. Crusoe's story represents the ideal of self-sufficiency: a man who learns to survive using reason and direct experience, not second-hand opinions. Crusoe is alone, but free. No social games, no prestige contests, no likes. That's the kind of human Rousseau wanted to cultivate: someone who forms his identity from within, not from external validation. Later, of course, Émile must return to society and learn to dance to its rhythm. Civilization has its perks—Rousseau wasn't telling us all to become noble savages. But he did believe that people should recognize the social hypocrisy around them, even if they had to play along. After all, you should have table manners. Being authentic doesn't mean being abrasive. Manners still matter—even Rousseau, radical as he was, wouldn't want you spitting on the table in the name of sincerity. As the Russian writer Anton Chekhov is often credited with saying—though I've never found the exact quotation in his works—'Good manners are not about never spilling the sauce, but about pretending not to notice when someone else does.' A little social performance can be a kindness—not a lie, but a form of grace. In fact, it's this kind of empathy—this ability to see the person behind the role—that lets us rise above the rules when the rules lose their purpose. True civility isn't rigid obedience, but knowing when to bend in favor of compassion. That, too, is part of being fully human. And while we may champion freedom in liberal democracies—freedom from coercion or permission, as thinkers like Friedrich Hayek or Deirdre McCloskey might frame it—Rousseau reminds us that there's also a more subtle kind: the freedom to think differently, to be ourselves, even when it's unpopular. After all, what if, in the name of freedom and authenticity, we're just building new chains? One thing is freeing yourself from others' judgments; another is swapping one mold for another—this time with a shiny 'authenticity' label from Silicon Valley. Maybe Plato said it best: 'Not that human affairs are worth taking very seriously—but take them seriously is just what we are forced to do, alas.' Because in the end, maybe Rousseau saw something we still wrestle with: that we're all caught somewhere between performance and sincerity, between rules and rebellion, trying to figure out how to be free and decent at the same time. From the Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
