I was born intelligent, but my education corrupted me : Ramesh Shrestha

I was born intelligent, but my education corrupted me

Ramesh Shresthha

These are clear signs of leadership failure everywhere irrespective of the type of governance and/or wealth of the country in question. There seem to be a complete vacuum in producing the right kind of leaders to lead our countries to a stable democratic world to manage the whole range of interlinked environmental, economic and geopolitical crisis we are facing today. The foundation of governance and our economies appears to have been eaten by termites everywhere. How did we get here?


The birth of economic liberalism with total deregulation resulted in a whole new system of economy where ‘winning’ became the centerpiece of governance, with ZERO accountability. The same principle is now adopted as a standard for all kinds of management and leadership education globally. The birth and growth of authoritarian media houses and multinational institutions adopted this model of leadership education which have monopolised the entire global economy seeking absolute dominance with a ‘must win at any cost’ doctrine. This is further facilitated by the growth of internet technology, which is also accountable to no one.


These unelected profit seeking elites of private sector, including universities have become the most authoritative bodies in influencing the governance managed by the elected administrators. This has unintentionally sidelined the basics of clean & transparent governance almost everywhere. There are concerns about welfare of the shareholders more than the well-being of the general public, the constituencies of the elected administrators. In such a circumstance the meaning of election has become void as well. No matter who gets elected the policy remains consistently unchanged.



Democracy and Human Rights appears prominently in all legislations and discussions on public discourse in all countries, including in countries with absolute monarchies with feudalistic heads of states. But in reality, individualism, materialism, and economic chauvinism have manipulated the idea of democracy and human rights ubiquitously. In a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) programme - Arts & Culture programme it says ‘art has to be democratic’. I have no idea what it even means. The meaning of democracy and human rights have been perverted to an unrecognisable form. This has been my contemporary education.


Countries have survived centuries with their own way of governance and have met the needs of their people with diverse ethnic, social, linguistic and cultural heritage. In recent decades international organisations, ‘global think tanks’ such as Davos group and various other global bodies prescribe and subscribe norms and laws governing us. There are some benefits to have international standards and norms for governance, and social policies. But these institutions do not consider the differential needs of our diverse global populations. The needs of Albania and Niger is not same as the needs of Austria and Netherlands but the norms recommended are same for all countries. This one-size-fits all policy pushed by these international bodies, originated in the laboratories of profit seeking private sector have basically shredded the identity of individual countries as well as their diverse populations.


The world needs real leaders at the community, national and international level in all corners of the globe who understands and respects the needs of our diverse societies. We need leaders who will preserve the essence of our varied cultures, religions, languages, family values, ethics and above all humility, based on our traditional value systems. When our culture is dead our society has no real meaning. But that is way we are heading with our ‘enlightened’ modern education system.


The traditional value system and leadership principle we need is diagonally opposed to the prevalent leadership model based on profit-making dogma. These Leadership models are not designed to internalise the concepts of equity, equality and diversity. Of course, we hear a lot about ‘unity in diversity’ whenever we listen to our leaders but these sentiments are just hollow words without any meaning, a total babble.


If we are serious about protecting the world economy and our environment and maintain a good geopolitical balance, which is the foundation to sustain life on earth, the leaders of the future must promote democratic principles and human rights in its original form and meaning, and manage desperate and diverse economies while maintaining the identity of communities, institutions and countries. Where are these leaders who can teach me this education?