Approximately six years later, after a certain critical number of monkeys adopting the behavior had been crossed the supposed “100th monkey,” a sudden exponential growth began to be noticed in the number of monkeys adopting the behavior of washing the soiled sweet potatoes and then eating them. The phenomenon became common to not only monkeys in the Island of Koshima, but also those on other islands of Japan. The added impetus of this hundredth monkey somehow created a revolution.
Nepal’s new found system of governance, namely a democratic-republic, is comparable to the sweet potato referred to in the Japanese experiment. The political leaders of Nepal who brought about this change are like older monkey in the experiment. The older generation of leaders couldn’t be bothered to ‘remove the sand’ or do the hard work that comes with upholding democratic principles. In other words, collective consciousness within political parties in overcoming the hurdles of the democratic process is low. The focus in the last five years has been on the struggle for power.
Change of four governments within five years, power struggles within the three big parties and splitting up of Madhesh-based parties time and again show that seriousness toward institutionalizing democratic ideals have been extremely slow and often just limited in rhetoric. Also the use of threat and violence, bandas, use of ethnicity as a means to power has further eroded the democratic ideals.
The vulnerability of the interim nature of the country is an often used excuse to justify the stagnant (if not worsened) state of affairs, rampant corruption, unchecked border encroachment, foreign interference, increasing foreign debt, increasing politically backed illicit trade and crime, bureaucratic tardiness and lack of individual security. The older generation of leaders might be the stalwarts in the democratic movement of Nepal but it seems that their lethargy regarding the progressive nature of democracy is soon turning into a threat to the very foundations of democracy. The deep-rooted belief of our political leaders is analogous to the experiment’s older monkeys who refused to benefit by incorporating a simple action that could make the sweet potato more palatable.
Nepal’s current political setup, even after the change people aspired for, remains highly class oriented, closed, and corrupt. Even the best of youth leaders within this system get sidelined. The next logical step in Nepal’s politics, if it is to take any meaningful pace, is for the youth from all walks of life to come together as one political force.
Opposed to older generation’s world view, the 100th monkey effect seems to be more firmly ingrained in the younger generation of Nepal though it is only recently being manifested as a visible movement in Nepal. The youth of Nepal, similar to the monkeys washing up the sweet potato for consumption, have learned that democracy cannot function properly without first addressing the concepts and issues that make democracy stronger. They have understood that fundamentally the phenomena of democracy must first start within oneself and can be furthered by accepting the idea that the public is the private. For instance, it is pointless to propound the issue of equal representation of women unless one practices equal participation in household decision making matters. This understanding is exhibited in the concerted efforts of champions like Chandra Maharjan who managed to erase the graffiti on Bagmati bridge by taking the initiative to clean it up himself thereby inspiring several others to join him.
These young people grasp the concept that it does not matter how clean your private home is if the public sphere remains polluted. Prosperity does not come individually; it comes collectively with a rise in the country’s image. Today, the 100th monkey effect can be seen taking shape in the forms of social media movement such as “Nepal Unites,” “Die Banda Die,” “Gari Khana Deu,” “Yug Activist Group,” “Youth For Human Rights,” quiet sit in protests, envisioning a corruption less society by giving a letter of appreciation to the ex-supreme court justice, Bagmati clean drive, declaring defecation free zones, and other parallel movements that are incubating. The essence of these movements is to bolster the democratic idea. But the older generation’s negligence and support of anti-democratic values such as violence, bandas, tender hustling, not upholding the rule of law, not taking the responsibility of Constituent Assembly is eroding the idea of democratic-republic.
Every culture has certain ideology or consciousness that permeates within its society.
These are revealed in the cultural traits of a particular society; be it religion, tradition, politics, economics or any other such system. Every mode of living impacts upon every individual within the culture they live. These beliefs form the foundation upon which not just a society is built. They influence individuals to build upon what they perceive as their own. In other words, the individual becomes a part of a collective consciousness. In this new phase of our collective consciousness today’s youth do not agree with a system that is halfhearted, of corruption, of bandhs, of environmental pollution, of stagnant political disorder, of deception, of tardiness. However, the efforts of the youth which are limited to activism and lobbying are confined to a horizontal level and in order for the exponential growth of fully functioning democratic principles to operate a more encompassing vertical approach with political authority is required.
Youth movements and individual youths alike must forge a political consensus to expedite mass consciousness at the national political level. Nepal’s current political setup, even after the change people aspired for, remains highly class oriented, closed, and corrupt. Even the best of youth leaders within this system get sidelined. The next logical step in Nepal’s politics, if it is to take any meaningful pace, is for the youth from all walks of life to come together as one political force. If the phenomenon gains ground perhaps the next generation of “monkeys” would improvise further and learn to eat the sweet potato with some added garnish.
The writer is a PhD student at Department of Political Science, Seoul National University, South Korea
biraj31@snu.ac.kr