Ehmed Sameer
What prompted this reflection is the growing instability and moral disarray unfolding on the global stage. There was a time—at least in principle—when mechanisms existed to mediate differences among nations. International law, for instance, sought to constrain power and guide the conduct of states. Its efficacy lay in its attempt to impose order and stability upon an inherently anarchic international system.
Such norms function tolerably well in ordinary times. But once states accumulate overwhelming power, they begin to bend these rules to their own advantage. Power politics, after all, recognises no permanent restraint.
Imagine the world created anew. The Almighty prepares to deliver His providential message to humanity through a Messenger—values intended to stabilise societies and sustain order. These values are meant to regulate human affairs amicably, embedding egalitarianism at their core. Honesty, truthfulness, transparency, justice, authority, responsibility—surely these are moral values of the highest order.
Yet this is where the story begins to fracture.
As soon as power enters the scene, it reshapes the execution of values. Those positioned at the helm strive to protect their interests and secure their dominance. Unlike John Rawls’ original position, where individuals design principles of justice behind a veil of ignorance, the distributors of values here are fully aware of their social, economic, and political standing. Consequently, values are not allocated on the basis of fairness, but strategically—so as to reinforce existing hierarchies.
Values demanding submission—honesty, obedience, sacrifice, patience—are assigned to those with little or no access to power. The poor are expected to be morally upright, truthful, and content. I do not contest the intrinsic worth of these virtues; conscience does not permit that. The problem lies not in the values themselves, but in their selective distribution.
Conversely, values such as authority, autonomy, rationality, and decision-making power are monopolised by those already in control. The marginalised are not even encouraged to imagine these values as theirs. Should they demand autonomy or power-sharing, they are accused of destabilising society—of disturbing a carefully preserved status quo.
Thus, values are neatly categorised: one class to rule, another to be ruled.
The production and interpretation of morality inevitably follow the route of power. This explains how exploitation persists across generations. The deprived internalise a moral code—through religious conditioning, social norms, and cultural indoctrination—that glorifies obedience, selflessness, and silent suffering. They are promised moral reward, even paradise, for compliance. This is not nature at work, but nurture—a systematic engineering of moral consciousness.
Had values been distributed justly, the poor would have possessed not only duties but also rights—power alongside responsibility, obedience alongside authority. Instead, responsibility, which ought to restrain unchecked power, is imposed upon the powerless. The powerful inherit rights; the powerless inherit obligations.
History offers ample illustration. British colonial rule in India, for instance, was sustained not merely by military might but by moral narratives. Colonial domination was portrayed as a divine mission—the so-called White Man’s Burden. With power came the authority to define morality. Indians were told they were being civilised. It took decades, and the rise of rational indigenous scholarship, to dismantle this manufactured moral legitimacy.
The lesson is stark: moral values, as practised, are neither neutral nor divine in their distribution. They are strategic instruments. Dominant groups construct moral orders that dull resistance and normalise inequality. This moral pacification of the masses remains their most enduring victory.
God may have descended values of the highest order to redeem humanity, but their human mediation proved deeply flawed. Rights meant to empower all were confined to elites; duties meant to discipline power were imposed upon the weak.
Thus, in today’s world, the powerful carry rights with little responsibility, while the weak shoulder responsibilities without rights.
A dichotomy of values cannot produce a just world. Only coherence—where rights and duties, power and morality, are shared—can.
