A person is not entirely different from this universe and yet he or she is not the same. Our existence is inter-related with the world.
Today, there is an urge for a new global order, and a new economic configuration. The question is why is there such a demand? It has emerged because having accepted an element of truth as total truth, we have started behaving accordingly.
Today's economic policy is based on both micro-economics and macro-economics. In the early stages, the economic theory was based on micro-economics. Since Keynes propounded the theory of macro-economics, the economic transformation became sharp and many countries were influenced by it.
Macro-economics envisages the establishment of large-scale industries and the maximisation of output. The production has to be organised on a mass scale since the hunger of a growing population needs to be satisfied. Nobody would argue that this objective is irrational. It aims at the removal of the sufferings of hungry and distressed population so that the people may be able to get food, clothes and houses, satisfying their primary needs. Without laying a network of industries, it is not possible to achieve all that, it is maintained.
Why is there a demand for a new economic system? There is always a cause for any demand. No demand arises without a motive. The answer to this question is also obvious. Violence has increased substantially. Stresses and strains have widened, mental turbulence has deepened and so has the danger to world peace. Confronted with such a situation, man is compelled to believe that there is somewhere some deficiency in our economic system which gave rise to these tendencies.
Now an opportunity has come to turn back and ponder. A voice is being heard that a new economic system must emerge. Even the macro-economic system will not work. What is needed is a global economy or a worldwide economic system. There has also to be a worldwide economic policy.
Today, developed nations acquired dominant control over the resources. They established large-scale industries and in the wake, produced so much of pollution that it became a danger to environment. With the large-scale cutting of forests and excessive excavation of the earth, the entire balance of nature has got disturbed.
It is now being noticed that powerful nations are becoming more of a threat and less of a source of strength. They are engaged in exploitation. A race is going on among them for building economic empires and making them more powerful.
Mahavira said, "Do not reject the existence of the world and do not reject your existence as well. The most important principle of environment is that you are not the only single element. When you do something for yourself you must know what you do for yourself will impact the entire world."
Mahavira observes from the perspective of anekanta that when a finger makes a movement, the entire world vibrates. All the atoms associated with the atoms of the finger are activated. The entire chain is inter-linked. Similarly, the Jain acharyas have explained that when we remove a yarn from the cloth, an atom linked with it will reach the pond and vibrate the entire pond; it will reach the ocean and vibrate the entire ocean. We are not alone, we are interlinked with the entire world.
A person is not entirely different from this universe and yet he is not entirely the same. Our existence is inter-related with the entire world. That is why a person is not entirely different and yet has his independent existence. If he is inseparable, it is obvious that he would influence the entire world. That is why it has been said that one who tries to analyse and comprehend himself really analyses and understands the entire universe.