The Social Cycle Theory, also known as the Law of Social Cycle is a theory of social motivity propounded by the Indian philosopher and religious leader P.R. Sarkar. The theory first appeared in his book Human Society, Vol. 2 in the late 1950s and has since been reproduced and expanded on in many books. The theory has probably received the widest publication in the West in the many books of Ravi Batra a disciple of Sarkar, notably The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism, a New Study of History. Johan Galtung and Sohail Inayatullah have also written about Sarkars' Social Cycle Theory in the book Macrohistory and macrohistorians. A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar was born in Bihar, India on a full moon day in May of 1921 to a family belonging to the intellectual caste of Brahmins. ... Ravi Batra is a U.S. economist and professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. ... Johan Galtung, second from left, and friends in Kilinochchi, Dec 04/Jan 05 Johan Galtung (born October 24, 1930, in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian professor, working at the Transcend Institute. ... Sohail Inayatullah has been writing in the area of futures studies for over 20 years. ...

Four Types of People

The Law of Social Cycles is a theory of Varna, arising out of the Indian episteme (Inayatullah, 2002). This law states that while people in any society are all relatively similar, they have generally the same goals, desires and ambitions but differ in the way they go about achieving their goals. An individual's specific methods for achieving success depend on his physical and psychological makeup. Essentially, there are four different types of people, warriors, intellectuals, acquisitors and labourers, who find basic fulfillment in four different kinds of ways. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... As distinguished from techne, the Greek word episteme (literally: science) is often translated as knowledge. ... For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya (Hindi: , from Sanskrit: , ) is the title of the princely military order in the Vedic society. ... In the Hindu varna system, a Vaishya (Sanskrit वैश्य vaiśya) is a member of the third of the four only varnas of the varna system of traditional Indian society. ... Shudra (IAST: ) is the fourth Varna in the traditional four-section division in historic Hindu society. ...

• Warriors (Kshatriya) have strong bodies, vigorous physical energy and a sharp intellect. Warriors tend to develop the skills that take advantage of their inherent gifts of stamina, courage and vigor. Their mentality is one that is not averse to taking physical risks. Examples of people in our society with the warrior mentality include: Policemen, firemen, soldiers, professional athletes, skilled carpenters and tradesmen, etc. They all achieve success through their physical skills and a deep understanding of their profession. Michael Jordan is an excellent example of a member of the warrior class.
• Intellectuals (Vipra) have a more developed intellect than the warriors, but generally lack the physical strength and vigor. Intellectuals are happiest when they try to achieve success by developing and expressing their intellectual skills and talents. Examples would be: Teachers, writers, professors, scientists, artists, musicians, philosophers, doctors and lawyers, and above all, priests.
• Acquisitors (Vaishya) have a penchant for money. If money can be made the acquisitors will find a way to make it. They are not as bright as the intellectuals, nor as strong as the warriors, but they are keen when it comes to making and accumulating money and material possessions. Such people are the traders, businessmen, managers, entrepreneurs, bankers, brokers, and landlords in our society.
• Laborers (Shudra) are altogether different from the first three groups. Laborers lack the energy and vigor of the warriors, the keen intellect of the intellectuals, and the ambition and drive of the accumulators. In spite of the fact that their contribution to society is profound - in fact, society could not function without them - the other groups generally look down upon and tend to exploit them. The laborers are the peasants, serfs, clerks, short order cooks, waiters, janitors, doormen, cabdrivers, garbage collectors, truck drivers, night watchmen and factory workers who keep society running smoothly by working diligently and without complaint.

Social Classes and Social Cycles

Groups of each type of people make up the social classes in society. Under this theory, classes are divided by their inherent disposition. In a society, the warriors defend the nation and keep the peace; intellectuals develop our ideas about the world, in the form of religion, art, law and new inventions; acquisitors manage the practical aspects of life, including farms, factories, financial institutions and stores. Meanwhile, laborers do the routine work, waiting tables, collecting trash, and other low-tech, low skill jobs. As should be evident, each class contributes something vitally important to society, and society could not function without all the classes working together in harmony. Unfortunately, not all classes are rewarded equally according to their contributions. Furthermore though all exist simultaneously in society, at any given time only one of the four classes is the dominant class and therefore rules society. The laborers, however, never rule, as they lack the inherent ambition of the other three classes of people.

According to Batra (1978), the West is currently in the age of acquisitors, also known as Capitalism. This age followed then age of intellectuals, which gave birth to the Enlightenment and the British parliamentary system. Before that the West went through the age of warriors and the age of discovery. Feudalism, an earlier age of acquisitors, reigned before that. It had replaced the age of intellectuals, with restrictions on religious thought and also gave birth to the Renaissance period. Before that, Rome ruled the West under the aegis of warriors. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in U.S. English), is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... The Renaissance (French for rebirth, or Rinascimento in Italian), was a cultural movement in Italy (and in Europe in general) that began in the late Middle Ages, and spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) The Roman Empire. ... The term Western world or the West (also on rare occasions called the Occident) can have multiple meanings depending on its context (i. ...

Exploitation and breakdown

To Sarkar, each age would run its course, with the social motivity going too far, causing much grief to the majority of people (Sarkar, 1967). The situation could unchecked go on for a long time, before things got so bad that a spontaneous revolution and overthrow of the system took place. In fact, as this was the reason for social change, it was clear that no single class of people could remain dominant indefinitely. Power was destined to pass from one class to next in the prescribed order, or cycle. The age of warriors, which brings strict order to society and a return to fundamental values, essentially leads to excessive focus on strong man rule and warfare. It is followed by an age of intellectuals, which bring a sense of liberation in the mental sphere but soon replace that freedom with the yoke of newer ideas. Over time this age merges into an age of acquisitors, which brings progress in the material sphere, but this is soon replaced by increase physical and mental exploitation. The Servile Wars spelled the doom of the Roman Republic. Labour conflict could be the undoing of Capitalism, according to this theory. And so the cycle moves on its endless round, until the civilisation ceases to exist or is taken over by a superior or more powerful civilisation. The Servile Wars were a series of slave revolts that plagued the late Roman Republic. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus Roman provinces on the eve of the assassination of Julius Caesar, c. ... It has been suggested that Definitions of capitalism be merged into this article or section. ...

Preventing the misery of exploitation

Sarkar's essential view on the implications of each age produces was to develop a way to avoid the dynamic of exploitation, when the social motitivity of one class goes unchecked and too far (Sarkar, 1967). In such cases, it falls on moralists to accelerate the movement to the next age to shorten the exploitative phase of each age. The term exploitation may carry two distinct meanings: The act of utilizing something for any purpose. ...

Harmony and cooperation

For this, he trained nuns and monks of his socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga and developed the socio-economic theory of PROUT, short for the PROgressive Utilisation Theory. Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. ... Look up spiritual in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... American Civil Rights Movement is one of the most famous social movements of the 20th century. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Bibliography

• P.R. Sarkar, "Human Society Vol. 2", Ananda Marga Press, Ananda Marga Publications, Anandanagar, P.O.Baglata,Dist. Purulia, West Bengal, India, 1967.
• Johan Galtung and Sohail Inayatullah, Macrohistory and Macrohistorians: Perspectives on Individual, Social, and Civilizational Change, Praeger Publishers, 1997, ISBN: 0275957551.
• Sohail Inayatullah, Understanding P. R. Sarkar: The Indian Episteme, Macrohistory and Transformative Knowledge, Brill Academic Publishers, 2002, ISBN: 9004128425.
• Ravi Batra, "The Downfall of Communism and Communism: a New Study of History", Macmillan, New York, NY, USA, 1978
• idem, "The Great Depression of 1990", Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, USA, 1986 (#1 NY Times bestseller)
• idem, "Muslim Civilization and the Crisis in Iran", Venus Press, Dallas, TX, USA, 1980
• idem, "The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos", Plagrave Macmillan, New York, NY, USA, 2007.