The term "Manifest Destiny" was first used by John O'Sullivan in 1845 in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review in an article called "Annexation". The term ardently represented the belief that the United States was ordained by God to expand across the Americas starting with the war with Mexico.
Destiny has been used prior to this and since then to persuade People to support a cause. Charles Darwin wrote on the destiny of people in the Origins of Species: "As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as, consequently, there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form." In the theory of natural selection quoted above, Darwin states that human being will inevitably adapt towards what is profitable for the self.
Mckinsey and Company referenced destiny again but in a metaphor. In "The 'Bird of Gold': The Rise of India's Consumer Market" stated that if India continued on the same growth trajectory, over the next two decades, India would become one of the wealthiest nations in the world. The reference to the term came from 1AD when merchants referred to India as a Bird of Gold.
What is perfectly manifest is that regardless of whether destiny is ordained by God, inherited from Nature, or a precedent set by History, its purpose is to propel a self-fulfilling prophecy. This inevitable, unchangeable outcome will come true as long as we are persuaded to believe it will be true. Destiny, it seems, is unavoidable. Then what if, destiny could be called upon to serve the purpose of achieving goodness and altruism rather than just wealth? What if Profit could be revived back to her original intention in Latin of "Progress" or profectus?
Jawaharlal Nehru did just that in his speech, "Tryst with Destiny", when India gained independence from the British in 1947. He said: "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. ... The appointed day has come -the day appointed by destiny- and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. ...We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations."
Destiny has been used prior to this and since then to persuade People to support a cause. Charles Darwin wrote on the destiny of people in the Origins of Species: "As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as, consequently, there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form." In the theory of natural selection quoted above, Darwin states that human being will inevitably adapt towards what is profitable for the self.
Mckinsey and Company referenced destiny again but in a metaphor. In "The 'Bird of Gold': The Rise of India's Consumer Market" stated that if India continued on the same growth trajectory, over the next two decades, India would become one of the wealthiest nations in the world. The reference to the term came from 1AD when merchants referred to India as a Bird of Gold.
What is perfectly manifest is that regardless of whether destiny is ordained by God, inherited from Nature, or a precedent set by History, its purpose is to propel a self-fulfilling prophecy. This inevitable, unchangeable outcome will come true as long as we are persuaded to believe it will be true. Destiny, it seems, is unavoidable. Then what if, destiny could be called upon to serve the purpose of achieving goodness and altruism rather than just wealth? What if Profit could be revived back to her original intention in Latin of "Progress" or profectus?
Jawaharlal Nehru did just that in his speech, "Tryst with Destiny", when India gained independence from the British in 1947. He said: "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. ... The appointed day has come -the day appointed by destiny- and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. ...We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations."
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