Four truths about morality, society, trust, and hope
Humanity has never been short of crises — but today’s may be the strangest of all.
It is not uncommon to those who passionately study history of the world to come across such eras when it seemed as though the world was nearly on the brink of extinction.
Terrible, vision-less, self-centered leadership; clueless, confused, cowardly opinionated classes always propelled social and economic bad times into seemingly endless periods of crisis. Great Depression, Second World War, threats of nuclear apocalypse in the middle of Cold War are some examples in our recent memory.
But what distinguishes our present crisis from the past ones are the following issues.
1) Morality lagging behind technology:
Social morality is lagging far behind increased economic growth, prosperity and technological advancement making us finding new ways of harming ourselves and others in increasingly new and innovative ways.
2) Collapse of social ethos into individualism:
Our false - or absent - social ethos made us believe that everyone is unto themselves, individual is an island and individual is the be all and end all of all social life. We, the educated and opinionated classes, have long forgotten that individual finds purpose also through social interaction and involvement; and society can only gain its form, shape and sustenance from the quality of holistic life that an individual enjoys and achieves.
3) Deep distrust towards all forms of authority:
Humanity has never been more prosperous, more peaceful (at least in the absence of disastrous wars among major powers), more healthier and more literate. But still we are more unhappy, more doubtful, more discontented, than at any time in human history.
It is as though large part of humanity across national, racial, cultural, gender and ethnic divides has forsaken all hopes of revival of spirit of moral clarity, intellectual courage, a vibrant and dynamic civil society, open minded populace, ennobling ideas, visionary leadership.
4) Human society may falter humanity cannot:
During previous times of social collapse, moral degradation, perversion of intellectual ability when wonderful minds submitted their minds at the service of morally bankrupt and tyrannical authority, a feeble voice of moral and intellectual clarity that is on the path of truth has always resisted demonic power by reminding us that power without purpose and advancement devoid of beauty only leads us on the path of ultimate, irreversible destruction or degradation or both.
So, I hope and pray that the current crisis is no exception. Giants of intellectual courage and moral vision visit us from heaven (or rise among ourselves) in dozens or hundreds to lift us to our truer, beautiful human spirit.
As a small offering from my side to make this place a truly better place, I am dedicated to the study of the past - of societies, ideas and lives of great people - and use the knowledge and human, historical perspective to better understand the present to build a better tomorrow.
So, let us learn, let us build.
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