Renewal of social values

One of Leo Tolstoy’s famous stories poses a philosophical question, “How much land does a man need?” And the end of the story convinces the reader that a man in the end requires no more than 6 feet of land in some corner of a graveyard. The conclusion drawn is so true. However, the paradox of life is that man does not understand this eternal truth and he breathlessly runs throughout his life amassing wealth and property. And when the bubble of life dissolves all things appear in their true colour- useless and lifeless.

Today the people who are at the helm of power or those who already have enormous wealth are more corrupted than others. The vilest thing is that corrupt practices snatch the benefits of a nation from those who deserve them most. It is a threat to our society. But why corruption is so rampant? Why do corrupt people unfeelingly deprive other people from their rightful share of nation’s riches?

The answer is plain. Man is genetically selfish. And by default, the sperm that produces a human form is utterly selfish. So we can say,”Thinking oneself first” is the distinctive inborn characteristic of almost all human beings. In other words, to become selfish is the natural tendency of human beings.  But the good thing about us is that in spite of our innate selfish inclinations, we have a society and we feel responsible for a harmonious co-habitation. Therefore we have so long existed and developed. Our age-old social values and sense of common humanity always get in our way and modify our selfish desires to morally and socially acceptable forms. This social or psycho-moral mechanism had been the guiding force in the past. Moreover this social consciousness is essential for our present and future as well. It is indispensable for the safe existence of mankind. But the pity is that now-a-days man is becoming more and more unfeeling and numb to the idea of universal brotherhood and co-existence. The common sense of humanity is losing grounds and the society is slowly pushed to a state of utter anarchy.

In short we can say that we have degraded ourselves miserably in the moral scale. Hence, we urgently require explicit laws like LOKPAL for the renewal of our basic social and moral laws. Who knows, it may really restructure our social values for another millennium and bring the possibility of peaceful living for all human beings.