The social processes that happen in our life also operate
along an extension of this principle. Actually it is again related to the
inability of our minds that is a product of habit and past experiences to
accommodate too much change too quickly. Fast change often flounders because of
this. No doubt we can establish new arrangements in the way we live by being
coaxed or persuaded into making such changes. New arrangements in lifestyle,
parenting, governing and even the social structures along which we re-orient
ourselves in communicating with each other, socializing in modern ways all have
their seeming benefits in the new ways we impute value to life. But these have
their downsides too which are often not as enticing as deterrents when the
glitter of change lays bare its attractants.
Engines make us go a bit faster than sailing and we say time is money
but there is loss in the time we have to enjoy nature and the benefits of
communing with nature which is our human essence, the forfeiting of which takes
its toll in lost benefits of human relationships. In similar vein, the change
of larger families to nuclear families, the change from mobile to sedentary
lifestyles, from healthy foods to fast foods and fizzy and energy drinks, the
coffee culture and the change in social relationships these engender. Or the
change from the presence of grandparent to keep the narrative of life connected
to our grandchildren to the loss of these valuable assets that languish in the
solitude of empty homes in the islands while their children live in the lonely
throng of Male with their babies taken care of by a foreign Aya while both
parents fend in jobs outside their home. Those kids will be the parents and
citizens and leaders of tomorrow. All these are changes that we are inexorably
swept into and the pros and cons of which we have not ventured to reflect on
because the modern lifestyle is so enticing. The conscious mind can be
attracted and coaxed into believing the goodness of these and perhaps there are
lots of it embedded. But the subconscious takes time to fathom the vagaries of
the challenges and settle into the routine.
That is perhaps what's different in
the West and in the East. The West created these ways through an evolutionary
process of change that took several centuries whereas for us in the East this
is a leap-frogging we attempt to do just because these ways seem more
attractive by the very fact that they are modern. It is an enticement to be
like someone else -- a renunciation of the old - the wisdom of our ancestors
who had also, through the necessity of time and the exigency of the
environment, adjusted their lives or created novel ways to respond to those challenges
in appropriate ways to live in harmony with our environment.
The biggest challenge today however comes from our espousing
of the new process of democracy. While the basis and principles of democracy
are non-negotiable to my mind, the ways we have instituted to give effect to
this edict has obviously manifested its flaws. Otherwise we would not be such
an angry nation upset with each other, shredding and fragmenting age old
relationship of friendship and family bonds that are the bases of our society.
Surely something must be wrong! And unless we search in urgency for
alternatives to rectify this decadent process, we may have to shed many a tear
in a future that is laced with fear and anxiety.
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