We all yearn
to be well-off for having a comfortable life. In the past this was achieved
through time and toil. Now there is a major shift towards getting rich fast.
This is a necessary consequence of the industrial revolution where the prevailing
ethos was production without conscience -- with no thought as to whether there
was a social necessity for all that production. Proponents would argue that the
more that is produced the more the have-nots will have. Opponents would argue
that it is not true -- the trickle-down theory is not valid; and the
industrialists' concern remains the bottom line. At the end of the day the
motive is to have the maximum income.
Thus in this
rush for production and wealth generation through the market mechanism that
panders to the ego of the human being, we lose sight of the old adage
"necessity is the mother of invention" perhaps this has its vestiges
still relevant but with the invention of the capitalist model it has always
been about maximizing profit and getting rich quickly -- by selling the products
to those who don't really need these. The marketing profession has made it
their perfected art to sell to the gullible customer, by the sweetness of their
marketing jargon and images, what we don’t need. We witness this everyday on
television, on bill boards and social events and now splashed too on social
media. Who really needs the killer cigarettes or the expensive coffees and cars
or the designer clothes? What would happen
to us if we don't have them? Certainly we will be healthier in mind and body!
But the ego within us doesn't listen to that. It makes us believe that the
competitive spirit within us is legitimate and good for us. With such an
inflated false-self dominating us, the little voice inside us of the primeval
conscience we were born with has the "chance of a snowball in hell",
which means absolutely no chance at all!
So the advert
on television wins our hearts. We want to be the Marlboro man or take that
exotic trip on the Camel to our death. How foolish we are is realized only too
late when death and destruction meet us in the end.
So this
desire to get rich for the wrong purpose is the source of the evil that we see
in our world. It has made us upset the benevolent equilibrium Providence has bestowed
on us for living our lives in harmony and we are seeking to blindly find our
balance again but not finding it in this turbulent sea of materialism,
selfishness and greed. We yearn to get rich quick and then hope to live the
rest of our lives in hedonism. What is then the future of the next
generation? Will we give it space for it
to grow in sustainable ways or will we strengthen our selfish vantage further?
If we seek to go on with abandon along this our chosen path, should we not feel
the piercing guilt of betraying the trust we assume from our unborn children by
our decision to have borrowed this moment from them, to create mischief on
earth?
Our nation Maldives
has been thrust into this tumult headlong, and as a small nation of people
these new ideals catch on like wild fire and it will burn our house down only
too fast to be aware of what is happening. That sinister process is happening
even as we sit ensconced in our momentary luxury and social inebriation to
these vibrations that are growing.
No comments:
Post a Comment