Let us survey the nature and
temperament of man in the modern context. It will be very surprising and
startling to learn the results of our survey. Man is selfish by nature and partial
by temperament specifically in the modern context. He faces various social
problems like corruption, deception and exploitation. “What you do not like in
today’s society?” is the question of questions posed to the students today. For
this, every student’s direct and simple answer is that he or she does not like
corruption in today’s society. It is quite obvious to say that corruption is
rampant in every sphere.
Day by day it is occupying the
most crucial position as an issue to be talked of in the summit meets and as the
topic for group discussion by the students today. Similarly deception and exploitation
are in the lead. Corruption, deception and exploitation are complementary to
each other in their role in disruption and destruction of society. It is man
alone who is responsible for the prevalence and diffusion of the most unwelcome
corruption confronting the society today as per the ultimate analysis of
cross-section of society. He particularly feels comfortable to be the promoter
of corruption. The evils are man-created in the way rules are man-made.
When we go through the annals of
the history of man, there was not much corruption in the past. Now-a-days
corruption is rampant and prevalent in every sphere, and is all pervasive like
the Supreme power. It prevails to demean the values of the man today. It is
lava spurting from the heart of a volcano to spoil society. It causes colossal
loss, hinders progress and sabotages the bridges of understanding in the
maintenance of so-called values of man. As a result, man is causing a harm to man. Why
it is so, is a complex question and million dollar question. However, the
reasons for the prevalence of corruption are well known. It is attributed to
one’s over selfishness. Man today is growing so selfish that he wants to become
rich overnight since he compares himself with others regarding the financial
status. The root cause of corruption is man’s greed for money rather than man’s
need for money. For his riches in this internet generation, man is revered and respected
very highly as a king with others as inferiors, subordinates and slaves. H e
feels quite well when he is well off. So he is in pursuit of the sole financial
goal. All his most possible efforts to become rich are seriously made in the
reach of his coveted goals and vested interests. Thus man-to-man relationship
is characterized by the powers of finance. Desire for material possessions:
gold, money, buildings and all kinds of luxuries serves as a vital force to
turn man greedy.
Today’s man is in quest of money
to maintain financial relation with his fellow beings in contrast with the ones
in the yester years and earlier generations. It is not at all surprising to
learn the fact that a man who was below the poverty line has become a tycoon in
the utmost financial heights and shaken hands with Bill Gates. The mystery is
unearthed as in the fable of a man becoming a tycoon on the appearance of God
in the wake of his prayer to Him. The man, whose bread is buttered, tells the
tale of his adventures in Real Estates Business to come to the level of a
multimillionaire. Now- a-days business is far-fetching and over beneficial. In
the field of business today, nothing is sinful and every thing is delightful
for it presents avenues for man to become rich overnight if not in a fortnight.
The price of thing varies from person to
person and from situation to situation depending on the customer’s status,
class, caste, power, strength, etc. Credit goes to the customer when he deals
with the salesman, referring to a man of his acquaintance, who is politically
popular, physically strong and financially sound. He triumphs in his deal
without fail. Business in most cases involves a snake in the grass and so the
customer must be vigilant as not to be deceived by the salesman’s tactics.
Businessmen maintain different kinds of qualities of a type of an article: high
quality, second quality, third quality and so on. The qualities of a particular
article are beyond the customer’s assessment and comprehension most of the
times. In hotels and restaurants food quality is to be assessed by the
customers to be away from deception. Food items served to all the people do not
have the same quality and variety. A degree of difference in quality and variety
is maintained to suit the status of customers. In such circumstances, the
customers are deceived due to their sheer innocence and mere ignorance. So man
today adopts business relation with his fellow-being and exploits him in the
indispensable situation and in the real need and hour of necessity.
Today’s man grows with the
awareness of political power. He jumps into the arena of politics mostly for
safeguarding his properties and promoting his status to his imaginable heights
to be a public character. His political might bestows on him the right for
owning everything or doing anything according to his choice. People in
different fields become victims in various fields: transfers of government
employees, sanctioning loans, granting visas, giving permits, etc. The
political might becomes a personal right to reach selfish goals and fulfill
vested interests. In fact, political leadership is not for individual goals or
interests but for the welfare of all the people of various sections in society.
People should enjoy their fundamental rights to make true Abraham Lincoln’s
sense of government which is ‘of the people, for the people and by the people’.
Now it is in the other way in the changed circumstances. It is ‘off the people’,
to ‘buy the people’ and ‘far (from) the people’. People are exploited for the
lack of political background or backing even in the democratic set up. M an in
today’s society craves to capture political power to deceive his fellow beings
or his brethren by means of mean politics. He lacks insight in the spell of
money as Maxim Gorky refers to the man in this age of advanced technology: “You
can fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but you don’t know
how to walk upon the earth like men.”
Society is like a large family to protect the
interests of man and make sure that he does not destroy his fellow beings in
any aspect as he is a social being to safeguard the prestige of society. The
contemporary society is sick because of multifarious politics: family politics,
street politics, vote bank politics, union politics, religion politics, sports
politics, business politics, institution politics, etc. All kinds of politics
may broadly be classified into local, regional, national and international
politics. Politics today, entering the life of man, deprive him of peace and
harmony since they have ‘poly’ ‘tricks’
by which man spoils himself to be called a political animal rather than a
social animal.
In a democratic set up, a genuine
leader is fairly elected by the people for the welfare of humanity at large.
The right society elects the right representatives but the society today, which
is full of wrong doers and evil mongers with lobbies of their own to exploit
the voters in various ways. In such circumstances, the citizens of a country
cannot prosper to be its worthy citizens. When the leader is so, so is the
society or a man in the street.
The youth today are exposed to
false media. As a result, they swerve from the path of rectitude. By hook or
crock, they want to reach their goals: admissions in institutions, getting
through examinations with a good score, employment, political recognition,
personal identity, etc. No hesitation is there on the part of the youth in
resorting to malpractice of any type. In fact they are solely responsible for
the building of a better society. In stead they grow with no heed to
principles. Rapes, murders, kidnaps etc take place in broad daylight. A girl is
forced by an urchin or unruly youth to love him or else an acid- raid is waged
against her. They invent styles and fashions for false attractions. All their
actions are squarely cinematic and seemingly heroic in achieving goals.
Man as a social being has love
and concern for society. He feels a social responsibility for mutual welfare
and reciprocal progress to establish an ideal society. Troubles and problems of
a man are shared by all in a positive gesture. He lives and lets others live to
make society healthy to flourish with culture and civilization to his credit.
As a result, good society is built on the foundation of human values and
humanistic virtues. The man today is crazed with the spell of money. He feels that
money is every thing and it bestows on him power, prestige, name and fame. In
this mission, he exploits his fellow men for his own welfare, forgetting his
love and concern for man and society at large. As result, human relations and
social concerns are lost. Man feels insecure as man-to-man relation is not
fair. Safety has become a topic of serious discussion today. When a woman moves all alone in the street at
midnight and goes back home safely, the freedom we got at midnight attains the
sense of real achievement and democracy gets the true meaning of the term.
Real society knows no discrimination,
no disparity and no difference between man and man. All should live in such a
way that none’s feelings and sentiments are hurt. Today’s society harbors
disparities and differences against human principles. There are rifts between
the two opposing attitudes like the high and the low, the haves and the
have-nots, the weak and the strong, the natives and the non-natives. People
lack respect and reverence for other’s faiths and beliefs due to false
discriminations.
Man is a social animal by virtue
of insight for his link with society as a sign his wisdom. On the contrary, man
today in spite of his insight grows selfish to turn human values topsy–turvy
even in the age of internet generation. All virtues have been replaced by vices
like indifferent attitude, hypocrisy, sycophancy, partiality, opportunism, lack
of appreciation, intolerance, prejudices, back stabbing, self boasting, false
eulogy, adamant nature, lack of realization, no confession in reality and
jealousy as blemishes on the part of society. Man is devoid of the serenity,
peace and equanimity of mind in the role of society today as he voices no
concern for the welfare of society. In fact, society like mother presents its
members due rewards and recognition; peace and harmony when man is social in
concern, human in relation and humanistic in approach. All are guests to one another and every day is
a happy occasion for every one. Then man is acclaimed to be a social animal in the social sense.
Published in
TRIVENI, Vol,80 JAN-MAR, 2011 No.1, Hyderabad
Dr. Katta Rajamouly,
Professor of English,
Ganapathy Engineering
College,
Vaagdevi Group of
Institutions,
WARANGAL
