Is Our Civilization in Peril? Mathew Idikkula (USA)

new2The evolutionary march of our civilization from the Stone Age to the Space Age has been an enduring struggle. Empires have risen and fallen; indigenous civilizations have come, made their contributions, and gone; groundbreaking innovations such as the dawn of the Vedic wisdom, the Greek thought, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Revolutions have rejuvenated humanity with a new vision of life; and, lastly, the recent advances in science and technology have revolutionized the face of mankind.

Wallowed in the comforts and conveniences of the modern world, many of us seem to think that we’re in the peak of our civilization. But I have a different take: our present-day civilization, by contrast, is in the peak of a fall for the following line of reasons.

True, humanity has advanced in many ways, but it has hardly advanced in culture—a culture that’s conducive to the welfare of all. Most of us hold the view that scientific and technological progress makes us civilized. But Benjamin Disraeli, a great scholar, disagrees with this notion when he says: "The European talks of progress because by the aid of a few scientific discoveries, he has constructed a society which mistakes comfort for civilization." A true civilization must be based on a solid culture of human values; for culture alone makes us truly human.

In more precise terms, culture is the refinement of our mind involving the essential principles of life and living. Although they are found in all religious traditions, they are known as dharma in the Indian tradition. Briefly put, dharma is a universal manual of principles and values showing us how to live a life of harmony with all living beings, nature, and the invisible power that supports and sustains us.

Lacking culture, barbarism and madness reign supreme in the present age of madness. Nothing is done the way it’s supposed to be done. Most people, from top to bottom, are driven by self-interest; there is no sense of duty; there is no regard for others.

The rulers rule for themselves, and many of them even resort to violence and inhuman activities to realize their own interests. History testifies of their mass killings of millions in the past, and the problem continues to this day. In the most recent history, as many as a million were killed in Rwanda by the Hutu government.

Obviously, today’s world has either ignored or trivialized both cultural values and spirituality in favor of comforts and conveniences. The result has been a disaster. Problems after problems haunt us.

Look at the disparity between the rich and the poor. The rich are getting richer day by day, the poor poorer. And the middle class is getting squeezed in between. Addressing a United Nations Academic Impact forum, Mata Amritanandamayi said recently: "The current gap between the haves and the have-nots is the bane of the entire world, and this disparity is increasing daily. On the one hand, there are those who live, squandering millions upon millions on luxuries. On the other hand, there are those who struggle in hunger and pain to make enough for just one meal—to make enough for just one day’s medicine."

Today’s world of gross business is driven by the doctrine of loss and profit, and a vast majority employ unfair means to inflate their profit. John Ruskin, whom Mahatma Gandhi had held in high esteem, says: "In order to grow rich scientifically, we must grow rich justly; and, therefore, know what is just; so that our economy will no longer depend merely on prudence, but on jurisprudence—and that of divine, not human law." Not human law but divine law is what Ruskin wants all of us to follow in all our dealings with others, besides aiming at the welfare of all. But the world doesn’t seem to catch it.

Let us examine our modern education, a major factor of our civilization. Today’s education, either in ordinary schools or in elite schools, is appalling. Because our education is geared towards the single goal of making a profitable career for the student.

According to Dharma Sastras of India, the primary goal of education is to impart knowledge about life—learning about ourselves. Knowledge about living—getting a job, making money, etc.—is the secondary goal of education. Here we must make a clear distinction between life and living.

Commenting on the true concept of education, Prof. William Deresiewicz, a prominent cultural critic, says: "Education is more than the acquisition of marketable skills, and you are more than your ability to contribute to your employer’s bottom line. To ask what college is for is to ask what life is for, what society is for—what people are for. What’s at stake, when we ask what college is for, is nothing less than our ability to remain fully human."

First and foremost, we must learn to be fully human—the real goal of education—without which a student community is not dispositioned to make a difference in the lives of people whom it’s supposed to lead and serve in some capacity.

Let us now consider our environment, which is the most abused area with deadly consequences. Science is telling us loud that we’ve an emergency. James Hansen, the world’s most famous climate scientist, told CNN that the ice layers of Antarctica are melting at a faster rate than scientists have previously anticipated—an ominous warning. The warning is quite alarming, but it’s more alarming to see that there’s no one to confront it.

In the social arena, the world is appalled at the historic judgement in which the U.S. Supreme Court has made the same-sex marriage legal, shattering the long-cherished concept of marriage, as well as setting an unwholesome example for the coming generations.

Summing up, we must admit that today’s world is out of step with the truth of life, the truth of living, the laws of nature, and the orderly rhythm of the universe. Turning a blind eye to the human values, today’s world is an abode of a new range of evils: cyberterrorism, terrorism, gun violence, drug addiction, human trafficking, child labor, and child slavery. In fact, it’s more of evil deeds than good deeds that form the defining mark of today’s civilization.

In the meantime, science and technology are leaping forward day by day only to find the world more dangerous, more insecure, and more perplexed. The world is still a dangerous place with an ever increasing stockpile of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. Making it worse, there’re many evil empires today, poised against each other, ready to strike, and even ready to engage in a third world war. Unless we change our course, we seal the fate of our civilization.

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