By Farhan Ahmed
Must society be this way?
In a world that claims to pursue progress & knowledge, we must stop to enquire : must society truly be the way it is? It is a space characterized by the prevalence of the capitalist spirit, where everything is ‘business’, where everything is looked at with the question, ‘what’s in it for me?’, including the human potential. Education, once seen as a medium to uplift and find inspiration, has deteriorated to a system of conformity, where children are groomed to match preordained settings rather than be encouraged to explore their own unique self. These children, the very people of tomorrow, find themselves in a never ending state of anxiety over a future that is unpredictable & must be ruthlessly prepared for; no matter the cost. The carefree days of running through the grassy fields and pursuing happiness have been replaced by walls of coaching centres, study schedules, competitive exams, and the fluctuating fear of failure. Where are the dreams? Where is the hope for a better world? The innocence of a once pure youth, has been hijacked by a system that demands a sacrificed present in exchange for a comfortable future. This question, although not posed enough, is essential: must society continue on these terms, where the youth is lost in preparing for an uncertain future and compromising their present to the bare minimum level?
The system: the perpetual cycle of alienation...
It is not adequate to simply enquire if society must be this way, we must also ask why it is this way in the first place. The source lies in the system itself: capitalism combined with the individualistic mind-set that it encourages. Society, in this state, is not meant to foster creativity, unity or emotional well-being at all. It is designed to make workers, to nurture competition, to ensure that the everyday cycle keeps on relentlessly moving forward without being questioned. Human beings, rather than autonomous creatures with an independent will, have been reduced to mere cogs of a machine, spread across various sects, to mindlessly produce & consume. The emphasis on individual satisfaction, rather than collective welfare, nurtures an unusual sense of alienation. People are encouraged to pursue success not for their own achievement, for the sake of winning over the approval of others. The very idea of community, which was once a central aspect of human life, has been overridden by the bitter truths of contestation & ulterior motives. This alienation is not just a psychological weight but a collective one : the seething urge to succeed, to climb up the ladder, to assert oneself as better than the other, has given rise to unfortunate circumstances where the masses have lost their ability to nurture and establish deeper, meaningful associations with one another. Ignorance & detachment thunder on at the speed of an express, while the once vibrant dreams are now weeded out before they can even sprout.
Emotional neglect: the cost of efficiency...
In this wild chase of efficiency, society tends to turn a blind eye to the emotional requirements of its inhabitants. The cries of disturbed children, the pleas for help, the voices of those burdened too heavily to bear, have been dismissed as mere excuses. This ignorance is not unrelated, but rather a by-product of a system that puts results before efforts, productivity before humanity. Emotional well-being is no longer a requirement but rather an extravagant luxury, a secondary concern, almost as if it was meant to be lost in the grand scheme of pursuits. There can only be performers, those who fulfil expectations without question, irrespective of mental & emotional stability. The very concept of vulnerability and release has been painted in a derogatory fashion, as those who express distress are met with mockery & ridiculing, their sufferings minimized & very conveniently swept under the rug. The matter is worsened by the fact that this neglect is so deeply ingrained in the blood of society, most cannot even recognise it. People are taught that their value as a person lies in their capability to succeed, not in compassion or empathy. Prevalent is this dehumanizing culture, where struggle is not real, but incompetency is. Alas, we have our latest peoples, overcome with disconnection & the motto of to ‘just keep going’.
The inconsistency: a world of borders and divisions...
It is not just the individual alone that deteriorates under this system – society as a whole is fragmented : economically, socially & ideologically. The very idea of solidarity has faded, replaced by an obsession with competition, individual achievement, the scattering of what were once common goals and an endless trail of walls, arbitrary divisions masked as so called ‘boundaries’. Geopolitical gaps, economic disparities, and cultural unrest make for an ugly situation, where conflict is wonderfully articulate, while common ground is nearly impossible to find. These gaps need not be only geographical & physical, but also connected to resources & thought : disparities between the influential and the powerless, income inequalities wildly widening, access to resources unevenly distributed. These fractures are not coincidental, but rather a direct consequence of a system whose very foundation is inequality, benefitting from the struggle of others. Rather than nurturing the spirit of co-operation and unity, society has been engineered to make certain that people, communities, nations are in an endless race against one another. The individual is not a member of one large village called the globe, but rather a solitary element desperate to impose its will in a world full of impossibilities. The idea of ‘we’ has become ‘me’, and with that was lost the miraculous potential of a once possible solidarity.
Spiritual fragmentation: the loss of faith...
The divide is not confined to the material world but protrudes too into the spiritual dimension. Religion, once an unmatchable unifying force, has become yet another battlefield for ethnocentric supremacy. The concept of a universal spiritual association has long been abandoned, having been turned into a plethora of suffering faiths at war, each hungry for legitimacy & followers. The idea of a common human experience, once ingrained in belief, has been replaced by a segregationist approach to spirituality, where meaning is somehow to be found in complete isolation, while cutting off & minimising the voice of others. Religion has devolved from collective to personal, now a matter of preference than connection. No more is any standard or value universal & shared, but instead we have a shattered moral framework that once headed society’s march towards collective aspirations. In place of the unity that religion once gave off, we now have a shredded spiritual landscape, where faith is not a source of comfort & guidance but yet simply another reason to consider the other person alien to oneself. Rather than bringing the masses together under the umbrella of a common cause, religion has become yet another ground of categorisation, another basis to segregate people on, further consolidating the individualistic mind-set.
The disintegration of community: from neighbours to strangers...
The deterioration of community is perhaps the most apparent manner in which society has sunken. Where once, the whole neighbourhood was one big family, a space of belonging, an assortment of individuals who supported one another, is now yet another barren ground of alienation. The very person who lives next door, with whom you once shared walking conversations or exchanged acts of kindness, is now an estranged figure. The social bonds too have snapped, replaced by the cruelties of a world that prioritises personal satisfaction & individual achievement over collective association. The shared spirit that once tied the neighbourhoods together has been replaced by this hazardous culture of contestation & individuality. Gone are the days of community; we are merely a collection of individual figures who simply happen to be in the same place at similar times now. Homes are no more, only pretentions to belonging remain…
Alienation: the loss of authenticity…
At the core of this societal meltdown is the loss of genuineness. In a world that demands undoubting obedience, the individual is no longer permitted to express themselves & deprived of the now luxury of freely pursuing their own callings. The pressure to fit in, to adhere to society’s values, has given rise to a culture where the people don personas, presenting only an acceptable, refined cut of themselves like an overly filtered movie. Dreams, which were once the source engine behind personal growth, have been ritually sacrificed at the altar of expectations. What society asks of is not the fulfilling of a certain potential but rather to actively reproduce & maintain a mirage – the mirage that everything is fine as it is, that progress is being made, and that salvation is within reach. But this salvation is empty; For it is built on the neglect of true self expression. Meaning is no longer given, but rather needs to be searched for relentlessly. Is it truly worth it to scale a mountain; where by the time you reach the top, you lose the means to come back down forever?
Tomorrow-phobia: a future to fear, not pursue…
Having become defined by the need for preparation, the future has become something to be afraid of rather than be looked forward to. What was once the architectural foundation for aspirations, is now just an ever rolling downhill avalanche, something to simply endure. This fear of tomorrow is the consequence of a structure that makes one learn to always expect absolute failure, to arm oneself according to the worst possible. Anticipation has been substituted for through anxiety; ‘due’ has become ‘impending’ in an ugly transition. When one is so lost in scaling each and every possibility, there can only be room for the bare minimum, which is survival…
Will we ever be able to grasp again that which is slipping away?
Astray are we, off on a hedonist’s so called ‘adventure’ in which from the point we’ve embarked was the greatest possible destination in itself. While we are busy finding some artificial alternatives to community, authenticity, hope & belonging (or for a layman the irreplaceable), one dreadful observation remains disturbingly clear : ‘in a life, during which you perpetually wish for another, is in itself not worth living at all’…
By Farhan Ahmed
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