Man of Our Age
From the point of view of the availability of the facilities of life, the man of our age has reached a grand stage. The innumerable discoveries and inventions have provided him such opportunities as previously appeared to him totally fantastic.
The automatic appliances and electronic implements have made many such things possible for the man of our age, which were hitherto impossible. By just pressing a button he can obtain whatever he wants. Water, air, heat, cold, food and clothing are all readily available for him.
Radio waves in the twinkling of an eye carry his voice to the farthest corner of the world; not only his voice but his picture also.
The aircraft have subdued vastness of the space for him. With ease and speed he flies from one side of the world to another, even more easily, more lightly and to a greater distance than the legendary flying carpet.
The astronauts have opened the way for him to the planets, and now a journey to the moon and other planets appears to be as simple as going from one city to another neighboring city.
The new scientific and industrial discoveries have so expanded in our age that it is difficult to enumerate them. It may be said that nature is now bent upon disclosing in the shortest possible time to the man of our century all the innumerable secrets which it held in its bosom for thousands of years.
As the result of his expanding acquaintance with the secrets of nature and his marvelous discoveries in regard to the controlling and exploiting the natural forces, the man of our age has reached the zenith of material well being and has converted the whole earth into a well furnished and magnificent place for his own benefit, in order to be able to lead a contented life and secure that happiness of which he has always dreamt.
Greedy Animals
This was one side of the coin, but there is another side of it too. The material civilization of today has solved many problems of human life, and has given man dazzling power to control nature. But at the same time it has so much eulogized and puffed the philosophy of having more and more, that it has made the man of our age a greedy animal, who is day and night worried about only increasing the production and consumption and thinks of nothing else.
Materialism and too excessive concern about economic affairs have converted man into a machine. He is always busy with earning his livelihood or finding the means of leading a more and more luxurious life. This situation is so wide‑spread that the life of most of the men of our times is almost devoid of any other valuable content.
There was a time when man valued his freedom most and even sacrificed his life for the sake of it. Now he has become a slave of production and consumption and has laid down his love of freedom at the altar of this deity.
With the progress of material civilization, the consuming needs of man have increased and the way of meeting them has grown complex to the extent that many people sacrifice their physical and moral well‑being for achieving that end.
In the material society of today all higher human values have been set aside, or, it may be said, that even moral values are looked upon only from material angle. In most parts of the world the real infrastructure of education and training is only material and aims at economic gain. The actual purpose of framing any educational or training program is only to produce men who can provide better economic return for the pockets of others or sometimes for their own pockets. The motto of every one, from a man in the street to the elite, has become "achieve economic gain and material pleasures ensuing from it".
There was a time when man valued his freedom most and even sacrificed his life for the sake of it. Now he has become a slave of production and consumption and has laid down his love of freedom at the altar of this deity.
With the progress of material civilization, the consuming needs of man have increased and the way of meeting them has grown complex to the extent that many people sacrifice their physical and moral well‑being for achieving that end.
In the material society of today all higher human values have been set aside, or, it may be said, that even moral values are looked upon only from material angle. In most parts of the world the real infrastructure of education and training is only material and aims at economic gain. The actual purpose of framing any educational or training program is only to produce men who can provide better economic return for the pockets of others or sometimes for their own pockets. The motto of every one, from a man in the street to the elite, has become "achieve economic gain and material pleasures ensuing from it".
The specialists in higher intellectual and technical fields, the politicians, the writers and the artists are no exception to this rule. Even many of those who are devoted to higher spiritual questions have been affected by material and economic attractions. Missionary work is performed mostly in exchange for financial and material remuneration. This situation is the natural and inevitable result of the diverse material philosophies prevailing during our times.
Day and night man is being told that he is no more than an economic animal, and that wealth and economic prosperity are the sole criterion of good fortune and the only sign of the progress of a nation, a class or a group. It is constantly being drummed into the ears of people that money has a miraculous power and it can solve every problem. There is always a talk of the heaps of money obtained by chance or by directly or indirectly robbing the fellow human beings and spent for satisfying the lowest animal desires.
Day and night man is being told that he is no more than an economic animal, and that wealth and economic prosperity are the sole criterion of good fortune and the only sign of the progress of a nation, a class or a group. It is constantly being drummed into the ears of people that money has a miraculous power and it can solve every problem. There is always a talk of the heaps of money obtained by chance or by directly or indirectly robbing the fellow human beings and spent for satisfying the lowest animal desires.
In these circumstances it is not surprising that men or rather semi‑men of our age have turned into greedy animals, bent upon acquiring money from whatever source they can and spending it for obtaining the greatest possible pleasure. They have become the slaves of production and consumption. Their life is bereft totally of the higher values befitting a living human being, and has tended towards vulgarity and degradation.
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