Needed a Moral Revolution in 2024

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct other way–in short the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only”. This was how Charles Dickens had described the situation of France and England in his classic novel A Tale of Two Cities more than two centuries ago. As we wade through the thick and thin of the third decade of the 21st century these words sound eerily contemporary. Look at the material prosperity that mankind has achieved. Man thinks he is at the top. Humanity is conquering the Moon and Mars. A habitable colony on the moon seems within the realms of possibility in the foreseeable future. The Number of Billionaires has grown many times over and vulgar display of wealth amuses all and sundry. Dancing on cloud nine on it’s material success is humanity’s wont today. But these are the worst of times also. Humanity in human terms is at its lowest ebb. Prosperity of the few and misery of the most is a kind of contradiction no one seems to be bothered about. Economic theories have no answer for abject poverty. The rampant quest for prosperity has endangered the very source of sustenance of mankind, the Mother Earth. With climate change threatening the very existence of life and water, the end of this world seems imminent. And the hapless humanity appears clueless. The human intelligence is at its wits end, and even the much-touted Artificial Intelligence (AI) is of little help. The curse of wars still haunts mankind even as we continue giving Nobel Prizes for peace. What needs to be done is the big question. Perhaps it is time for some kind of a moral revolution as all other revolutions have failed to deliver. Technological advancements could not bring about the psychological change needed to make the world better. Historians would like us to believe that we have come a long way since the Stone Age passing through the Chalcolithic, the Iron, the Industrial and the Modern ages. We are now into the Information Age and with access to tonnes and tonnes of information we believe to have acquired God like omniscience. True Corona proved otherwise but our pride still continues, even after the fall. As peace and tranquillity eludes mankind there is need to evaluate the limits of our knowledge. With humanity at conflict with itself it is time to focus on values. Democracy the so-called best form of governance, has become hypocrisy. The year 2024 will see two of the world’s biggest democracies going to the polls. The same old tribe with the same old promises. It is common knowledge that politicians will not change. But can we not change the politics. We can take a cue from poet TS Eliot -‘Make perfect your will. Take no thought of the harvest, but only of proper sowing’. We must change our cognition and behaviour and let our inherent goodness prevail.