The changing ethics in the society

Challenges for the New Age Parenting

We live in an age where a lot of things around us seem to be changing suddenly. Social life around us has become on-line these days. We meet many of our best friends only on social networking sites. The warmth of a hand shake or a hug is a past story now. Even the urge for sex is becoming a past history. On one side we see a lot of dependency on the gadgets provided by the new age technology and on the other side a lot of freedom is felt with respect to expressions. In this age of ours anything and everything is expressed in the name of media or aesthetics.

Are we really ready to face the situations that the new age is bringing? We can easily adopt a lifestyle of comfort but can we really afford to use only one aspect of our personality? Have we forgotten that we are not only heads but also hearts and hands? Is this changing scenario bringing a new set of ethical values with it? Can we observe that the values around us are changing? If they are changing, which are the factors responsible for this change? Where are the roots?

The effect of movies: The ideals in life of a common man are changing very rapidly. The image of a ‘hero’ has changed completely. He is no more an ideal person but is a mixture of good and evil. He no longer pursues the right means for a right end. Even though he is fighting for justice or for his rights he is not always shown to be following the right means. Moreover the right and wrong is generally decided by the self on account of his situations in life. There is no more a theme about ‘RIGHT’. Each one decides his or her right. The purity of the goal or the purity of the means is not scrutinised but is taken for granted.

Many of the films that we are watching these days claim to be part of reality. But as viewers, we fail to understand that it is a part and not the whole. The whole is much larger than the part and yet the part is something which is taken up completely by the viewers. Instead the People start believing that the ‘Truth’ is as shown in the film and ultimately everyone starts believing in the reality of that which is shown. Many times that which is represented by a very small section of the society is taken to be true as the face of an entire society and people of the other section also start believing in the reality of that shown section. Not only do they believe but they also start expressing themselves in the same way as that section of the society. It is generally the case with the masses that they try to relate themselves with this or that class.

The generation that is growing up is absorbing all these practices. Have we assumed that they will need this type of understanding in their life? We have started with an assumption that the coming generation will have to face situations in which these changing ethical norms will be very helpful to them. Yet when the same set of ethics applied in a situation with parents is taken as a revolution. Are we also giving them two different sets of ethical codes?

The previous practice of an ideal householder or an ideal teacher or an ideal preacher is also fading in the society. There is nothing that is completely ideal. Everything is a grey-mixture of black and white. So also are the ideals. Since they are also a mixture of their passions and desires they are also acting according to these influences. Moreover apart from this everyone is seen with a doubt in the mind. So an ethical person is also seen with a sceptical mind. We don’t have any faith in any of the ideologies or any personality. We have information about what happens when one person becomes influential and so very carefully we have thrown the dependency on the ideals. These are replaced by new ones rather than constantly changing ones. The human mind needs some kind of authority pointing towards whom one can escape from the responsibility. Moreover these new ideals are not going to cross check if their way of thinking is applied properly. So there is a lot of freedom in accepting them.

The effect of advertisement: Apart from the ‘ideals’ or ‘hero’ in the life of human beings, a new way of thinking is continuously poured into the human mind through the bombardment of advertisements. Along with the marketing of the products a new set of values is given to the viewers. The advertisements which seem very funny to look at for the very first time when watched over again and again seem to be bringing new sets of values. Some basic values of helping others or good behaviour are also shown to be unnecessary. These manners or etiquettes are also shown to be unimportant. In an age where the use of the entire body is restricted to some basic needs only & we won’t be making use of our body even for helping others; will we be able to use our body with respect to higher development of ours? No control over whatever is served in the form of advertisements makes things even worse.

Who is there to guide in terms of right and wrong? Does it not come to individual parents what they would like to offer to their children? But in our busy schedule can we filter everything? The parents might stop a child from watching a particular movie or a serial but the marketing monsters are available on every channel even on the children channel. Is it not that they are also marketing some values which they want us to adopt? Very subtly our inner beliefs, moral systems are changing & we are not realising it either. Even for our health & wellness we completely depend on others rather than our own instincts.

The changing economy: City life demands a great deal of effort to earn money. City-dwellers particularly because the villages are still self-sufficient units in themselves whereas the city-dweller is completely dependent on others with respect to his every need. Each and everything is bought from outside. In the name of comfort and for the lifestyle which is so demanding nowadays even food is bought from outside and it goes quite unnoticed for most of us. We are so used to buying things from outside that many of us don’t even know that our forefathers have lived a life in which very few things were bought from outside. Thus it is taken for granted that we are consumers and we have to buy things. Now, the price of every single thing is shooting up. It is hardly possible for a person living in the city to think about anything other than earning money. Moreover as he has already forgotten how to be independent with respect to the basic needs of food etc. the space is also a constraint even if one knows it.

So the person without thinking-yes-, without thinking because there is hardly any time left for independent thinking-spends his whole life in earning and rearranging the earned money. There is hardly any questioning or any type of enquiry into the ethics or any other important issues. The questions which occur also have to be suppressed in order to meet the demands of city life. The central values that are taken into account are also related to monetary values only. Economics play a very crucial role in deciding which values a person will follow. The highest goal in life has become money, fame and power. Whatever is required to earn it is practised without considering the different aspects.

It has become crucial that each individual is aware of the changes around. Each one will have to start taking charge of what is happening around. One will have to act with complete awareness & guidance to take the next step. The answers come from deep within. So more & more connection with the SELF is the key. Everyday raising the frequency to highest level possible should be the common norm so as to have a bird's eye view of everything taking place around one's reality.