The fact of the matter is that any society is founded on the principles of

And what kind of pleasures have we derived from it -

Laissez Faire – so free you are. The point that is missed in this entire exercise is that the basis of any society is

When does a person feel guilty?
When he thinks that he has not adhered to the internal standard that he had established for himself.
What is this internal standard?
It is the sense of right and wrong. It represents the effect of his actions on others, whether they benefit/harm the society at large.
Can internal standards be set in isolation?
No. One has to think about the others.

Having established that measures external to a person wont prevent him from committing criminal acts or engage in potentially destabilizing activities, I shall prove in this section that the only prevention in such cases would stem from inside, the voice of conscience as it is called. Further, I shall prove that increasingly such internal frameworks are getting more fragile making it difficult for a person to …

But this does not happen anymore.
I want more. I want it for myself. Damn the society. If I work hard then I should get the rewards…Who cares, I am happy. Okay, I shall do it but what’s in there for me.
The problem with this parody of I’s is the very excess of it. We have become geared to think only about ourselves. More often than not, internal controls are now established with the intention to glorify oneself. Others are conveniently forgotten.

The fact of the matter is that we have promoted individualism to such great extent that the founding principles of any society, that of toleration and restraint are withering away. We are now talking of external controls. But they cannot ever work for the simple reasons that people can find ways to get around the system. To bring about stability in the social system, there is a need to revisit the old Gandhian principles of toleration and restraint.

No restraint would mean no guilt! And when this is the situation then may god help you. External measures wont work and the people shall act in ways that are utility maximizing without any consideration or thought for others. People are smart enough to get past ways put up by laws and regulations. At the end of the day it is the internal control that is going to be the deciding factor!

Throughout, unabashed materialism is being talked about. Indulge, give in to your desires – that is what is happening across the world. Look at the advertising campaigns across the world- Nike’s ‘just do it’ to L’Oreal’s ‘I am worth it’ of for that matter Gillette’s ‘the best a man can get.’ – it is all about getting it for oneself. Parents extolling little children to engage in fiery competition so that they can win. Do anything to succeed. Because you deserve it, indulge, splurge, and give in to your desires. Laissez Faire, free we are and what is it that we are trying to achieve. Development?

What we call development is not development at all.
Paranoid about the next day – all of us are afraid. We do not know what is going to happen to us. This is uncertainty but we are its makers. No restraints, so have it. What is it that we are trying to do by this? We are alive but are we really living. Our dwellings may be more sanitized but can we call them homes in the truest sense of the word. Some of the poorest and underdeveloped people would be perhaps happier.

Disciplining is bad, appeasement is in.

Could Hitler have grown to such barbaric extremes, had not all his acts been condoned? Right from the time that he annexed Poland, till the time the Blitzkrieg lasted, the fall of Holland and Belgium – Alliance countries condoned his each and every act. They followed a distinct policy of pacification and the result was that he wanted France next.

There is a distint need for all of us to bolster the internal framework because this is the only thing that is going to sustain a society.

go and at - it is all about celebration of individual prowess and restraint is forgotten! Gillette’s

We talked about killer instinct – and when we are having it then we crib. This is not done.
What is the parameter for growth and development? I contend that it cannot be measured by GDP per capita or any such measure, rather it is the happiness per capita and if that being the case then we certainly are not developing at all. People are in miserable conditions around us!!

The only place where some degree of restraint has been brought in is environment and to that extent countries and people in general have agreed to make a knowledgable attempt to contain its perils.

We definitely have gone overboard and I don’t see any end in sight. Paranoid about the next day, the next big thing- everybody is worried about it. And when it arrives, then we start worrying about the next big thing. This got to stop sometime – we are living in the future and not in present. Stop clicking the pictures and stop to drink in the beauty of the sceneries around you!!

Progress – u keep yourself alive but are you living…?

Women of substance – okay, so you have the substance!! And then say that there is a problem. Self indulgence has to go and a broad societal framework has to be brought in.

There is a problem in the sense that people are afraid the world over. We are keeping ourselves alive, perhaps in a way better than our forefathers did but are we happier for it. I doubt it.

But not the other extreme either – we ought to do something on the count of a middle path!