Bringing back the idea of dignity and honor, a keystone of our traditional value system, is indispensable in reviving our community. In contrast, unbridled consumerism and cupidity, the insatiable desire for material possession, is rendering the whole value system dysfunctional.
Until just a generation ago, dignity and honor used to be a star on the crest of everybody’s chest but that has now become a far cry today and our value system is being relegated as obsolete with no real practical application. In fact, those few people who uphold the idea of dignity and honor are often regarded as failures in life.
Consequently, the most visible effect of disowning our dignity and honor is the growing over-dependence on outside assistance and dissipation of newfound comforts of progress and modernity. Overdependence on government aid in every sphere of life, starting from food grains to pension, is an unintended result and manifestation of a decadent community whose dignity and honor has been compromised.
Because we have abandoned our idea of dignity and honor, even our market system has become one of cronyism. The illegitimate nexus between bureaucrats, contractors and politicians in our society has left a stranglehold around our economy. There is not even one single bureaucrat, contractor or politician who is ready to forego his privilege to uphold dignity and honour. There could be some, but none would dare speak up.
To work hard and generate wealth meaningfully with dignity and honor, or acquire material possession through any and all means conceivable even if it is flagrantly beyond one’s known source of income is a moral choice and most people seem to be comfortable with the latter.
At such a time as this, it is worthwhile to remember our pioneers in education and Christianity. They worked hard in spirit and action. Churches were built facing insurmountable persecution and challenges. Schools were built with meager resources. Roads were cut open with raw muscle power. They tilled the land with sweat on their brow to feed the children. They studied under the lamp, literally burning the midnight oil.
That’s how our foundation as a modern society was laid. But we lost it somewhere after them. Our pioneers must be turning in their graves after what our society has become.
It is now high time to rediscover the idea of dignity and honor that our pioneers, and those before them, upheld with pride, for then and only then can we enjoy the sweet fruit of real hard work and creativity.