This is my take on the way we are asked to live our lives, within the boundaries defined by an unwritten set of universally applied rules. My basic objection is to this generalization and total disregard for the individuality of a person. I believe there should be complete freedom for every person to choose to live his or her life as a personal collection of choices. If one starts with the primary tenet that man is a being of intelligence, then the question of correct choices does not arise since the only course possibly is the rational one. But it is a fact that most people go through life making the most ridiculously irrational choices and then refusing to accept the consequences of their actions. And that is when the entire mess is created…which must then be sorted out by the rational few!
So if I know that I am responsible for my own actions and am willing to live with their consequences, I should ideally be allowed to lead my life without someone else dictating to me the rules and limits. Such rules will be accepted blindly only by people who do not think for themselves. For a person whose life is based on logic, the limits should be obvious, in fact, not even necessary. How can betrayal, dishonesty, and the utter disregard for ability exist in a rational society? So I come to the question that haunts me…if man is a rational being and if a man is the essential component of a society, shouldn’t society be a rational institution?
But today’s society seems to exist and thrive in anarchy and in perpetual instability. You never know when and how disaster may strike. You don’t know what form this disaster will take. And the very act of existing in this eternal wait for something to go wrong is a contradiction to the essence of man, because what is the use of living if one does not expect joy and happiness to be the constant? Perhaps this is the storm before the calm…and the funny thing is that I do not expect the calm to be changeless; instead it is bound to be dynamic and vibrant, full of life and colour and so much more real than this uneasy instability where anybody kills, loots and grabs power with no respect for ownership, ability and effort! I truly believe in the existence of a perfectly logical and essentially happy society.
So if I know that I am responsible for my own actions and am willing to live with their consequences, I should ideally be allowed to lead my life without someone else dictating to me the rules and limits. Such rules will be accepted blindly only by people who do not think for themselves. For a person whose life is based on logic, the limits should be obvious, in fact, not even necessary. How can betrayal, dishonesty, and the utter disregard for ability exist in a rational society? So I come to the question that haunts me…if man is a rational being and if a man is the essential component of a society, shouldn’t society be a rational institution?
But today’s society seems to exist and thrive in anarchy and in perpetual instability. You never know when and how disaster may strike. You don’t know what form this disaster will take. And the very act of existing in this eternal wait for something to go wrong is a contradiction to the essence of man, because what is the use of living if one does not expect joy and happiness to be the constant? Perhaps this is the storm before the calm…and the funny thing is that I do not expect the calm to be changeless; instead it is bound to be dynamic and vibrant, full of life and colour and so much more real than this uneasy instability where anybody kills, loots and grabs power with no respect for ownership, ability and effort! I truly believe in the existence of a perfectly logical and essentially happy society.
