The culture of self adulation
Jul 13, 2024
Self-glorification of many people has always bewildered me. Why do we feel the need to talk so much about ourselves? Why are storytellers always focused on the negative sides of human life, relationships, and societal norms? Some stories glorify humans and everything humans make as if there is no end to it. The underlying factor behind all this seems to be money. We need money to sustain our lives, and we have moulded the world into an economic entity. We are crazy about fame for making money. We value the perception of living a valuable life in our human society over actual life itself. Pride and vanity play significant roles in this constant cycle of self-glorification.
By indulging in self-adulation, we are essentially playing a losing game. We tend to forget what truly matters - the essential needs for a pleasant life. We require a clean earth, and access to resources like water, clean air, and nutritious food, all of which stem from a pristine environment. To achieve this, we should lead a simple life, not one filled with luxury. Unfortunately, we have been conditioned from a young age to aspire to a life of luxury. Our focus on luxury and greed has led us to disrupt not only our own lives but also the lives of others and the environment, leading to turmoil.
Once, I proposed the idea of a nature-friendly movie to a close film director. His response was disheartening - stating that there is no market for such a film. According to him, movies should primarily focus on drama, conflicts, and relationship issues to appeal to the audience.
It is crucial to realise that without a sustainable environment, our existence is at stake. While our society emphasises the pursuit of money, there comes a point where the value of money diminishes. Beyond our human-created systems, such as banks, cash holds no intrinsic value. Life cannot be bought with wealth alone. If we do not shift our lifestyles from a growth-driven mentality to a more organic approach, we risk jeopardizing our presence on this planet, unable to tell our stories or glorify ourselves in the future.
Governments may not readily adopt such suggestions, as their sustainability relies on commerce. However, if we, as individuals, wish to preserve our lives, we must overcome our greed. Our relentless pursuit of profit has led us to create financial institutions like banks that, despite not producing tangible goods, hold immense power over us. These entities pose a significant danger, perhaps greater than an atomic bomb. Recently, I watched a World Cup cricket match on television, only to be bombarded with finance-related advertisements like mutual funds and credit cards, a stark reflection of our society's priorities.
We must transition from a paradigm where power equates to money. While a drastic shift may be challenging for humanity, failure to adapt will leave us bereft of life, a fate that could become a reality sooner than we anticipate - perhaps as quickly as the time it takes to dress or eat breakfast.
Consider the havoc we have wreaked upon nature despite the altered weather patterns that still manage to provide us with rainfall, though it may not be to the extent we deserve. Nature's patterns are resilient, but our actions have caused harm to other creatures, leading to the destruction of forests and mountains, all in the name of our insatiable greediness.
SAJIKUMAR
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