An Indian
Perspective of Contemporary American Social Problems
by Garry Jacobs
Indian
tradition offers two profound thoughts which have a direct bearing on the
comprehension and resolution of contemporary social problems confronting
nations in the advanced stages of industrialisation and urbanisation. The first
of these two concepts is the essential unity of all being and becoming which is
expressed in the Upanishads by the formulation, "All is Brahman". The
second is a perspective of history based on an evolution of the spirit in life.
Unity of Knowledge ‑‑ Harmony of
Life
The concept of unity expresses variously on different
planes of existence. It expresses as the oneness of all knowledge. All
thoughts, facts, ideas, ideals are fragments of a greater truth which is one.
Ignorance stems from the division of reality into fragments. Knowledge arises
from a vision of the whole of which these fragments are part and the
relationship of each of them to each other and the greater whole.
The
growth of modern science has been towards a greater and greater specialisation,
a division of knowledge into smaller and smaller fragments, ever increasing
preoccupation with the precise measure of microscopic elements, an amassing of
ever larger quantities of data. These tendencies are natural expressions of the
mind's characteristic mode of functioning. Mind moves in a linear fashion from
one fact to the next, one thought to the next, one idea to the next and, like a
spider constructing its web, gradually weaves together a larger mental
structure, a theory, a model, a framework with which to evaluate fact and data.
But at its highest reaches mind reveals the capacity for
another mode of functioning which envisions the whole rather than just the
parts, which expands in all directions simultaneously to view each part within
its wider context, which perceives the essential unity upholding and
supporting diverse forms. These higher powers of mind are the source of the
intuitions and inspirations of the great thinkers and scientists which come in
rare moments, opening the mind's doors to greater truths and new discoveries.
The
problems of the industrialised nations defy the diagnoses of social scientists,
because their approach is partial and detailed, rather than comprehensive and
complete. They search for solutions within the limited context of the problem,
whereas often it lies outside that context. For instance, economics view the
problems of inflation and unemployment as essentially economic problems to be
resolved by changes in economic policy. They fail to see the broader context
and the impact of political, social and cultural factors. The problem of
unemployment does not simply relate to the figures of available jobs and
manpower. It relates to changes in the social values of the people, the role of
women, the level of skills and education, the employment aspirations and
expectations of workers, technological developments, the self‑image of
the individual, social status, level of health care, government social and political
policies, etc. All these and many more are contributing and determining
factors. If all these factors are to be taken into account, the entire social
milieu must be understood and the problem viewed in that context,
At the level of life, the concept of unity expresses as
harmony. All life, all living organisms survive by maintaining a harmonious
relationship with their environment and a balanced growth of the different
parts of their own being. The process of development involves a disruption of the
existing harmony within limits and the restoration of a greater harmony at the
next higher level.
Most
of the problems of modern society derive from a unidimensional progress in one
or more fields, rather than multidimensional expansion in all related fields.
As a result, the wider harmony is broken and the integrity of the whole is lost. A wider perspective is needed in which development in
every field is viewed in relation to the harmony of the whole. The problem of
environmental pollution is an example of unidimensional growth of technology
for production without regard for the disruptive impact of this trend on
harmony with the ecosphere.
Evolution of
Consciousness
The
concept of evolution is common to both Eastern and Western thought. Darwin
described the evolution of physical forms of living organisms. Social theorists
like Spencer extended the same concept to describe the evolution of social
institutions and activities. In contrast, Indian thought has viewed evolution
as essentially an inner spiritual process. The evolution of life forms and
social forms are outer surface expressions of a deeper, more all‑embracing
evolution of consciousness.
Sri
Aurobindo described the evolution of life in matter and the evolution of mind
in life as two stages of a movement that extends above to higher spiritual
levels beyond mind. The evolution of life forms and social forms are outward
results of an evolution of consciousness. Man is the product of this
evolutionary process from matter to life to mind. His consciousness, awareness,
energy, knowledge, propensities, habits ‑‑ all that we call human
nature -‑ is composed of these three elements or levels of consciousness.
The world he lives in and the society he creates also consist of these three
levels.
Physical Stage of Evolution
The
physical consciousness in man of which his body is composed expresses as
physical energy for survival and perpetuation of the species. It is the
dominant consciousness in all primitive societies. In this stage, almost all of
man's time and energy is spent in the drudgery of physical labour for survival.
Hunting, primitive agriculture and crafts are the main source of livelihood.
Human relationships are determined by blood relationship and physical
proximity. The family is the basic social unit and the entire life centers
around preservation and perpetuation of the family. Social organisation is at
the level of the village or tribe. Social position is transmitted by heredity
and there is little or no social mobility. Social power resides with the owner
of physical resources, principal; land. Common social institutions at this
stage are marriage, feudalism, and monarchy. Authority is derived from
tradition and is, embodied in the head of the family, elders, men, and the
hereditary leader. The main problems confronted by society at this stage are
physical‑‑disease, famine, natural disasters, physical oppression
by others. Among social values loyalty to the family and caste are primary.
Growth and expansion of the community are based on the natural
infrastructure such as rivers and ports. The society seeks stability by
clinging to the past, to tradition, and fixed habit. The moral code is fear‑based
and insists on conformity.
The
physical energy and consciousness which sustains life at this level ensures the
perpetuation of the community and maintains a harmony with physical nature.
However, it is also characterised by certain negative traits: inertia, laziness
and violent resistance to change; dullness and stupidity; obstinacy and pettiness;
physical violence and cruelty. Obviously, these traits are not the exclusive
possession of any community; rather they are characteristics common to all
mankind, even the most modern and most educated. This fact reflects the extent
to which the physical consciousness still dominates over the higher energies
which have been released from it.
Vital Stage of Evolution
Out of matter, life has emerged and the physical forms of matter have evolved to express higher and higher aspects
of the life force or vital consciousness. This vital consciousness is characterized
by energy rather than form, activity rather than stability, change rather than
preservation of the past, achievement and enjoyment and domination rather than
security and survival and preservation. In man, it is the energy which seeks
sensual pleasure, excitement, stimulation, success, fame, power, and prestige.
Positively, it expresses as dynamism, enthusiasm, and enterprise. Negatively it
is characterised by greed, lust, dissipation, a craving for sensation,
selfishness, jealousy, impulsiveness, arrogance, and impatience.
The society which is dominated by this consciousness
differs markedly from the society based on the physical. The city becomes the
focal point of intense social activity and expansion. Human relationships are
determined by the need for interaction, association and cooperation beyond the
family and local community. Activity is less physical, more social‑‑trade
and commerce, politics and administration, the arts and recreation. The role of
the family recedes; that of social organisations like the company, the
political party, religious groups, economic classes, schools of art gain
importance. Status is determined by achievement rather than heredity. Power
derives from money rather than land. The capitalist, the entrepreneur, the
industrialist, the shareholder become dominant social roles. The drive for
physical continuity of the group is superceded by the drive for continuity of
the social organisation (the company, the party). The major institutions at
this stage include trade, banking, government, festivals and the church. The
moral code is designed to permit expansion of life activities, e.g., honesty in
contractual obligations and obedience to law or conventions:
The
major social problems confronted at this stage are wasteful and wrong use of
resources leading to depletion and ecological imbalance, urban congestion,
exploitation of one economic group by another, great economic disparities
between haves and have note, political and social oppression of other classes
and races, dissipation, crime etc,.
Mental Stage of Evolution
The
mental consciousness whose emergence has had a dominant influence on the
transformation of society over the last few hundred years is characterised by the
development of the intellectual life in man. As the physical seeks survival and
stability and the vital seeks growth and expansion, the mental consciousness
seeks after understanding, knowledge and through them mastery over nature.
Whereas the vital is enthusiastic, impulsive, dynamic and competitive; mind is
idealistic, curious, creative and tolerant. Whereas the vital is greedy,
selfish, impatient, and jealous; mind is dogmatic opinionated, uncertain, and
narrow.
The
mental consciousness is orderly and
systematic, its actions are
planned, organised and efficient. Its most important social activities are
education, science, and technology. It generates social organisations based on
ideas, ideals and the pursuit of knowledge‑‑schools, research
institutes, scientific bodies, humanistic and philanthropic
groups. As the influence of the mental consciousness pervades society,
knowledge and technology become more powerful than money. The manager and
technocrat replace the capitalist and industrialist as dominant roles. Loyalty
to the family or the institutions is superceded by loyalty to the idea or
ideals. The moral code is based on allegiance to rational or suprarational
truths, idealism, humanitarianism, justice, equality, freedom, and fraternity
enforced by individual conscience and free choice rather than physical
compulsion or the fear of social ostracism.
Because
the action of mind is linear, it generates unidimensional growth which is one‑sided
and unbalanced. Because it deals with ideas which are abstracted and removed
from life, it often fails to foresee the consequences of its acts on life and
nature. Even at its highest, mind is unable to see the whole‑‑for
that a higher power of consciousness is necessary‑‑and it lacks a
vision of the harmony which governs all existence. These characteristics
produce new types of social problems: technological advance outstripping social
and cultural development; impersonal mechanical systems and organisations
leading to isolation, boredom and loneliness; increasing psychological stress
resulting in resort to drugs, suicide, and a seeking for intensity.
Principles of the Evolutionary Progression
These
three levels of consciousness—physical, vital and mental‑-represent
increasing frequencies of vibration on an energy continuum, rather than
separate and discreet stages. The evolutionary advance is from the physical to
the mental and beyond. All three levels of consciousness coexist simultaneously
in every individual and every society. The rudiments of thought and planning
can be found in the primitive farmer and the residues of the barbarian can be
found in the most civilised modern man. The vital society does not lose all the
characteristics of the physical, nor does the mental society lose those of the
vital. In fact, these three pure types of individuals and societies do not
exist. But there is a progressive development, whereby the emergence of the
higher level of consciousness in the individual and the society acts on and
modifies the existing structure of the lower levels and reshapes it. The
process does not occur simultaneously and uniformly in all sections and at all
levels of the society, because society is not a homogenous mass, but a
composite of more and less advanced elements. Each higher energy may reveal itself
in a small minority long before it manifests in a sizeable group, and it may
appear in one section long before it becomes a general possession of the
society as a whole
The
movement from physical to vital to mental is not just a neutral qualitative change.
It is essentially a spiritual progression in consciousness from lower to higher
levels. It brings an increasing knowledge, power, enjoyment, and quality of
life. At the material level, it generates prosperity and comfort. At the mental
level, it generates enlightened understanding, culture and idealism. At the
spiritual levels beyond mind, it uplifts the individual and society toward a
spiritual fulfillment. .
It
is evident that the growth of modern society represents the emergence of mind
in humanity as a whole, not just as the exclusive possession of a rare
individual or privileged caste as in earlier times. The spread of universal
education, the rapid advances of science and technology, the increasing role of
the man of knowledge in society, the emergence of social idealism since the
French Revolution, the diminishing role of the family and increasing importance
of larger social institutions, the growth of nationalism and internationalism
are all expressions of the emerging mental consciousness.
It is
not equally evident that this transition represents an upward progression of
humanity. Modernisation and development appear at best a mixed blessing that
have brought in their wake a plethora of social problems which sometimes seem
more formidable than those they have overcome and evoke a longing in a part of
humanity for a return to a more stable, pastoral existence thought to be closer
to mankind's ideal than the present tumultuous commotion of rapid change,
This
attitude arises from the fact that at each stage in the evolutionary process,
the existing social forms are destroyed or drastically altered and new forms
are created to take their place. The destruction of the old may be rapid or
gradual, but the creation of the new usually requires a long period of
gestation. During the transition period, man is alarmed by the loss of the old
security and stability and lacks confidence in the new institutions which are
emerging. The decline of monarchy and hereditary rights in Europe was viewed
with great apprehension not only by the aristocracy, but even by the common man
who had never experienced the benefits of democracy and lacked faith that a
system based on the will of the majority could succeed. Today there is a
similar response in the economic sphere to the emergence of the modern welfare
state in place of individual self‑reliance and self‑sufficiency.
The
impression of a retrogressive rather than progressive movement is
accentuated by two other factors. The shift
from existing to new forms
and activities results in a disruption of the established social harmony and
alters the balance of social forces. Furthermore, when the existing forms are
broken to permit the upward movement, lower energies which were contained or
suppressed by these forms come to the surface and express themselves for a
brief interval. For instance, the extension of social and economic rights to
underprivileged communities often results in militant assertiveness and
violence in a previously submissive minority, such as the blacks in USA,
precisely because it has disrupted an existing social harmony based on
domination and discrimination and opened the door for pent up frustrations and
hostility to express themselves.
This
process is complicated by an additional factor, the resistance raised by the
society itself, or rather elements within it, to its own further advance. Man
feels insecure in what he perceives as a world constantly threatening his
physical, social and psychological survival. When he is most satisfied, secure
and comfortable, he fears it may not last. He is reluctant to risk his present
security, no matter how low or how tenuous, for a future condition he does not
know. If he is one of the fortunate minority, he is in constant fear that he
may lose his privileged position. Even the relatively unfortunate doubt that a
change will be for the better. For instance, in the late 1970's inflation
emerged as the number one concern of Western society at a time when it enjoyed
unparalleled prosperity. The public and their leaders failed to comprehend that
the rising prices were a direct result of the greater dignity and social value
extended to the common man. Inflation was only a mechanism for re‑establishing
harmony at a higher level of prosperity and social equality. But social
scientists were unable to distinguish this phenomenon from the inflationary
spiral that wrecked economics in the past and, as a result, they recommended
and the public endorsed policies that were outdated fifty years ago and which
threaten to destroy the gains of the last few decades.
Yet
there are indicators by which a forward movement of evolution can be
distinguished from a retrograde movement of disintegration. All that takes the
society ahead, all that maintains harmony, all that is a product of the higher
element, is positive. All that takes us back, all that destroys the harmony,
all that issues from lower elements is negative. If the new form is
progressive, it will generate more physical comfort, increased vital
cooperation, and greater knowledge. It will release freedom, energy,
cheerfulness, joy etc. If a form is generated by a retrograde movement, it will
be physically cumbersome or ugly, contain elements of vital dissipation, and be
devoid of new knowledge. Elements of perversity may also be present. An
evolutionary progression always requires a great effort of a higher order, not
just a greater effort at the existing level. It requires an equally great
effort to retain an evolutionary achievement, whereas retrograde changes are
easily brought about and maintained. A true progress results in the upward
movement of those at a lower level. Those of lower origins come to occupy
higher positions and enjoy greater privileges. More efficient systems, greater
organisation and greater harmony are introduced. Characteristics of lower
evolutionary levels such as violence, cruelty, dishonesty and superstition
diminish.
Three Major Tasks for Solving Social Problems
The
solution of contemporary social problems is a complex matter involving three
major tasks. The first task is to accurately attach positive and negative
labels to each contributing factor. The second is to establish national
policies, educational curricula, social goals and individual ideals which
support the positive and suppress the negative. The last task is to devise
strategies for implementation.
The
first task is made easier by the fact that society has already passed through
all the stages of development at one level or another, in one period or
another, in one place or another. What is new today is the movement to extend
this development to all of mankind at all levels of society in all societies
throughout the world. This enables us to analyse every aspect of social life,
its organisation, systems, ways of functioning and goals, and assign a value, a
relative positive or negative, higher or lower value to each component. For
example, in any society the repetition of fixed tradition belongs to the
physical consciousness whereas the emergence of new thoughts as a result of
education is the expression of a higher mental consciousness in that society.
The
second task of finding solutions is facilitated by the fact that all solutions
are contained within the problems themselves. If we analyse the problem and
trace it to its origins, we can identify the point at which the harmony was
broken or the movement deviated from the forward path. The solution then is to
restore the harmony or correct the direction of movement. For instance, the
acquisition of a new power such as is generated by a new technology may have
come prior to the acquisition of the vital restraint or mental understanding to
use the technology wisely.
The
destruction of an archaic social institution liberates suppressed energies and
creates an atmosphere of freedom, but those who are liberated may lack the self‑control
and skill needed to channel their energy in a positive direction. Inherently
positive factors may be labelled as negative due to a wrong perspective.
Progress in one area may be achieved without adequate effort in other related
areas. Solutions to problems of imbalance or unequal rates of growth can be
easily devised in most cases.
The last
task is to implement solutions to these problems. At the lowest physical level,
implementation is by enforcement. At the highest mental level, it should be by
education. For the levels in between, society can resort to a combination of
enforcement and persuasion, utilising a variety of institutions, private and
public and governmental.
When we
examine some of the pressing social problems confronting the most advanced
industrial nations today, we will find that in most cases the problem is
actually not greater today than before. On the contrary, it may be far less
acute, but the greater social awareness generated by the spread of education,
improved communications and increased social mobility have magnified the
problem and brought it to the focal point of public attention.
In most
cases, the present problems are a direct result of growth, not degeneration.
Often they are age‑old problems which only now the society is prepared to
grapple with. Many of the behaviours we condemn today are possible only because
in the atmosphere of greater freedom suppressed tendencies are permitted
expression. This does not signal a deterioration of society, but rather a
cleansing and purification of lower elements which earlier generations
possessed in even greater measure, but refrained from expressing out of fear.
Each problem must be
subjected to detailed study. At this stage, only some general lines of approach
can be indicated.
The Foundation of American Society
With
these principles in view, we will examine some of the problems facing
contemporary American society. First it is necessary to understand the
background on which these problems arose and the forces of modernity which have
shaped the development of that society.
The USA
was settled by the early waves of immigrants from western Europe who abandoned
or were forced to abandon their native countries in search of a new life in a
new world. The earliest permanent settlers were English commercial adventurers
in quest of America's natural wealth and pilgrims seeking religious freedom.
They were followed later on by wave after wave ‑‑ about 250,000 a
year during the 1850's ‑‑ of mostly lower class peasants from
Germany and Ireland. This was in addition to about half a million African
tribesmen who were brought in as slaves prior to 1800.
These
immigrant pioneers settled down on
virgin soil, fought for their
survival against a harsh climate and environment, a native Indian population
and each other. Few of those who came were from the cream of European society.
They were mostly farmers and labourers. About 60% of those who arrived in the
1820’s had no occupation at all; of the rest 10% were farmers, 6% labourers,
and only 24% were drawn from professional, commercial or skilled occupational
groups,
Those
who came were uprooted from their homeland and cultural milieu. They left
behind family, property, customs, and traditional social values. They risked
everything they had in a bitter fight for bare survival. They set foot on a no
man's land and created living conditions out of forests, marshes and
wilderness.
This
was the starting point and foundation of American life. The struggle to survive
and prosper called for an enormous physical effort and psychological
determination. That effort generated and released an enormous energy in these
people which still characterises the country two centuries later. The pressure
of physical necessity stimulated the practical application of the emerging
mental powers of science and technology for material invention, whereas in
Europe science remained for a longer time pre‑occupied with abstract
theory and knowledge. It also fostered a spirit of cooperation for survival
ignoring to a large degree class distinctions and differences in social origin.
The vast open countryside became a huge cauldron in which different national,
ethnic, religious and economic groups mixed together, lost many of their
distinguishing traits and emerged with a common American character.
Necessity
prompted an unprecedented spirit of experimentation, an eager seeking for new
skills and knowledge with which to tame the wilderness. New thoughts and ideas born in Europe found a more eager and open reception in
America than they did in the countries of their origin. Here there were few
social barriers and traditional restraints. The rigid regulation and discipline
of the early New England colonies found little place as the country spread west.
Nearly any idea could find an advocate if it provided a chance for success. .
Having
faced the most hostile physical conditions and conquered a wilderness, they did
not stop. The energy and dynamism released by that effort acquired their own
momentum and spilled over into the plane of social life and mental exploration.
Experimentation with new social activities and new ideas was pursued with the
same vigorous energy and lack of social restraints. The results embarrassed the
prudish, annoyed the traditional, outraged the establishment. In all this, we
see a positive movement surging ahead. No doubt it is mixed with impurity and
perversity and destruction of all that is held sacred. But out of this
immixture the future lines of evolution emerge and gain momentum, the residues
of the past are thrown up to the surface for a while and then
are cast away.
Most of
what the educated and self‑conscious frown on in American society today
is a natural product of its formative experience and a legacy from its past. It
is not the degeneration of social values and the emergence of a new evil which
we see, but an old way of life finding temporary expression in the permissive
social atmosphere before it finally gives place to new and higher ways of life.
The
process of civilisation is slow and tedious. Energy is only the first stage. It
must be upgraded into skills for production and social living. It must be
further raised and converted into cultured sentiments and emotions. It must be
restrained and refined by the influence of mind to become mellow, self‑disciplined
and calm. Energy, impulse and emotion must be transmuted into mental energy,
thought and idealism. For this transformation, the best instrument is
education, the most essential ingredient is time.
Meanwhile,
the original energy abounds. In earlier times freedom was limited by necessity
rather than by culture or self‑restraint. Now most of the pressure of
physical necessity has been mastered and eliminated. In the absence of physical,
social or psychological constraints, that abundant energy pours out today in
all directions good and bad, high and low, idealistic and perverse. The
development of technology has aggravated the situation by eliminating much of
the physical drudgery which absorbed man's energy and time. Efficient
production has produced leisure, restlessness and boredom. They in turn have
fostered dissipation of energy in unidealistic pursuits.
The
original immigrants of the 17th and 18th centuries have matured into the
economic, educated and cultural elite of America. But they have been followed
by millions and millions of others-‑English, Irish, German, Scandinavian,
Polish, Russian, Italian, Chinese‑‑during the 19th century and
millions more (1.2 million in 1914 alone) during the 20th century from Europe,
Asia and Latin America. Each new wave has come abandoning their past and
seeking a new life. Until very recently most possessed no more property, skill
or education than the earlier arrivals. They all came to start afresh, dropped
the defining and confining traditions of their cultural origins, breathed deep
of the atmosphere of freedom and launched on a new life. Thus, the absence of restraints which
marked early American life has been perpetuated by a constant repetition of the
initial settlement generation after generation.
Development of Modern America
The formative experience of the pilgrims and pioneers is the
basis for the subsequent development of modern America. Many new factors have
played a role in this process, factors which represent the emergence of the
mental consciousness in the plane of social life. These factors have not only
determined the course of social development, but also contributed to the
creation of new social problems. When viewed from a wider perspective, it can be
seen that the problems thus generated result primarily from unidimensional and
unbalanced social growth. They are a natural though not inevitable part of the
evolutionary progression; not, as many believe, signs of social retrogression.
1. Technology
The
emerging mental consciousness has had its most pronounced effect in the
physical plane through advances in science and technology. Improved means of
production have increased productivity and raised the standard of living
throughout the industrialised world. At the same time, they have contributed to
a disturbance of the ecological balance through pollution and rapid exhaustion
of natural resources. Man had the imagination to harness technology for many
few purposes, but he lacked the wider vision which could foresee the
consequences of his inventions on his environment. It was not the inherent evil
of industrial technology that caused the problem, but rather his unidimensional
view of life and his unbalanced application of new mental powers.
A
parallel problem arose in Third World countries where modern medical technology
was utilised to drastically reduce infant mortality and increase life
expectancy. The population explosion has been a direct result of this
application of science for a very beneficial purpose. Here too it was not the
technology that was at fault, but a one-sided application of a new force. The
mental consciousness which created these new medical technologies in the West
was not extended in the form of education to the communities which were to
benefit by them. The power generated by science was not balanced by a
proportionate enlightenment of the recipient population. The imbalance
generated a new problem which was not the result of a retrogression, but rather
of a one‑sided advance.
Technology
in the field of transport has shortened the distances and vastly increased
physical and social mobility. Man who was until recently a stationery
provincial creature has now become a globe trotter. The vital excitement of
travel to new places as well as the lure of higher education, better jobs and
lucrative trade have resulted in the migration of large numbers of people
within countries and overseas. In the USA for instance, the average family
shifts its residence every four years. The rapid growth of cities due to
migration from rural to urban areas was facilitated by the improvements in
transport technology and the development of roads. The concentration of modern
life in the cities made them an irresistible attraction for those living in
rural areas where technology had not yet revolutionised the way of life. Urban
congestion is another example of the problem generated by unidimensional growth
in a positive direction.
This
technological advance which has generated unprecedented material prosperity has
not been accompanied by an equally rapid development of human relationships.
Just a century ago man's existence was confined to his own family and the local
community. His relationships were based on physical ties of the blood and
physical proximity of lifelong neighbors and friends. In the next stage his
relations become less bound by physical attachments. He develops emotional
relationships with those he works and meets with. Extensive vital
relationships, less dependent on family bonds and physical proximity, replace
the more limited relations of stationary physical life. This change has
occurred but not at the same pace as technological change with the result that
the old physical bonds have been disrupted, but not fully replaced by vital
ones. Man is not yet able to extend the same emotional bonds and derive the
same comfort and satisfaction at this higher level. This temporary lag in
emotional development has contributed to the increasing feelings of loneliness
and isolation in modern life.
Technology
has advanced in another sphere where the positive benefits of the change are
far less obvious, the field of military science and particularly nuclear
weaponry. The splitting of the atom and the harnessing of nuclear energy for
war or peace represent the application of mental consciousness to delve into
the deepest secrets of physical nature. The positive utility of this mental
power is evident from progress in the field of genetics and genetic engineering
that produced the hybrid varieties of food grain which ushered in the Green
Revolution and have saved millions of people from famine. It is evident that
the power of mind can be utilised for great good or horrible evil. The question
is what factors determine the purpose for which it is applied.
As we have discussed earlier, the evolution of mind in
humanity progresses simultaneously at many levels and in many fields. Science
and technology are the expression of one of its lowest and therefore most
easily mastered powers, the power of mind over physical nature. The emergence
of mind also has a profound impact at the level of society, human values and
human psychology, but these are greater powers which are slower to manifest. As
these higher powers emerge, the horizons of man's life widen from the narrow confines
of his own locality to the farthest corners of the world. His ego which once
identified only with his own family, his village, his community, his caste,
gradually expands to embrace a larger national identity and eventually to feel
a oneness or sense of community with all mankind.
But before this higher development
takes place, man regards with suspicion and distrust those who speak a
different language, have different racial origins, follow another religion, and
live in distant lands. The sense of identification which compels him to share
his possessions with his own family and friends and to give service for the
benefit of his community or his country, does not extend to those at a greater
physical, social or psychological distance. His generosity, unselfishness, and
goodwill function
within narrow bounds. Education is mind's chief
instrument for breaking the narrowness of the physical ego and enlarging man's
sense of a common humanity with all.
The
utilisation of science to amass weapons of great destruction is one expression
of the gap that has emerged between the development of mind's power over the
physical and its impact on man's, social and psychological existence. It is a
perversion reflecting the residue of primitive instincts and physical stupidity
(egoism), which are carried over from our evolutionary past. Yet, the very
threat of mass annihilation has also led to an awakening of the world community
to the insufficiency and danger
of a narrow‑minded outlook based on national or regional self-interests
and unrestrained aggression. This awakening is documented by a recent statement
in the New York Times:
"…a
substantial part of the world has learned… People in the United States and
Europe know they don't want war. It has
not long been so. In 1914 the prevailing mood in Britain was relief at the
outbreak of war and rejoicing at the chance to bash the Kaiser...Nations still
make war, but they need excuses now, the hypocrisy that pays tribute to virtue.
That is real advance in time..."
Nature utilises the present danger to exert pressure on man to renounce
his smallness and perversity and to acquire a global outlook and a humanistic
idealism which embraces all mankind.
2. Social Freedom
As the
emergence of mind radically transforms man's relationship to physical nature,
it also acts to transmute the character of human social relations. The French
Revolution proclaimed to the world the sacred trinity of humanitarian idealism,
"liberty, equality, fraternity". Though civilisation is a long way from
realising this ideal, at least with respect to the first term it has made
enormous progress over the last two centuries.
Freedom
from oppression by foreign nations, freedom of self-determinations, freedom
from exploitation and racial discrimination, freedom of religion are not new
ideas, but the acceptance of these ideas by the world community and their
widespread implementation certainly mark a new chapter in the history of
civilisation. Until 1865 slavery was actually legal in nearly half the states
of USA. Until 1946 nearly half the world's population was subjected to colonial
imperialism. The dramatic changes of the last century are due to the increasing
influence of the mental consciousness and mental ideas on the life of humanity.
The
growth of freedom can be seen at every level and in every field of social life
from the freedom of nations to determine their own destinies to the freedom of
the individual to adopt new fashions and styles of life, the liberation of
women from an inferior social position, the freedom of the citizen from illegal
exercise of authority by government, the freedom of children from physical
abuse by parents and teachers, freedom of the consumer from misrepresentation
by manufacturers, freedom of privacy from unwarranted intrusion, protection of
the poor from police brutality, freedom from job discrimination against
minorities and women, etc.
The main result of this
social liberation has been an enormous release of pent-up energies, an upward
movement of suppressed groups, a greater exercise of political rights, an
unprecedented prosperity at all levels of the population, freer access to the
advantages of modernization, etc.
Simultaneously
with these gains there has been an explosion of negative symptoms which concern
the community and raise serious questions about the ultimate social
consequences of following the present course. Aggressiveness and violence by
the lower classes, a revolt of the exploited, sexual promiscuity and drug abuse
by youth, the lessening of parental authority before individual maturity, the
decline of the sanctity of marriage, militancy among the blacks and other
minority groups, the growing incidence of crime, are a few of the most
disturbing signs of trouble. The direct relationship between fulfillment of a
social ideal which all believe to be the highest good and the destruction of
traditional social values and patterns of behaviour is apparent and
disconcerting to community leaders and social scientists alike.
The
evolution of consciousness is a progressive development toward greater freedom;
freedom from ignorance, from want, from persecution and exploitation, from pain
and suffering, from coercion and oppression. Our historical past is filled with
experiences of an opposite kind which we all carry as a conscious or
subconscious legacy of fear, insecurity, resentment, jealousy and hostility.
The extension of an external freedom instantaneously removes the outer
constraints on our behaviour, but the psychological legacy is removed only
after a prolonged possession and enjoyment of a new freedom.
The
first response of a previously suppressed or exploited community to the
extension of a new freedom is to exercise their new possession by an assertion
against those who previously oppressed them. Where physical violence is not
possible, they may express their assertion by an attack on the values of the
society which excluded them and to which they have just been granted access.
The black civil rights movement in the U.S. became aggressive and violent only
after blacks were granted substantial social and economic freedom by the
majority white community. The repudiation of traditional middle‑class,
social values regarding fashions, money, authority, and sex by American college
youth in the 1960's was the result of their mental liberation from blind
adherence to white Anglo‑Saxon middle class morality through intellectual
exposure to new ideas and other cultural values, and the economic liberation
from fear of want brought about by the unprecedented boom of the 1950's.
Each of
these negative expressions has had a destructive or disturbing impact on the
society. Partially this process represents the destruction of old values which
have been outgrown and need to be replaced. The unwillingness of society to
fully part with the past necessitates a violent confrontation. Partially this
process is a catharsis of suppressed impulses and desires which were prevented
from expressing earlier. The preoccupation of America with sex during the last
twenty years is a surfacing of long repressed physical and vital tendencies
which must be outgrown as social and human relations evolve to a higher level
of emotion and culture. What Freud discovered eighty years ago festering
beneath the thin veneer of civilised behaviour has been released, so that it
can be cleansed and mastered. The first essential step in that process is for
it to become conscious.
Social Mobility
The
enhanced physical mobility made possible by improvements in transport and
technology is parallel to increased upward social mobility at all levels of the
population. For instance, the average real income of black families increased
by 125% between 1947 and 1974 ( compared with only 90% increase for whites.)
The percentage of families from black and other minority races below the
poverty line dropped from 56% in 1959 to 29% in 1977 and the absolute number of
non‑white individuals below the poverty line decreased absolutely by 3
million persons in spite of an increase of at least 8 million in the population
of that group. Lower class whites have made similar gains. In fact, there has
been a substantial migration of families not only to higher standards of living
and higher income groups, but to higher educational, occupational and social
levels as well. For instance, the number of blacks elected to political office
in the USA increased tenfold from 1965 to 1973.
This
trend is the result of increased economic prosperity at all levels generated by
technological advance combined with the impact of mental idealism which has
generated a movement towards a more
egalitarian society. Though we are much further from achieving social equality
in real terms than we are from social freedom, still significant changes have
taken place. One need only recall that in 1860 there were nearly 4 million
black slaves in the USA‑‑and that from 1960 to 1978 the percentage
of women employed increase by 33 1/3%. Great strides have been made in
providing more equal access to educational and job opportunities for minority
races and women.
One
of the consequences of this movement
has been a significant immixture
of previously segregated social classes
bringing into the upper
stratum those who still possess many of the behavioural traits and cultural
values of the lower classes. The increased exhibitionism, the lessening of
sexual inhibitions, and the spread of drugs, which were earlier strictly a
lower class phenomenon partially derive from this source.
The
movement toward a more egalitarian society
has raised the expectations
of lower income groups, increased wage demands and consumerism, and thereby
spurred inflation. The progress of women toward equal economic rights and
opportunities has made them less dependent on their spouses for economic
security and removed one of the most serious barriers to divorce. Woman’s
changing status has also removed the social odium attached to divorce and extra‑marital
relationships. Therefore, indirectly the extension of equal status has helped
to undermine a code of behaviour based on fear of social disapprobation.
Equality in the social sphere has been achieved at a faster pace than the
acquisition of psychological self‑restraint and cultured behaviour which
develop more gradually by the influence of the mental consciousness over
emotions and sensations. In the short run, the removal of external social
constraints leads to a lowering of behavioural norms.
Another
movement has also contributed to the generation of psychological tension and social stress. Climbing the social or
economic ladder required an enormous individual effort. Sometimes a college
education is the sole instrument for ascent from a family's lower class origins
to an individual’s higher social aspirations. Performing at a higher position
requires more attention, alertness, dynamism, initiative, sense of
responsibility. Enormous self‑restraint is necessary to curb earlier
habits and accepted forms of behaviour which are resented or impermissible at
higher levels. This puts a stress on the individual, greater even than the
general stress of modern life, further contributing to the stress‑related
symptoms of contemporary society‑‑violence, suicide, alcohol and
drug abuse, divorce, and crime.
4. Welfare State
The
first social welfare programme sponsored by the US Federal Government was the social security system introduced in 1935 to
provide retirement pensions and unemployment payments to workers. Though
developments in the US lag far behind many other Western nations, still over
the last 40 years there has been a dramatic change in the role of the government
in the field of social welfare. Today there are programmes covering employment,
retirement, health, education, housing, disability, maternity and child‑care.
These
programmes have removed much of the insecurity and anxiety associated with loss
of job, illness, and old age. They have also indirectly contributed to the
breakdown of the joint family and the institution of marriage. As one
expression of the shift from the family to a larger basic unit of society,
government is replacing the family as the ultimate source of security and
support.
Modern
society provides many supports to the aged which were not available a few
generations ago. Pensions, medical support, old‑age homes, retirement
communities now make it possible for the aged to maintain their independence
and self‑reliance. While this has alleviated a great deal of physical
suffering, it has also aggravated psychological problems. The joint or extended
family is a great psychological support to the individual. It provides physical
assistance and security to the young and old. In the extended family, the elder
generation plays an important role in giving attention and informal education
to the young which a mother, especially a working mother, cannot provide.
Children today get less attention in the house and thus are more prone to
psychological distress. Families also contain fewer children today providing
less sibling companionship. The elder generations become isolated and useless
by being separated from the younger generations. Even the housewife may suffer
from the absence of her parents or a large number of children
Unemployment
insurance has reduced the physical deprivation of those who are without jobs.
It has also reduced the incentives for the unemployed to seek re‑employment.
Inactivity easily leads to boredom and loneliness. The breakdown of the
extended family is part of a movement from the physical to the mental stage in
society. It makes possible a widening of man's emotional life by fostering more
intimate relations with a wider sphere of life. The widening and deepening of
the emotional ego, the development of cultural sentiments for those outside the
family, the freeing of human relations from the narrow limits of the physical
are also an essential part of the same process. But these two movements do riot
progress at the same speed. The dissolution of the old forms occurs first
and generates a pressure for the recreation of human relationship
at a higher level. During the interim period, the absence of the old supporting family
structure results in a sense of isolation in the individual, boredom,
loneliness and psychological depression.
Yet
let us not glorify the past we are transcending. It is true that the
institution of family has played a vital role in the process of civilisation
and culture and that the highest human qualities have found expression in
familial relationships. But it is also true that while the centering of life in
the family has permitted the development of deep emotional intensities, it has
not fostered expansive emotional qualities of sympathy and compassion for those
unrelated by blood and physical proximity. This expansive movement is the
characteristic action of mind and an expression of mind's idealism. It is one
of the fruits of the mental consciousness which society acquires during its
evolutionary progress, and for that the narrow boundaries of traditional social
existence must first be broken.
5. Education
The other modernising trends we have been examining‑‑technology,
freedom, social mobility‑‑have all derived an impetus and support
from the American educational system, which more than any other in the world,
has extended the opportunity to acquire knowledge to all levels and sections of
the population. Today a larger percentage of American youth, 56% in the 20‑24
age group, are enrolled in high education than in any other country; in fact
the level is double that of most other Western nations. Education has been a
major factor in the emergence of the USA as the world’s leading industrial
power. It has also been used as a conscious instrument for absorbing and
assimilating immigrants of diverse cultural backgrounds and inculcating the
basic values of American life.
Aside
from its obvious influence on economic and political life, modern education has
had a profound influence on social values, attitudes, and aspirations.
Education has imbued women and minorities with a thirst for freedom and social
equality. It has helped bring down social barriers and open up the social
hierarchy to every hard working achiever. It has widened the mental horizons of
the most educated to admit a more mature view of the world. Yet at the same
time, the rapid spread of education has assaulted traditional social
institutions, liberated enormous energies and destabilised the social
hierarchy. Education has eroded traditional sources of authority like the
parent, the teacher, and the government. It has prompted greater independence
and individual initiative resulting in greater divergence, dissent, and
conflict. It has placed an enormous psychological burden on youth‑‑the
burden of deciding for oneself, choosing one’s own way, trying to distinguish
right from wrong in a complex world. Education has helped liberate the minds of
the underprivileged, principally woman and blacks, creating a greater self‑awareness
of their disadvantages, position and discontent. It has widened mental horizons
faster than social opportunities, leading to frustration and resentment,
sometimes hostility and revolt.
Sources of Contemporary Problems Summarised
We have seen that the emerging
mental consciousness is responsible for most of the advances we identify with
modern life‑‑prosperity, comfort, knowledge, social freedom and
equality, productivity, leisure, etc. We have also seen that the emergence of
this higher power generates new types of social problems and appears to
aggravate and intensify some existing problems. The reasons for this as already
discussed are summarised below:
1.
Evolution does not proceed at a uniform velocity in all fields and at all
levels. Some new powers emerge earlier than others; some fields advance faster.
The result is the creation of temporary imbalances and disharmonies between
different levels, e.g. physical freedom and psychological self‑restraint,
and between different fields, e.g. political rights and economic opportunity.
These rates of growth and the resultant imbalances can be corrected and kept
within manageable limits by a conscious effort of the society once the real
cause of the problem is identified.
2.
The characteristic action of mind is linear unidimensional progress. Many
problems have been generated by the concentrated application of mental powers
to achieve specific results in limited fields, e.g., the application of
technology without thought for its impact on the environment. This has
aggravated the general tendency toward unequal rates of growth and the
resultant problems. This deficiency can also be overcome, but only by rising
above the limitations of the physical intelligence with its emphasis on
specialisation, an infinite dissection of reality into tiny parts, and a
preoccupation with minute analysis of physical data to acquire a higher
integrated perspective and a wider perception of the greater whole. All
dimensions, viewpoints, experiences and circumstances are a part of this
greater whole.
3. The
emergence of mental consciousness in social life generates a movement toward
greater freedom and equality. In the process, many latent tendencies and
repressed energies come to the surface to work themselves out in the permissive
social atmosphere, giving the appearance of a moral degeneration and threat to
the social existence. The destructive effects of this phenomenon can be
minimised by providing appropriate means for the surfacing energies to acquire
constructive psychological skills and opportunities for channeling them into
constructive activities. Freedom must be accompanied by education and
opportunity.
The
evolutionary process raises those below to higher levels. Inevitably, this
involves immixture of lower values, habits, and activities with those of a
higher order and a dilution of standards. For instance, the extension of
education to all sections of the population results in a general lowering of
the quality of education. But this fall is only temporary, and in the next
round it leads to a further development of the field to higher levels than ever
before. It is part of the process by which the privileges which were once restricted to the elite are extended to the whole society.
5. The
awakening of mind, the spread of education and growth of mass media have made
the public far more aware of what is happening around them than ever before.
The awareness of the present is not matched by an equal knowledge of conditions
just a few decades ago. The greater awareness generates a growing concern for
current social problems and there is a tendency to believe that the problems
are more serious today just because the public is more aware of them, when
often the problem is actually less acute than before.
Decline of moral values in modern America
In order to fully demonstrate the value of this
approach, we will examine in detail the origin and development of one major
social problem in contemporary America. The growing incidence of extramarital
relationships and the increasing use and abuse of narcotic drugs are frequently
cited as proof of a deterioration in the moral fabric of American society which
augurs ill for the future of the country.
Neither
of these phenomena can be adequately explained by the social scientist if he
restricts his view to the level at which the problem manifests. Some
sociologists see these trends as the result of a shift in moral values from the
puritanical self‑discipline of the Protestant ethic which honoured hard work,
personal sacrifice and a sense of duty to a new set of values with a more
wholesome and permissive attitude toward pleasure, self‑indulgence, and
freedom of individual action according to one’s own inclination. This shift is
attributed to the decline in the role of religion in modern life, the
emancipation of women, the erosion of simplistic value systems, increased
physical mobility and social mixing. It has been noted that historically sex
anal drug permissiveness are greatest in the lowest socio‑economic class,
but due to greater upward social mobility, increased literacy and the influence
of mass media, the traditional class distinctions are breaking down and society
is becoming more homogeneous.
All of these factors are no doubt linked to the change in
behaviour related to sex and drugs. But even a thorough inventory of these root
causes does not really get to the heart of the matter and help us understand
exactly what is going on and why. This approach does not tell us whether the
changes are good or bad, positive or negative, progressive or retrogressive.
The sociologist observes the direction of change but cannot say whether
ultimately the change is for the better. For this an analysis of root causes is
not sufficient. There must be a wider integrating perspective which views these
changes in the broader context of social and human development.
The
real root cause of these problems is not changing social values and styles of
life, but changing human consciousness. As we described earlier, man and
society are in the process of transition from the physical‑vital to a
more vital‑mental stage of evolution. Human relationships during the
physical stage are determined by blood and physical proximity centered around
the family and the local community. Attitudes, ideas, opinions, sentiments,
feelings, and emotions toward others derive from this basis and are extremely
narrow. Those from a different location are looked on as strangers or
foreigners, those of different ethnic background as inferior, those of
different religious persuasion as infidels. The most important social value is
loyalty to the family and intense emotions of affection and attachment are restricted to members of the family.
As
society evolves, human relationships become less dependent on physical factors.
Man associates more with people of other communities, nationalities, races,
castes, classes and religions. The importance of family ties declines, the
importance of social relations and occupational associations increases.
The joint family gives way to the nuclear family, social institutions like the
company and government offer security and companionship formerly derived from
the family. Man offers his loyalty to larger social units‑‑the
company, the class, the nation. His attitudes, sentiments and emotions widen
considerably to embrace a much larger segment of humanity beyond his family and
locale. He comes to smile at the stranger instead of eyeing him suspiciously.
He enquires with curiosity about others' beliefs and cultural traditions,
rather than maintaining an aloof sense of superiority.
These
changes represent a development in human consciousness from the physical to the
vital and mental planes. Relationship at the physical level is mere physical
attachment to others who are felt as part of oneself, i.e. of the same body. At
the vital stage, relationship is based on feeling and sensation, nervous
stimulation, the intensity and pleasure of food and sex and companionship with
those around. Only when man goes beyond this level can pure emotions and
sentiments develop which are not confined and restricted to physical
circumstances. Communities have attained this level of cultured relationship in
the past, but it has been confined to a small section of the population,
usually an aristocratic class freed from the preoccupation with material
concerns by generations of wealth and comfort. Today society as a whole is
making the transition to this higher level. The spread of education, the
extension of social freedom to women and minorities, the dissolution of rigid
class barriers, increased social mobility, are aspects of this process which we
have described earlier.
What
then is the real cause for the apparent decline in moral values associated with
sex indulgence and drug abuse? These activities are primarily an attempt to
compensate for the loss of physical attachments and nervous intensity brought
about by the breakdown of the family. Man as an individual has adapted to
social change by changing his attitudes toward others, by raising his
consciousness from the physical and nervous to the emotional and mental planes.
But this adaptation is only partial and not universal. Some are better prepared
than others for this change and adapt to it more easily. Those who cannot, seek
a substitute for the lost intensity of family relations at the same level,
rather than making the arduous effort to raise themselves to a higher level.
Sex
activity for its own sake and the use of drugs to generate nervous intensity
are an effort to fill in the void that is felt at the nervous level by the
lessening of physical‑vital bonds. The seeking for pleasure, which the
sociologist regards as a new set of social values, is really not that at all.
It is an attempt to reduce the pain and anxiety of the transitional phase. The
real social values that are emerging are those based on a greater acceptance of
other people regardless of race, creed or sex, a wider sympathy and compassion
for all humanity, a more purely emotional and less physical or nervous capacity
for affection.
Greater
social freedom, which is a product of the evolution, has generated a more
permissive atmosphere, not only for those prepared for life at a higher level,
but for all those below as well. At the highest level, this freedom is used to
develop new values and new forms of social relationships. At the lowest level,
it is used to express latent and suppressed tendencies such as repressed
sexuality.
Greater
social mobility, another product of the evolution, generates a mixing of
society. It raises those below and exposes them to higher values, but it also
raises lower forms of cultural behaviour which dilute those with which they are
mixed. The assimilation of slang language into American usage at all levels of
society is one example. So long as behaviour the society considers unwanted is
confined to the lowest classes, it goes relatively unnoticed and ignored. When
the same behaviour occurs in the higher stratum of society, it is viewed as a
sign of social disintegration and becomes a cause of great concern.
Historically the term 'society' has always referred to the upper classes,
particularly the aristocratic elite, and excluded those at the bottom of the
social hierarchy. Today this is no longer the case. Society has come to regard
all its members and levels as part of itself. Therefore what happens at all
levels today is of concern to the whole society. Furthermore, many from the
lower levels have moved up and the behaviour which was considered
acceptable for them in their earlier status is now a source of outrage and
distress. What has changed is not the rate of crime, but the level at which it
is incident today.
Education,
another product of the evolution, generates a greater awareness of social
standards of behaviour and the mass media give a wide publicity to
social events. By this process man becomes more conscious of his own
deficiencies and more aware of those expressed by others. The frequent
publicity given to homosexuality lends the impression that sexual deviation is
a much greater problem today than ever before. But according to Encyclopaedia
Britannica there is little evidence that the incidence of homosexuality has
actually increased. What has increased is our awareness of it.
The
foregoing is only a preliminary analysis intended to illustrate the approach,
not a comprehensive examination of this problem. Other social problems can be
handled in a similar manner. When a study along these lines is completed, the
source and causation of the problem will be seen in the context of the society
as a whole and appropriate remedial action can be indicated. Such action may
include measures to minimise the negative symptoms which trouble the society,
policies to lessen the underlying pressures which generate the disturbance, and
strategies to facilitate the further development of the society in the areas
where it is deficient which is the real permanent remedy to any social problem.