Speed thrills but kills

Most of us are aware of this adage, rather this saying on the billboards posted by Government bodies. Before it conjures up any memories of another lecture on speeding in your vehicle, you can be rest assured that this speed is different. It’s about us and our lives and by us I mean those who live in the so called metropolitans and cosmopolitans. Having said that, not all might agree with what I have to say.

The speed I am talking about is the pace of our lives. We are always on the move. Nothing suffices us. We need more, more money, more status, more salutes, bring them on, I need more. Yet, we hardly seem to have time for anything. We are always competing, with our friends, our rivals, our neighbors. You see this everywhere, on the road, in the house. Whether it is the maddening traffic or the rush to catch the elevator, you want to race ahead. Man is considered the most intelligent being on earth, wonder why? All because he invented the computer, made optimum utilization of the resources and shrunk the boundaries.

People talk about and are proud of the ‘Speed of thought’ that the man has been able to achieve. Little do we realize that we are losing our way in the labyrinth of meaningless and endless self-destructive path. Let’s talk about what man calls progress. It’s really funny how man continues to fool himself time and time again.

We created boundaries to the erstwhile seamless world. Now we are trying so hard to wipe those boundaries and sometimes even talk about successfully shrinking those boundaries. We pride ourselves in living in an age where everything is accomplished by the speed of thought. That very speed is pushing us back every time we make progress. So to get away from this set back, we start moving faster. So are we really getting anywhere or just fooling ourselves?

It is very unfortunate that what man perceives as progress and the tools he uses to achieve that progress is only moving him closer to colossal self-destruction. If only he takes time to look back at his so called accomplishments.

Moral policing today is seldom about right and wrong, although its literal definition tries to distinguish between the two. The line is fast blurring and speed is the main element contributing to this obscurity.

By speed, I mean little time to look back, to introspect. The pace at which we are moving is taking the sheen off morality. It is more a matter of convenience and what suits us. We have made great strides on the technology front which has single handedly flattened our globe, shrunk our boundaries and expanded our horizon. This in turn has facilitated intermingling of ideas and cultures. This has not augured well for everyone. Acceptance of foreign culture or ideas has only been in patches. This has led to a fair amount of
cultural and intellectual clashes.

Moral policing needs to be looked at from a much broader perspective than what it is perceived of today. Its not about what we do or how we are live our lives. It is about the way we think. Its not just about pre-marital sex, dance bars, late night binge, rave parties or a couple kissing in public. Of course the above might set a bad precedent if let loose, but that’s not all. There is more to it than what meets our eyes. For me restricting moral policing to just these factors is a narrow approach. I understand if these are constricted to India alone, but from a global perspective, as mentioned in the topic, there are other critical factors.

Cloning, nukes, climatic change, imbalance (extinction) amongst species, terrorism (hatred) have all had its roots somewhere in the unrestrained nature of mankind. Of course, credit for our development must go for the speed at which we have achieved it. But unrestrained speed can only lead to disaster. Moving at the speed of light, we look like stopping short of nothing. You might wonder its relation to ‘moral’ policing. Infact they are highly correlated and it stems from our obligation and deep commitment towards mankind and everything there is to life.

Compulsive policing of our moral values, often narrow in nature and approach is doing us more harm than good. And invariably the underlying motive is either politically intended or attributed to pecuniary reasons. Anything to do with policing or restricting is instantly and often hastily met with protests and objections. That pretty much is the case with anything that tries to change or straighten what has been motoring on unchallenged.

The question to be answered is the need for moral policing? Moderation is the key to a balanced and just approach. Extremism hardly pays. Unchecked life leads nowhere.
It is not about a country or a culture. We cannot afford to risk singling any one factor. It is a blend of factors resulting in a deviation from the accepted.

Lest you misunderstand my stress on the need for moral policing, I am not even remotely suggesting anything like what it is perceived of today or made to believe. I insist on moral policing, the one which mature, responsible individuals are aware of and volunteer.

Today it is not enough if we as individuals police ourselves. Moral policing cannot be constrained to what individuals do. It is required at a global level. A collective, informed effort can help us achieve our objective.

The urgency of the issue is unprecedented. If we fail to judge, if we fail to introspect on the implications our actions would have now, this could easily sound the death knell for us and for life on earth. Restraint is the watch word.

Time taken to introspect would provide a more realistic approach towards our future. We have a collective responsibility towards the world we are living in and one of the best tools to remind us of this is ‘moral policing’, a self imposed moral policing.

Every man is his own inspiration. Hope is what keeps him alive!