Friday, October 08, 2021

Sickening righteousness

 

Righteousness has its place in evolving values, to attribute morals for better dealings and anticipating the best from others. It’s a transaction for a better world. It’s about loving best in everything and striving to create a better world. The problem begins when you seek purity, that is, morality as the only aspect for dealing. You construct narration around morality, controlling structure of what is perceived as better, now this could be from oppressive systems like religions or through state power to control herds. There is an attempt at using ideas of morality to not only control but degrade others. Morality is therefore coated in sickening righteousness to dehumanize the other. Morality poses itself to be on a civilizing mission. This then also becomes pointers to define others, and divide and segregate common people. Indian society, like any other society that is deeply gripped by brutal banalities of religions, is sickening in its righteous claims. This is ofcourse land of mahatmas and pundits. Morality really cannot be allowed to undermine humanity. Values of human rights hinges on ethics, morality can only contribute. Giving primacy to morality would be giving fantastical fiction primacy over human life, and all that forms the beauty of life.  Decency is basic for dealing in civilized society, it’s a Kantian contract that is logical and deeply humanist.

Since time immemorial humans have been using hallucinants. Its but natural for human being to crave for world beyond their immediate. It’s also is a source of escape from harsh realities of life, ofcourse there are also other means to deal with oppressive reality but then each individual will have to live their own life and examine it in all possible way that life has to offer. And that is what makes life worth living. It’s also very common among younger crowds to experiment with life as they seek to understand and explore. It’s a new world, it’s a new experience, it’s an excitement that only youth can understand. It depends on ones understanding to put limitations where one sense danger or feel one is slipping from self-control. This changes from individual to individual, hence some fall into addiction. Ideally in a more civilized compassionate world all kinds of drugs should be freely available, and its individual who would make the choice as to how much to consume or not. If ever the restriction must be on how much is made available. Also, if the society is not matured to handle these kinds of freedom then please work to control the spread of drugs but do not victimize the consumers, particularly the young who are new to the ways of “proper” living. I have consumed drugs in my 20s, avoided getting addicted but had some deep insights, as also became aware of my limitations. Does that make me good or bad, or a criminal? Does consuming drugs anything to do with any ethics or moral lack? Humans are contradictions of emotions, and only understanding their own experiences in life give deeper insights that make them better. Denying experience is therefore criminal. Taking drugs is not harming others, its experimenting with oneself and with right understanding and circumstance has much greater possibility to come out as better person fully aware of one’s frailties. There is no need to be role model for others, not at 23 nor even at 83. It’s a sickening idea of acknowledgement seeking society that pursue personification of perfect qualities and construct purity to gawk. It’s a sham. Pity the society that needs role models (paraphrasing Sartre). Everyone is role model for oneself. Every day we strive to be better. Nobody can ever be perfect for others, nor try to be otherwise you will miss life. To be human being is to be gloriously imperfect while working to understand oneself and world better.   

 Consuming drugs should not be seen as a crime. It’s a society that lacks compassion that seeks morality in these. Some may consume to get a “high”, and maybe they would mature in life to realize that everything about life is “high”, starting from the sunrise to that insect struggling on the window sill. It’s an individual journey and nobody should have any right to pass judgement. If you cannot fathom the reality of other then you don’t have the capacity to be a human. Each human beings’ tribulation is a personal and deeply individual journey. We have the choice, the only choice, of being compassionate and pray for a better world. 

PS: I wrote this since an hour back someone sent a whatssap of collage of role models at 23 while the unfortunate youngster is shown wanting. It was deeply disturbing, and was sickened by the moral posturing of it.