Three main characteristics define modern life.
1. We derive self-worth only from our careers (Work)
2. We indulge in compulsive consumption to cover up the existential void (Consume)
3. We are emotionally programmed to feel for things far away from us (Distract)
Let’s examine each of these three characteristics closely.
We derive our deepest identities from our careers
In the past, when you met someone new, you would perhaps ask “Where do you come from” or “Which family do you belong to?” or in India “What is your caste”. Today one of the first questions we are asked is “What do you do”. Our vocation is used to identify which ‘class’ we belong to. This helps one guess one’s relative power status, preferences and identity. If you say you are a politician, the other person immediately defers to you (or hates you depending on their views). If you say you work in software, they know you are intellectual, perhaps own a home, are fairly stable, earn a six-figure salary and make yearly vacations to exotic locations. Our careers are a major source of identity – both for the world and ourselves. Not having a career is looked down upon by society, even if you have a skill that you are good at. For instance: maintaining a clean and beautiful home. This is not valued by society, because this skill is not valued in the marketplace. Therefore, your career is directly linked to ‘marketability’ or being valued by society. This is why scientists, computer programmers, researchers, bankers and so on are respected – because they have a ‘market value’ in the marketplace.
This source of identity inherently devalues human beings. We do not value humans for who they are but for what they do and how much they possess. This makes us consume more (more on this in point 2). This belief denigrates humans as something that must provide utility. And we see the ramifications of this belief. The homeless are left to fend for themselves. Homelessness does not exist in tribes, in a non-modern society. Why? Because they value humans regardless of their utility. The group ensures that every individual is taken care of.
Personally too, deriving our identities only from work is dangerous. When we lose our jobs, our world falls apart. As we get older and are replaced by machines or by younger (and cheaper) people, we begin to lose a sense of self – primarily because we value ourselves by how much we earn and what we do. An extreme example of this is the growing number of suicides in people aged above 60 in Japan. People there have no idea who they are or what they must do after retirement. This emptiness is profound and painful.
The source of this dysfunction is modern culture – turbocharged by capitalism – which says that the only meaning in life is maximising utility (a vague term in economics which means happiness – but only happiness derived from consumption). Life has meaning only through work (for profit) and consumption (which feeds the capitalistic machine). This leads us to the second characteristic.
We indulge in compulsive consumption
The second source of personal identity is what and how much we own. Owning houses (the bigger the better), cars (SUVs are more valued than small cars) and consuming goods, services and of late experiences (exotic travel vacations) are the sine qua non of this source of identity. At the extreme, it takes on the form of consumption of luxury goods (beauty, fashion, etc.) and the rare (art, once-in-a-lifetime dining experiences). Interestingly we consume, not so much for the joy in consumption, but for telling others what we consumed, how rare it was and how beautiful that experience was. We gain social status through sharing stories of what we consume. Sharing seems to be the motivation and not necessarily consumption in itself. We are seeking social standing. We want power over others in our social group.
Consumption as a tenet of modern life has been fed to us rather insidiously through advertisement. Television and today’s social media are desire-generating engines – to get us to want more and buy more. Thus feeding the capitalistic cycle of work more and more consumption. The more we consume, the more we need to work for it, and the more others need to work to produce the goods and services. Think of all the people in the service industry who have to work over the Christmas or Diwali holidays to cater to the travel industry. I remember my younger days when all shops used to be closed for Diwali. Diwali was a time people spent with their families. But over time, as the modern market economy crept into our lives, Diwali is when most people are out shopping, eating, and entertaining themselves. The business opportunity is too good to miss. Thus, the consumption cycle is set into perpetual motion.
Thus, instead of deriving our sense of wellness from spending time with friends and family, we now go out together to theatres, restaurants, and concerts. Which brings us to the third point.
We are emotionally programmed to value things far away from us instead of valuing the things close to us
As we derive entertainment from streaming services, television and other external sources, we lose culture and closeness. A good example would be the loss of folk music in India. India is a land rich in diverse music. I remember growing up, each occasion would have a particular music. The birth of a child meant that the ladies of the house would gather and sing, and the death of a loved one would involve calling specific Pundits to chant Slokas from the scriptures. In the villages, men and women would sing songs while harvesting the crops. Or labourers laying a heavy pipe would chant in unison to make their work lighter. All of this has largely disappeared from the canvas of everyday life, to be replaced by lewd and empty film songs blaring from tiny cell phone speakers. We have surrendered our own dignity and ability to entertain ourselves and our loved ones. We have offshored this task to the entertainment industry – which charges us a fee – or worse tells us we must consume more (through advertisements) to be happy. This is a double blow – first, we lose the ability to entertain ourselves (culture) and we fall prey to the insidious capitalistic cycle of consumption.
We are pulled into meaningless matches and fixtures such as world cups – which evoke our emotions through strong excitable commentary and titillating women dancing for every good shot or good catch. If you examine this closely, not many are interested in improving their cricket stroke or golf swing. We don’t watch to learn and educate ourselves. We watch to get pulled emotionally – it is our side versus theirs. This ‘us versus them’ mindset – essentially a false contest – draws on a primal tribal emotion in us. And from these strong emotions, we appear to derive meaning. This is why sports can appear to unite people (it actually divides society as a whole, but strongly and temporarily unites people who identify themselves with the same team). Watching sports as entertainment is a wholely useless activity. It does not make you fit. Nor does it contribute to your knowledge of improving your own game. It simply distracts you. The same pattern of behaviour is found in politics. We polarise society on political lines, instead of coming together to solve complex social problems. Some problems are not problems at all, but need to be stoked up to create the illusion of perennial problems – this is needed for news (basically entertainment) and politicians coming on air to make sure they stay relevant. Inventing problems is necessary to keep us emotionally invested so that we continue to watch these prattling politicians and no-good newsreaders. They play on our emotions.
Why do we fall prey to this? Because it makes us feel alive. Because we don’t feel alive by ourselves. We haven’t sung communally for ages. We haven’t picked up the broom and cleaned our streets. We haven’t helped the ailing neighbour by helping them with a meal. No that is the responsibility of the government or old age homes after all. Our task, according to the modern world is to work and consume. In short, we are trapped in the endless work-consume cycle. We have distracted ourselves from ourselves and our loved ones. We have pawned our lives to serve this inexorable cycle, which is evermore creeping into our lives.
These three characteristics – work, consume and distract – are the cornerstones of modern life. It makes us deeply unhappy, it makes the world worse, degrades our environment and destroys community life. It makes us believe, through advanced technology, that we are progressing. This is sadly an illusion. For progress not grounded in greater self-awareness is no progress at all. This progress makes the capitalists, the entertainers and politicians richer and more powerful.
What must we do to break free?
First, we must stop distracting ourselves from ourselves. We must take responsibility for all aspects of our lives. We need to own up to our physical and mental health. Better food, more exercise, less stress, more social relations. These are known to promote good health and well-being. It is not the role of doctors and pharmacies to keep you healthy. It is our responsibility. So take it. Make a conscious decision not to pawn your health to the capitalistic healthcare system. This means saying no to mass-produced food. This means saying no to mindless entertainment (sports, politics and news). Rather, play sport. Or get involved in local issues. Be careful not to get a vicarious sense of entertainment or involvement. Get involved. Be more loving to your partner. Learn an instrument to engage yourself and your loved ones. In short – live consciously. Let’s call this solution greater Self-awareness.
Second, become aware and gradually stop the need to compulsively consume products, services and more importantly experiences (this includes spiritual retreats in Bali or Rishikesh). Just say no. Learn to take happiness with a small life. Make an experiment – get rid of your excess clothes, shoes, and decorative items at home. And see if your sense of self is in any way diminished. Better still, realize that we will have to leave behind everything when we die. A sense of dispassion (Vairagya) is critical to living simply. Rather, become a producer of goods. Learn to make jam. And share this with your friends and family. Someone else might make pickles. Some other person dosa batter. Another neighbour might bake bread. Slowly we start developing a network of producers who make out of love and share out of love. Thereby slowly plugging ourselves out of the ‘work to produce’ mindset. Let’s call this step Conscious Consumption – Proud Production.
Finally, realize that although your work is important – for it generates income and gives us a sense of meaning – it is not the only source of meaning in our lives. Our fundamental meaning must come from ourselves – as spiritual beings – each one of us here with a unique purpose to learn and share. When we make the pursuit of knowledge (more appropriately wisdom) and the sharing of this through what we love, as the fundamental goal of life, our work becomes a means to a greater end. Then, we do not derive our sense of value from fancy titles, resumes or large offices. We see work as a means to express our creativity and to gain wisdom. We see work as a means to serve the world, not to gain titles or positions. That is we develop a healthy self-worth regardless of our job title or career. This last step, we can call Self-Worth.
These three things – Self-awareness, Self-worth and Conscious Consumption – Proud Production can slowly begin to unchain us from the bonds of modern life. As we untie ourselves from the chains, we begin to experience a lightness that may appear alien to us at first, but over time, we begin to imbibe it and eventually share it with the world as love.
Journey of a thousand words 