In transitional economies where socialising agents like family and religion are losing their relevance, a moral void is what we are left with
Development is being tracked now by agencies like the UNDP on the basis of conventional indices including per capita income and life expectancy and also by countries' performance on environment and governance parameters and even subjective measures like citizens' reported happiness. Unfortunately, another concern which ought to be seen as the crown of human progress and without which advancements in technological and economic realms appear hollow remains marginal in development discourses. This critical resource is ‘basic morality' or adherence to universally valid ideals and norms that should guide people's conduct even in the absence of any carrot or stick from above. Needless to add that such cultural ‘capital' is extremely crucial in maintaining interpersonal trust as well as the smooth functioning of institutes in every collective. No doubt, morals are difficult to track or even list consensually. Conflicting views about women's dress and individuals' rights illustrate well the challenges in tracking morals across cultures. Yet, a core of human values like respect for the environment and human life, care for poor and vulnerable, and a value placed on hard work, integrity and civility can be seen as an agreeable base common to most, if not all, moral universes.
The present rot: Unfortunately, in transitional economies where socialising factors like family, religion and neighbourhoods are losing influence and alternatives like watchful professional associations and an efficient legal process have not evolved, a moral void is all too common. In our country, reports of rampant corruption and horrendous crimes are figuring daily in public media along with worrying signals of general demoralisation and indifference to injustices. Videos of passersby snatching possessions from accident victims, abandonment of women and girls in exploitative ashrams by their own families and mass voting for convicted politicians also in lieu of cash, liquor and freebies, and daytime crimes by teenagers too are alarming indications of this void. It is possible that reporting of such callous acts may have increased of late and not their actual incidence. Irrespective of such distinctions, the very extent and nature of brutalisation growing around us call for urgent correctives. But can we inculcate civic values and norms easily in a society in which the principal ladder for upward mobility is crime and youngsters imbibing rule breaking right from schools by witnessing mass copying, use of fake degrees, sale of coveted postings, stealing of poor patients' organs in hospitals and easy bail for influential criminalsIJ Fortunately, all is not lost and examples of harmony and high standards of civility not only in advanced countries like Japan and Singapore but also, in our villages like Ralegaon Sidhi and Hirvey Bazar and in poor neighbours like Bhutan show that honesty and care are not incongruous with modern life even though perceptions of family bonds and sexual norms may differ across countries. Following these instances, a multi-pronged strategy for retrieving public morality from further slide can be surely attempted.
Corrections: The first step in this journey would be a modification in our school and college curricula. Thus, the need for a reduction in textual load on pupils and incorporation of more skills training in the graded curriculum has to be acknowledged across classes. However, ‘skills' should encompass vocational training and ‘life-skills' including first-aid and disaster response capacity and community service and other social skills. At the same time, it needs to be admitted that values are not to be disseminated by preaching or through sermons but by inculcating an “aesthetic of ethics' i.e., a high sense of personal dignity in place of hedonist interests or craving for external recognition among youngsters. Such a sensibility also needs to be imparted through inspiring literature, exposure to the world of biographies and documentaries, soulful music and movies and, of course, by teachers' principled conduct. In this light, appointments to all prestigious posts, especially in schools and colleges, should give weightage to candidates' character and moral record too. However, to avoid indoctrination in the aesthetic sphere, students must be allowed to write annual essays on independent ideas freely chosen by them (from a large global list presented by appropriate committees while avoiding controversial political figures dexterously).
Unfortunately, neither our state nor educationists seem particularly seized of these possibilities presently; consequently, barren memorising for written exams continues to be accorded maximum weightage right until exams for prestigious postings and higher courses. Even in schooling, modern pedagogy gives little recognition to ethical learning beyond the school prayer and occasional speeches. This is a lapse that can be easily corrected. However, the present moral slide is also a result of our crony-capitalist and crony-socialist power structure in which upward mobility comes mainly from breaking norms while media channels and the cutthroat economy also glorify personal gain at the cost of societal norms. Among the more challenging correctives that would contribute to a moral renaissance, a reset in the lower judiciary (making adjournments as well as bail and confinement immune to pressures of money and power); some checks on glorification of crimes in entertainment channels (without curbing artistic freedoms); and the creation of a democratic body outside Government to coordinate measures for genuine ‘human resource development' (but desisting from any Orwellian indoctrination) are debatable. Such a multi-pronged strategy may also not alter behaviour and sentiments quickly. Yet, there is no alibi for not taking up at least those measures that are feasible and hold out a ray of hope in a grim backdrop.
(The writer is ICSSR Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies)