Skip to main content

Alone in the Crowd


As English has become the language of the world, capitalism has become the world’s religion.  Wealth is the only real god.  Unlike the jealous Yahweh of the Bible whose very first commandment was “I am the Lord your God; you shall not have any other god besides me,” the god of capitalism says, “I am the only God who can buy up all other gods.”

Apart from a god (or many gods depending on their tolerance level), a religion requires certain norms and values by which people organise their lives.  Capitalism has its own system of ethics and morality.  Egotism and profiteering are the elementary lessons in the catechism of capitalism. 

Every child is taught that it is special.  It is brought up like a prince or princess.  Pampered by parents at home, the educational system at school, and the businesses and their advertisers in the society, the child grows up seeing itself as the centre of the universe.  The child grows up to be a monarch, the monarch of a little kingdom which is his private world, a small little world.  

Ensconced on his/her virtual throne, the monarch establishes virtual relationships through a smartphone with other monarchs.  It is the most sacred duty of every monarch to make conquests.  The only purpose of existence, reads the capitalist catechism, is to make profits.  At any cost.  You can sell anyone for that purpose.  Including parents.  Use other monarchs to make the conquests.  How you use them is your own affair – laissez-faire.  All is fair that brings in the fare.

Relationships are either diplomatic strategies or casual affairs.  The former rakes in the moolah while the latter panders to the body.  The body is divine, dictates one of the commandments in the capitalist catechism.  Pamper it with savoury foods, branded dresses, and all the luxuries possible including the one night stands or ten night affairs.

Once in a while visit some Guru’s convention at the makeshift pavilion built on the bank of a holy river and learn how to supersede the sanctity of the nature with a wealth of verbosity (and possibly some plastic smiles).  Make a video clip of one of the many jokes cracked by the Guru and send it instantly to all the friends on half a dozen social networks.

Networks matter a lot, says the catechism.  Your opportunities lie therein.  Watch out for the next prey.  Watch out for your own safety at the same time.  We are the prey and we are the predators.  While we are at the game, let us take a break and play by texting jokes and exchanging new age gospels.  We need the game in order to ward off loneliness.


PS. Written for Indispire Edition 149: #AloneInWorldOfTechnology

Indian Bloggers


Comments

  1. Durga Prasad DashDecember 23, 2016 at 4:46 PM

    Ha ha.. we need the game in order to ward off loneliness. The picture is not all that scary. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 23, 2016 at 9:31 PM

      True. Actually the picture can be fun depending on which side of the fence we are.

      Delete
  2. UnknownDecember 23, 2016 at 10:06 PM

    But isnt it our responsibility to guide the younger generation towards embracing a Kinder, Gentler philosophy of success ?? Because, across the world there is a realization that pandering to excess profit will never result in a person climbing to the summit of Maslow's need hierarchy theory...
    Yes capitalism is not great but there are no/less workable alternatives around us. Need of the hour is to promote the benign face of capitalism, a more inclusive one !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 24, 2016 at 9:04 AM

      Isn't satire a corrective more effective than moral preaching?

      Can capitalism be benign rooted in egotism as it is?

      Delete
    2. UnknownDecember 25, 2016 at 2:27 PM

      Capitalism based on greed has hit the nadir....the chasm, they are discovering is not bottomless.....the consequences are visible across many frontiers....environment (pollution), philosophy(greed), entertainment (crass), belief(aggrandizement) backed by crass consumerism and mechanisation (drones, robots)most of all....the glaring inequality in terms of wealth (read thomas piketty)..From here if they try to press the above model it would be chaos....because if you look at the above it doesnt cater to the intrinsic needs of the exploiter as well as the exploited...as per maslwos need hierarchy theory...
      Is there an alternative model around ? Yes but they cannot work on a grand scale.....then what to do ?? you need to reimagine capitalism....by factoring in the environment (low carbon growth trajectory based on renewables and phasing out emission), belief (to make the capitalists think about the other half through the Universal Basic Income), philosophy (more inclusive and sustainable), entertainment (scripture replaced by culture through better news,arts,movies,literature and architecture)...This needs a thorough overhauling of institutions as we know today.....There is every possibility of this happening across the world...but it would be gradual across the world.....but has already started in the west...
      You are missing the woods for the trees....
      Satire can backfire spectacularly creating more chaos...
      Satire can incites hatred....CHARLIE HEBDO is the greatest example..
      conversations based on socratic method would be more inclusive and thought provoking....
      As elders it is our responsibility to steer children away from greed by creating such conversations.....by serving as an example by our behaviour as well as by gradually increasing our sphere of influence...

      Delete
  3. UnknownDecember 24, 2016 at 12:45 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownDecember 24, 2016 at 12:46 PM

    Deep and insightful, loved the deconstruction of capitalism, Sir.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Country where humour died

Humour died a thousand deaths in India after May 2014. The reason – let me put it as someone put it on X.  The stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra called a politician some names like ‘traitor’ which made his audience laugh because they misunderstood it as a joke. Kunal Kamra has to explain the joke now in a court of justice. I hope his judge won’t be caught with crores of rupees of black money in his store room . India itself is the biggest joke now. Our courts of justice are huge jokes. Our universities are. Our temples, our textbooks, even our markets. Let alone our Parliament. I’m studying the Ramayana these days in detail because I’ve joined an A-to-Z blog challenge and my theme is Ramayana, as I wrote already in an earlier post . In order to understand the culture behind Ramayana, I even took the trouble to brush up my little knowledge of Sanskrit by attending a brief course. For proof, here’s part of a lesson in my handwriting.  The last day taught me some subhashit...
10 comments
Read more

Lucifer and some reflections

Let me start with a disclaimer: this is not a review of the Malayalam movie, Lucifer . These are some thoughts that came to my mind as I watched the movie today. However, just to give an idea about the movie: it’s a good entertainer with an engaging plot, Bollywood style settings, superman type violence in which the hero decimates the villains with pomp and show, and a spicy dance that is neatly tucked into the terribly orgasmic climax of the plot. The theme is highly relevant and that is what engaged me more. The role of certain mafia gangs in political governance is a theme that deserves to be examined in a good movie. In the movie, the mafia-politician nexus is busted and, like in our great myths, virtue triumphs over vice. Such a triumph is an artistic requirement. Real life, however, follows the principle of entropy: chaos flourishes with vengeance. Lucifer is the real winner in real life. The title of the movie as well as a final dialogue from the eponymous hero sugg...
4 comments
Read more

Abdullah’s Religion

O Abdulla Renowned Malayalam movie actor Mohanlal recently offered special prayers for Mammootty, another equally renowned actor of Kerala. The ritual was performed at Sabarimala temple, one of the supreme Hindu pilgrimage centres in Kerala. No one in Kerala found anything wrong in Mohanlal, a Hindu, praying for Mammootty, a Muslim, to a Hindu deity. Malayalis were concerned about Mammootty’s wellbeing and were relieved to know that the actor wasn’t suffering from anything as serious as it appeared. Except O Abdulla. Who is this Abdulla? I had never heard of him until he created an unsavoury controversy about a Hindu praying for a Muslim. This man’s Facebook profile describes him as: “Former Professor Islahiaya, Media Critic, Ex-Interpreter of Indian Ambassador, Founder Member MADHYAMAM.” He has 108K followers on FB. As I was reading Malayalam weekly this morning, I came to know that this Abdulla is a former member of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Kerala , a fundamentalist organisation. ...
10 comments
Read more

Violence and Leaders

The latest issue of India Today magazine studies what it calls India’s Gross Domestic Behaviour (GDB). India is all poised to be an economic superpower. But what about its civic sense? Very poor, that’s what the study has found. Can GDP numbers and infrastructure projects alone determine a country’s development? Obviously, no. Will India be a really ‘developed’ country by 2030 although it may be $7-trillion economy by then? Again, no is the answer. India’s civic behaviour leaves a lot, lot to be desired. Ironically, the brand ambassador state of the country, Uttar Pradesh, is the worst on most parameters: civic behaviour, public safety, gender attitudes, and discrimination of various types. And UP is governed by a monk!  India Today Is there any correlation between the behaviour of a people and the values and principles displayed by their leaders? This is the question that arose in my mind as I read the India Today story. I put the question to ChatGPT. “Yes,” pat came the ...
10 comments
Read more

The Ramayana Chronicles: 26 Stories, Endless Wisdom

I’m participating in the A2Z challenge of Blogchatter this year too. I have been regular with this every April for the last few years. It’s been sheer fun for me as well as a tremendous learning experience. I wrote mostly on books and literature in the past. This year, I wish to dwell on India’s great epic Ramayana for various reasons the prominent of which is the new palatial residence in Ayodhya that our Prime Minister has benignly constructed for a supposedly homeless god. “Our Ram Lalla will no longer reside in a tent,” intoned Modi with his characteristic histrionics. This new residence for Lord Rama has become the largest pilgrimage centre in India, drawing about 100,000 devotees every day. Not even the Taj Mahal, a world wonder, gets so many footfalls. Ayodhya is not what it ever was. Earlier it was a humble temple town that belonged to all. Several temples belonging to different castes made all devotees feel at home. There was a sense of belonging, and a sense of simplici...
34 comments
Read more