Has the world become more selfish?
Do you think I am honest enough to write something like this and don’t consider myself as the subject of my own analysis?
Do you think your neighbors care if you live or die?
In urban societies we find a sense of detachment from our social groups. People are more strangers to each other. I have personally lived in apartments for years without knowing the next-door neighbor. I am equally guilty for participating in this culture of self-centric world. When compared to the rural societies, we find that the syndrome of “neighbor is still stranger” is not that prevalent. However even in villages the quality of interpersonal relations has degraded. The kind of picture for Indian Villages which I had when I was growing up as a kid is not there anymore. My heart sees Indian villages through the eyes of Munshi Premchand, but that picture is nowhere to be found.
People are essentially self-centered. I believe as the technology progresses; people tend to get more power and more control. In this process they think more about their own benefits and self interest than anything else. What ultimately happens is a degradation of interpersonal relations at the cost of self-advancement.
This trait of self-advancement has always been there. Be it in your class, competitive exams or career; we subconsciously put our own self interest first. It can be a corporate job or a government job, it can be your rural society or urban society, it can be one exam or one class, we always want to advance. Since all of us together can’t advance and due to zero sum game of the available power, perks and resources we have to trample few hearts, few dreams and few careers to advance ourselves.
This sound harsh but this is the way this world works. In this most of the friendship is based on quid pro quo. You will have no true friends. If you really go deep in all of your friendship you will find not more than 2-3 friends who are there without any self-interest. A friendship which seems organic and which is always there is very rare.
As I grow in my thirties, I am realizing day after day that you are not going to have any true friend. Instead, we will end up having lot of acquaintances but no real friendship. In most of our interactions, we judge a person and our potential friendship based on what benefits or advances this person will bring to us. This way most of our friendships are transactional in nature. This is the by-product of selfish nature and self-advancement culture of this world.
Stay tuned for next insight!
Ariana.