The Age of A-morality

In the mid-1890s, Jean-Leon Gerome painted ‘Truth Coming Out of Her Well’, a series that depicts truth as naked. Wikipedia gives the story of the naked truth, and it seems so true in our times. Legend has it that lies and truth met one day. He told the truth that the day was beautiful. Truth looked around in doubt but found the day truly beautiful and spent the day walking around with lies. Then lies tell the truth that the water in the well is beautiful, come let’s go down to the water. The truth looked in doubt for the second time but found the water beautiful. They stripped and went into the well. Suddenly, the lie came out and ran away with Truth’s clothes. When the truth came out, people saw her naked and were angry and turned their faces away from the truth. Since then, lying has enveloped the world, wearing the guise of truth and the world has accepted it.

Today, everything in this world has become transactional. It is an idiom most used in conversations, op-eds, by opinion makers, sundry media influencers, analysts and also in our attitudes. Moral codes like the Ten Commandments, the Dharma edicts, four Noble Truths of the Buddhist Code of Ethics and other scriptural prescriptions do still get lip service adherence but only just that because it serves as a convenient disguise for real motives. Commodification of our interactions in fields of engagement, be they for affection or affectation, is now a very visible reality.

Politics of the day, everywhere, has become amoral if not immoral. It has always been about the pursuit of power but was disguised in ideological banalities. It succeeded in fooling some of the people most of the time. At any rate, politics, politely described as the art of the possible, has always been transactional. Deal-making has been its prominent characteristic, also called give and take behind closed doors. Notwithstanding vitriol and rhetoric, bitter opponents come together not in the cause of people’s interest but, in reality, to enjoy the fruits of power. All this is not surprising because this is one side of human exchange that has always been opportunistic, and its underlying drivers are amoral and used to acquire or strengthen hold on levers of power.

The international arena is now witnessing the repudiation of all manner of order and law. Indeed the politics of nations has become more chaotic than ever. That all nations must act in their self-interest has been translated to say that the strong will do what they want and the weak will have to suffer, which they cannot avoid. In short, might is right and we all know where this law reigns supreme even today. The semblance of international law that is supposed to guide the conduct of nations was always self-imposed, as there is no penalty for breach unless a more powerful grouping decides to punish the renegade nation. But who could stop the powerful United States invading Iraq on a manufactured pretext or Russia annexing parts of Ukraine. Such cases are legion in our history. The victor is always right and he can prove it by creating a convenient history.

The world has assumed different value systems at different points in time. Hobbes and Rousseau thought that man is nasty and brutish in essence, hence a law and moral code was necessary to regulate human conduct. But the age of amorality continues to resonate with an increasing number of people. As the motto, Carpe Diem, is used to urge someone to make the most of the present time and give no thought to the future, the millennial mind likes to pursue only his self-interest, with little regard for what it takes to secure it.

Amidst all the noise in our world, many philosophical and religious traditions hold that morality is intrinsic to human nature, reflecting a fundamental sense of right and wrong. Mercifully, this distinction has not blurred through the ages and humans may not do what is right but they surely know what is right in a given situation. Value systems continue to evolve in the face of survival challenges in the world but, in the end, those who stand with right, get a cherished place in history. And yet, those whose right and wrong have lost their sway, are seemingly on the ascendance all around our world. The serpent’s charm has enchanted us all.

The usual refuge of lost and rudderless souls have been built into a cult-like industry of gurus and miracle makers who are able to mesmerize audiences into blind following, promising nirvana. Spirituality and its manifestations are being sold as instant reliefs to all the gullibles going about their daily struggles. To give added impetus to pursue devotion to the Gods of mammon, an exchange system for small charities or offerings at specified places is the price quoted for their abundant blessings. The ecosystem of ‘as you sow, so shall you reap’ is now filled with panaceas that promise quick mitigation to ensure that ones’ soul will find heavens, both on this earth and the next. The result is that the colour of morality, once splendid, has now become a uniform gray. The whispered deal, the hidden gain with no blush of shame is the seeker’s goal.

We have come into an age, where the world unfolds a game of chance, where ethics sleep and shadows dance. It is the barren ground of amorality. Tread warily, fellow travellers, victory is as much an impostor as is defeat. It is excellence that cannot be adulterated, hence will always be a cherished goal.

The writer is Former Director, India Habitat Centre. Views expressed are personal