THE FALL OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND THE RISE OF A CRIMINALISED SOCIETY

Dr. Jernail Singh Anand President, International Academy of Ethics.

Are men born criminals? If not, where are the training institutes which teach crime? Which are the institutions whose failure leads people to commit crimes? The greatest industry that goes on flourishing unchecked is crime, and behind it, is the fall of the educational institutions coupled with the decline of the family, and the crass politicization of the sacred religious establishment.

EXAMPLE IS BETTER THAN PRECEPT

A child when born is no criminal. But, as he grows up, he watches how criminals prosper in society, and enjoy the patronage of society. How gangsters get special treatment in jails, have bodyguards, and how they are treated by the media. A young mind does not need any further instruction in an Institute of Criminology. Example is better than precept to bring home the romance of being a criminal.

WHAT TYPE OF PEOPLE OUR SOCIETY WANTS?

Now the question is what type of people the society wants? Does it want good citizens who believe in justice and fair play? People like Subhash Chander Bose and S. Bhagat Singh? People who are mentally, and spiritually strong who can stand up to any temptations. If we want men who believe in justice, fair play, honesty and uprightness, we will strengthen our educational institutions, and if we do not want such men, we will ignore our education, and let it go to dogs.

TRAINING IN HUMAN CONDUCT:

If we are sincere, we shall have institutions which provide instruction in subjects dealing with human conduct, human integrity, and the philosophy of humanism. For this, we may need to teach subjects like Literature, Philosophy, Poetry, History, Creativity, And Ethics. We should not forget that before 70s, we had a society which believed in value-based education and value-based living. The people read authors like Leo Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Kahlil Gibran. In India, Prem Chand was a great pontiff of good sense. We have in fact no dearth of saints and sages, but our case is like having too many shops of chemists and claiming that it is a sign of moral health.

THE REVERSE OSMOSIS OF DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS:

But, the reality is that we DO NOT WISH people to be good. Nor do we want them to be sufferers of these higher ‘ailments’ called honesty, fair play, justice and integrity. That is why, from the University education, we have removed all the subjects which could check the moral degradation and instruct people in being good to themselves, and to society. In fact, goodness, fairness, honesty, justice – are not on our national or even international agenda. These are human attributes in which we as human race have stopped believing and practicing.

When we are to ride a car, however pricy it may be, the most important thing that we check before riding it is its brakes. In the same way, we have a fast moving society, but without brakes, lacking all compunctions. And we are going down the slide. Needless to say, it is self-slaughter.

THE REJECT LIST

The selection of subjects in the Universities shows what we want. There are no disciplines of Ethics, Poetry, Creativity, and Literature. Rather, we flame the fire of consumerism and crass commercialism by offering them subjects which guarantee jobs, and higher pay packages. Competition, aggressive marketing, profit, success, wealth, and a lavish lifestyle – this is what is the target of a youth studying in IIT or MIT or even in our privatized universities which teach literature like commerce, and have banned the entry of Ethics and Poetry. Creativity has been replaced by a hyped emphasis on Research. Research is secondary to creativity. Our universities show scant interest in the creators.. The poets and writers have no relevance to Universities except as guinea pigs of research. That is why, they have to sell themselves in the open market. There is no MSP for their works. Such practices have created a whole movement of people who believe in cut-throat competition, profit, business, money-making, and aggressive self-promotion.

Do you think it is possible to garner profits and achieve results without being dishonest. Honesty? Ask a promising entrepreneur. And he will just shake his head, and say: Are you crazy? This is ‘bizdom’ in which honesty, goodness, fairness, justice, sharing – have no place.

Can we really accept a system in which everybody is a compulsive liar, a latent fraudster, a prospective double dealer, and if they loot the public or the banks, there is no moral authority to raise eye-brows?

A CRIMINALIZED SOCIETY

This is a criminalized society, in which everybody wants profit. Everybody wants to out-do, and if need be, undo the other. And if you just zoom out this human aggressiveness, you will find how young men are going about looting banks, or snatching the golden chains and purses of women? Fraud is the accepted currency of this hi-fi technological society. Do it so long as you are not discovered. Even if discovered, save yourself from being lynched by the mob, just reach the court. Then, justice system will take care of you. There is one crime you have committed, and there are one thousand ways of disabling the dispensation of justice.

CRIME COMES MORE NATURALLY TO US THAN HONESTY:

I wonder if you or I want that this society should get rid of its criminality. Because crime comes more naturally to us than honesty. For the last fifty years, we have been bred on unbridled ambition. We have believed that greed is the motivational muse of business. That ‘Tam sam dand bhed’ – are all acceptable, once you declare that your business is a war. Even education is declared a war-field, marked by competitiveness, aggressiveness and one-upmanship. Ultimately, education is meant to give you a good package. A great life style and that’s all.

WHAT IS AMISS?

Good package, good job, and success in business – nothing is amiss, what is amiss is how you will achieve this. We need good education, ethical training, and a developed sense of good and the not good. Only subjects like literature, poetry, and history can implant such a sense in the minds of our students. In fact, we should open them to the new world of goodness, joy, happiness, and decency instead of leading them into the crazy world of greed, aggression and success.

MORAL DISASTER

The present society is on the brink of moral disaster. Previously, most of the people were good, and there were only five or six delinquents for whom one police station in four or five villages was enough. But now, a major portion of the population is educated in these Institutes of Unlearning, and huge populations in the villages or cities believe in fraud, double dealing, dishonesty, greed, and self-serving. They know how law can be hoodwinked. Society has got criminalized on a vast scale. The old people who believed in values have suddenly disappeared from the scene, and if they are around, they have realized that religion too is being used for votes. And the icing on the cake is provided when we see that the law is very kind on the fraudsters. If you take a bribe of ten thousand rupees, you will be convicted for 4 years in jail. But, if you can swindle a bank of more than 1000 crores, you can get the loan wiped off, and you will be made to flee to UK or Canada, where you can lead rest of your life in luxury.

The absence of deterrent punishment to the delinquents of law has at its root, the misplaced priorities in the educator sector. We are reaping the bitter harvest of a system which believes in jobs, and pay-packages. As a result, the whole society stands criminalized, including the law-enforcers.

And the worst that has happened to us, as a race, and a nation is, we believe in the status quo. We don’t want to change. We are happy. Crime is a distant cousin of happiness and joy. Let those who talk of morality, ethics, goodness, honesty, fair play, rot in hell of their own creation…!!!!!!!!

Author:
Dr. Jernail Singh Anand is Founder President of The International Academy of Ethics, a think-tank of Poets, Philosophers, Thinkers, Scientists and Social Scientists. He is Professor Emeritus with the European Institute of the Roma Studies, Belgrade and Honorary Member of the Serbian Writers Association. Dr. Anand has authored 150 books which include 9 epics which are considered world classics. He has innovated the theory of Bio-text in critical theory. The Univ. of Neyshabur, Iran has conducted a Research Project on his Poetry comparing it with Iranian Poets, under Dr. Roghayeh Farsi. His works have been translated into 20 world languages.

Contact: anandjs55@yahoo.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jernail_Singh_Anand?
universityofethics.org/ethicsacademy.co.in
worldliterature.in