A strange but unsurprising thought has been lingering in my mind from quite a few days, its about our current generation, the way we think and go about our day to day lives. We differ so much from our parents and grand-parents not just in values but also in our overall outlook.When I look around myself in day to day life I can’t help but notice how fleeting the emotions among people have become, you talk to your co-workers and people on the street like best buddies today but then again act as strangers only a day later. It seems like the relationship and bond that you build is only temporary and need-based and was never meant to last.
In our parents generation relationships were for a lifetime and not a matter of convenience. A word was a word and family bonds mattered above all else including money. Today money is paramount and not just here in America where its been such since a 100 yrs but also in India now thanks to the growing economy and materialism.
I’m not advocating that materialism is necessarily bad but when it comes at the expense of concrete values and relationships it just doesn’t seem worth it. What is the point of earning a college degree, getting a job and making money if you do not have a few loved ones around you, who appreciate your very success, it just seems pointless. You can make a whole lot of money and be happy materially but you will die poor in what matters.It seems our current generation measure success only by our bank balances and not by the happiness of our families and friends around us. We keep our narrow focus on being financially successful but lose focus on loved ones.
Where will this lead us ultimately as a society and to what end? Everyone one of us should at some point, ask ourselves this question, and we will realize that the answer is very hazy and confusing. On one side we see society striving for materialism and putting is ahead of all else, but on the other hand somewhere deep down we want to uphold the values of the past.
In the recent past I posed myself this very questions, thought about an answer to satisfy my heart and realized that that there is no one single solution, to this predicament of the mind. I can only think of a middle path, to follow society and attach myself to materialism but at the same time not detach myself from my values and obligations as a human being who is part of a family and society. But then again like all other things in life this has been a lot easier said than done.
One other issue that really separates us from our parents generation is the idea of stability, when our parents were growing up all they wanted was a good steady job or a comfortable business and once they achieved that, they were satisfied with what they had at least for the most part. But today we just don’t seem to be able to do that. We are too impatient, never completely happy with what we have, always look for me and get bored with things very quickly. All these things are in sharp contrast to the way in which our parents behaved. For them stability was the norm, but for us instability is the norm, we cannot stay still in one city or in one job for too long, we are always looking around us for better things. This isn’t necessarily bad at all, because change is what makes society go forward, but the question is how fast do we want to change? And is all change for the better? This is an open question.
