“Like swift water, an active mind never stagnates”
–Author Unknown
History is abuzz with large numbers of treatise presented by exceptionally gifted, outstandingly successful individuals on the theory of success and its intricacies. A vast majority of them also summarize simple ways and means to achieve it in our own lives. However, we still find a wide gap in society between the haves and the have-nots, the successful and the strugglers, the rich and the poor, as well as the literate and the educated illiterates (irresponsible individuals.)
What went wrong and how can we ever reverse this unfortunate tide?
Rather than waiting for a Parliamentary Committee to investigate and submit its report within X number of days/months or years, we should better indulge in some introspection and try to identify our own shortcomings at various stages of our own lives. What could we have done better in a given situation, how our own judicious use of available resources at a particular moment could have made someone’s day, or where we failed to think rationally before announcing our decision? Yet another thought worth considering at this stage is if we imposed our will, thought or decision on someone else against his/her wish.
Dear Readers, you must be wondering what made me pick up this subject for a discussion in this forum. Please allow me to manifest the abundantly wide growth of unpredictable behaviour in the present-day society. Without pointing towards any particularly shocking event of the recent past where rampant gun violence has shattered thousands of families beyond repair, let us focus on the hidden signals of discontent brewing in the perpetrators of almost every adverse action.
Even incidents of terrorism and/or other criminal activities against innocent public and law-enforcement officials have an almost identical feeling. This growing prevalence of discontent, leading to uncontrollable frustration results in anger and/or hatred towards society as a whole. No wonder, such feelings find more company online where idle minds indulge in fake news and attention-grabbing extremities. Social media is abuzz with all sorts of anti-social elements converging to brag about their mistaken heroics. No wonder they pick up accomplices out of similar-minded, supposedly under-appreciated louts.
My personal feeling is that most of these antisocial elements are suffering from a chronic case of blocked mind that leads to delusional outbursts that damage the social fabric beyond belief. At the same time, there also exists a better than reasonable chance that majority of them could be saved from a further slide into the quagmire. Better policing of online meeting places, on the lines of projects currently managed by global police forces against child exploitation, could be one such initiative.
In the majority of the cases involving gun violence, especially in the U.S., a lot of negative information comes out about the perpetrators after the crime has already been committed. Majority of them had previously bragged about their intentions and in some cases showed continued negative behaviour. Sadly, lack of proper oversight, combined with a growing rage of their followers against the system, offered these disgruntled elements an easy, impenetrable cover until after the fact.
It tells us of the stagnating outer profile of such individuals that nourished growing stink of discontent at the bottom layer. The near and dear ones neglected such behaviour on the assumption that it was a temporary phase while the brewing storm underneath came out to the fore with a show of devastating rage at the innocent and the hapless.
Whether we call it the act of a delusional loner or a hard-core anti-social element, the fact of the matter is that so many innocent lives are lost to such dastardly acts at regular intervals. To add insult to injury, the law also provides an extra layer of protection to these criminals by offering them a shield of mental imbalance as the cause of crime. A case in point is the guy in Canada that cut the throat of a fellow passenger on a bus, went to jail for a few years and was ultimately discharged back into the community after an assumed cure of his mental illness. Claiming insanity, hallucinatory effects of a drug or being under the influence of alcohol as an excuse to minimize the punishment of the guilty seems to be gaining ground with the Defence Attorneys lately. What about the sufferer; does anyone care? What a pity!
An even more glaring example is that of a woman (name not disclosed to avoid the wrath of the manipulators of law) perhaps the most inhuman criminal, in Canada once again. She actively assisted her husband to repeatedly rape her own younger sister and another innocent girl and ultimately brutally murdered them both. When caught by the police, she turned approver against the husband, saved her own skin, studied for a doctor at taxpayers’ expense (shame) and got new identification before her release. I wonder who would want to be her patient knowing her criminal past. Latest reports indicated she had chosen Montreal as her next ‘domicile (?)’
Can anyone find jurisprudence in any of the above cases? I am sorry I don’t.
When referring to the quote at the top, one might feel the absence of any correlation between the subject and the contents. However, the fact of the matter is that the stagnation pointed out in the minds of the above criminal elements has acquired the state of a terrible stink. It eats into the very fabric of our society while we assume things are O.K. No, they are not! We need to be more aware of our surroundings and keep our eyes open to any signs of distrust and/or violent behaviour, whether online or in person. Our neighborhood could give us signals where groups of idle youth converge to smoke or do drugs.
Schools could introduce better systems and generate higher interest in learning opportunities. More productive interaction between the teachers and their wards on a rotation basis, not necessarily with the same teacher every time, could be one such possibility. It could help pave the way for a disgruntled child to express his/her reservation towards one particular individual by confiding in a more ‘trustworthy’ teacher.
Allocating sufficient resources towards youth and adult education/sports/inter-cultural activities could be another step in the right direction. I am not denying the fact that so many identical programs do exist. Where I need to make my point is in the feedback gathered from such activities and using such data to create better foundation-building opportunities suited to those particular groups. Money spent in the millions without justification and/or necessary feedback is nothing but a sign of willful waste.
Thank You!
Interesting! I agree with these points. Let me just to add a brief consideration.
The future changes so fast that a knowledge-based school is going to fail in its task of preparing students to face the future. A future of which we know little or nothing of which it is impossible to predict developments and so perhaps the only skills on which really worth to invest is to learn how to learn, to be able to quickly acquire those skills and knowledge Which will serve future citizens. Even without thinking of a far-reaching future, today we are faced with the need to know how to change over the course of our lives. Our training does not end with the classical course of study. We change jobs or the same work changes as we do it: we have to continually update as never before.
We have to study as adults and thus learn new ways to learn.
Once again, you are absolutely right in your observation on the significance of continued training for all, Aldo Sir! The need of the hour is to make every possible effort not to let the mind stagnate. Our failure to do that will result in an unwanted growth of harmful parasites in the shape of anti-social elements resorting to all sorts of nefarious activities.
Thanks, with Warm Regards
BM
Appreciate you have taken the time to read my post and sharing your significant insights.
Regards.
P.S.
In the spirit of LinkedIn, perhaps, we can avoid the “Sir”. What do you say?
I salute your generous approach, Dear Aldo! The ‘Sir’ is a natural way of expression for me wherever there is a sense of close affinity. From here onwards, I will try to respect your wish as far as possible, I promise.
Barhat, for me it’s not a problem. I wanted to be only sure that there was no “detachment”, I mean that natural confidence between people who esteem each other and often exchange opinions without many formalities.
In truth I had also suspected that it was I who did not show you enough respect.
But that’s okay.
Many best regards
Aldo
No love lost, on either side! Let’s communicate on ‘first name basis’ from here onwards, Dear Aldo! I’m sure you won’t mind the term ‘Dear.’