Essay Contemporary Topic by Manoj K. Sir

Model Answer

Question #1. At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice, he is the worst.

We have heard about great sages who left their kingdoms, Rama, Mahatma Buddhha, Lord Mahavira who denunciated their kingdoms for great spiritual causes.

In modern times we know about Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela who sacrificed everything for war against exploitation. We know about Mother Teresa who sacrificed her life for the service of the poor and diseased.

Today we see Bill Gates, George Soros and Azim Premzi who have resorted to philanthropy for the happiness of society, which made them what they are.

There are too many noble men and women, the list is endless. Man is certainly the noblest of all animals at his best. At his worst, there is no limit of fall. Man can be blinded by self interest, lust for wealth and power. We have heard about Ravanas, Bhasmasura, Idi Amins, Pol Pots, Osama bin Laden, scamsters, the corrupt, the cruel, so on and so forth on the other side of the spectrum. What makes such a difference? It is inspiration and intuition which makes great men. For ordinary men goodness requires education and training, and motivation. However, no amount of education and motivation can eliminate evil from society. Mental sickness is as true as spiritualism. This is to say that some men would always continue to enjoy their pretty hell with violence, lust, greed and exploitation. They need to be deterred with the social and legal codes. Otherwise they would harm the society.

Like animals man is also led by his survival instincts, struggle for existence, love, hate, anger, fear, procreation etc. Man, however, evolved as the noblest of all animals in so far as he was able to use his mind and reason better than other animals. He was able to control and direct his purely animal instincts towards progress by opting for an organized and settled life as a society rather than individual animals, so he is called a social animal. The abundance of the ancient period led to evolution of benevolence, importance of giving. The symphony of man and nature promoted spiritualism. But with progress purity of men gave way to ingenuity, selfishness, greed and cunningness leading to exploitation of man by man. The main region of growth of religion was to develop codes to prevent man from falling to bestial instincts.

Man is essentially a noble animal. But with the growth of civilization, self interest, urge for hegemony and dominance, privileges and power etc. affected man’s original goodness. Man was equal, free from lust beyond basic needs of food and sex. Man in essence was like an animal interested in fulfilling the basic needs and expressing the basic feelings like love and hate and knew the language of survival only. However, settled life and family gave birth to the concept of private property and institutions of relations like wife. Conflicts, greed, self interest, hegemony started taking roots. Religious and social codes evolved to direct men towards good and away from evil. Feudalism and slave system led to exploitation of men by men. Adam smith holds that animal instincts constitute the main foundation of the modern industrial world! The industrial man is selfish, insecure and lonely. His behaviour may or may not be human.

With this man drifted once again in its changed garb towards pure animal instincts like selfishness and competition no holds bar for control and hegemony. The noble man was converted into an industrial man or commercial man in due course of modern development. An industrial or commercial man has an ethics based on an exaggerated emphasis on promotion of self interest leading to cut throat competition and conflicts for command over natural resources, property, power etc. may be sometimes under various facades (democracy, market system, socialism, war against terror etc.). In capitalism man exploits man and in socialism the converse is true said JK Galbraith, an American diplomat.

That is not to say that an industrial society cannot have noble men. Sure it can, but this is possible only with comprehensive and consensual social, economic, political codes, which all individuals would need to comply with. In the absence of these no façade would be able to hide the real face of man, who is an animal in his very essence, but has become nobler than animals because of evolution of laws that define do’s and don’ts, that prohibit exploitation and ensure justice. Man has no limits to follow his hedonist and utilitarian goals, come what may! So be it wealth, property, power, sexual desire or else man has all potential to be the worst of all animals, if there is no social and legal codes of conduct. It is because the mind can work in both directions- a backward gear or a forward gear.

Intuition and Inspiration make men noble and great Deterrence is needed because ordinary men are guided by bestial human instincts like greed, selfishness etc. Man cannot automatically ensure goodness- Education helps to learn good values; Rules define the rule of the games related to private property, competition, exploitation, etc. Law creates a genuine fear among the law breakers, perpetrators of violence, exploitation and anarchists. Social codes help to be human, good and cooperative.

Living a settled life enabled man to communicate, share and care; led to refinement in animal instincts like love, hate and anger; violence and bloody way of life for hegemony, food, shelter, possession of female partners etc. gave way to realization of mutual existence and realization of interdependence; the idea of live and let live prospered. The jungle raaj, i.e. might is right, gave way to new ethics in the form of religious codes, social laws, laws for justice etc. because these basic things were required for a settled life. As man evolved to settle life, he learnt many civilization and social traits through experiment, learning, innovations and refinement. He gradually learnt to use reason and became rational. His reason and rationality led to growth of science, trade and commerce and politics. These things gave newer dimensions to organized life and led to comfortable and peaceful life.

In the initial stage man used its mind and intellect to live better in the natural setting, but later it tried to conquer it. Man started hankering for more and more possessions and exploiting the natural resources no holds bar. Man’s reason led him to be more selfish in due course of time. As shortages were faced, a sense of competition arose, first the sense of private property and profit, then power and dominance- self interest became the main propelling force of social, economic and political life.

The means becomes the end. Wealth and power become the ultimate proof of success. Humanity is a ladder for the industrial man and not fellow brothers. Consumers are sovereigns who are dictated by them and the markets! Success at any cost-nothing is too dear a price for wealth and power. Finally, man once again started to live for its animal instincts as observed in the case of industrial man- rationality means profit maximization; more and more consumption enhances welfare; market is characterized by machinations, maneuvers, cunningness and politics and society too, we call it strategy ; mutual dependence and co-existence gave way to exploitation and cut throat competition. It is exemplified by the industrial revolution and the vast exploitation of labour therein. It is exemplified by the cruel era of imperialism. It is exemplified by the alienation and hollowness of industrial man, who is narrow, selfish, aggressive and unscrupulous. His instincts are killer’s instincts.

Sub-prime crisis of America or the sovereign debt crisis of Europe is all because of the crisis of ethics and extreme selfishness as pointed out by Sarkozy, the French President. That the Afghan war and Iraq war are evidence of how good or bad man can be! The examples from the great flood disaster of Uttarakhand brings forth the noble face of man, who sacrifices life to save fellow brothers and sisters on the one hand, and on the other ugliness of man when he imputes swollen arms of dead women to steal their golden bangles or a Sadhu trying to loot an ATM! Values, morals, social codes, laws etc. are the barriers to unrestricted animal instincts. We need regulation for the economy. We need codes for various institutions. We need laws. Only then man can remain noble, otherwise man becomes as wild as animals. Probably far worse than animals in many instances. Man needs education, he needs social sanctions and restrictions and stringent laws to remain noble. The choice is between Noble and fallen; civilised and savage, exploitation and justice. It would not happen automatically because bestial human instincts are stronger than anything else. Man is essentially a noble animal, but corrupted by mundane needs and aspirations. There is a need for education and motivation, role models, law and social codes, for carrot and stick and for deterrence.

A Chinese Zoo has a house for the most dangerous creature in the world. When one visits it, she sees a big room with big mirrors on the four walls and roof! One poet asked where have the doves gone, I could see only hawks and eagles! Another poet asked the serpent where it learned biting, neither did it see cities nor did it become civilized. Marx probably believed too much in the basic goodness of mankind and failed to appreciate that man after all is an animal! Darwin was more realistic when he gave the thesis of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. And, since the fittest are not the best, and the strongest, but those who are most adaptable. Adaptability knows no limits and no ethics, it needs flexibility. The line between flexibility and permissiveness is very thin. Selfishness can blind us to any extent - in love and war everything is fair! Man can be worse than animals in anger, frustration, revenge, jealousy, envy etc. Man needs codes and laws to remain the best and noblest of all animals because he is essentially an animal. It uses its might and power to dominate, to snatch, to prey and to have extremely wild sexual desire. Man needs ethics, moral values and discipline to be the best of all the animals. Man needs to believe in the philosophy of live and let live. Man needs to be non-violent, cooperative and supportive. Man needs to care and ensure dignity of others and uphold the cause of justice and service to humanity if it aspires to be the noblest of all animals.