Death to morality

It is a question of morality. As we move towards the second decade in the 21st Century, the moral shackles that have stunted humanity for centuries are coming loose. As the links crumble under the hammerfalls of independent thought and the rising trend of atheism, humans are rising to the challenge of expression without guilt.

Yet in the two countries that are supposedly at the vanguard of the millennial charge, morals embedded in tradition are digging their heels in refusing to buckle.

But before we talk about India and China, let us discuss morality itself. Friedrich Nietzsche did not mince his words when he said, "Morality is the herd-instinct in the individual."

The human mind was never equipped for a moral code, it was built to run on instinct: If we are threatened we defend, if we are hungry we eat, if we feel lust we copulate, if we are too many we migrate. It is as simple as that. With the advent of society, and more pertinently, religion, the specter of morality descended. The concept of right and wrong was created by religions to control what it considered the errant masses, or as Nietzsche referred to “the herd”.

Without the guillotine of guilt and the fire and brimstone sermons of the myriad of priests, mullahs, swamis and lamas, man would revert to instinct and discard the oppressive cloth of morality. Religion may be many things, but naive it isn’t. It has adapted the ‘moral code’ to suit its requirements, hemming in those that threatened its foundations and dared question its dogma.

As we passed through the centuries, religions rose and fell in a tide of calamitous forays. But through it all, one underlying theme remained resilient: the moral code. It did, however, metamorphose through time, as society ‘evolved’ it did too. Unfortunately for religion and its engraved foot soldiers, with the advent of the internet, the walls are tumbling.

The internet has shattered all censors, all barriers — natural and man-made — and has brought sex and free speech to homes where once they would be the sole domain of the arch. The mighty code was being buffeted on all sides, and its tenacity chipped away.

But in India and China change was not as forthcoming, and the irony was evident. The two countries powering ahead technologically were reverting to tradition steeped in anachronism. China’s tradition is more political-based rather than religious, and in that it is fleeting (Maoism is ageing and unless it evolves drastically will be defunct within the next two decades). India’s, however, is stoically religious and therein lies its danger. What’s more disconcerting is the fact that the code is being propped up by the country’s youth rather than its dogmatic politicians and idiosyncratic holy men.

Inequality between caste and sex still proliferates society and women’s liberation movements are paid lip service at best. In fact the conservatism — social and cultural — in parts of cities like Mumbai and New Delhi mirrors the Middle East.

So why are India’s youth clinging on to tradition that has so evidently passed its sell-by date? Insecurity is one reason. Even sixty years after independence, India has a colonial hangover of gargantuan proportions. Fair skin is still considered a social virtue, and at times a necessity, and the West still holds the key to a kingdom Indian youth want to enter, but are too afraid they might not make the cut. Beneath a facade of bravado, lurks a stuttering child looking for acceptance.

It’s almost as if India’s sudden rise on the global stage has overwhelmed its youth who find themselves at a crossroads without knowing how they got there and whence they must go. So they cling to an ancient code as a drowning man does a life vest and mask it as patriotism.

But India’s youth must soon attempt to shake of the yoke and think for themselves. India’s old guard is selling jingoism and religomania by the boatload, it’s time the country’s youth sent the shipment back.