Is humanity at an all time low?

No. I am not talking about heartless doctors who have made their profession a business venture. Not about engineers who have sold their degree for cash and not even about other so called educated professionals involved in trading their skills, position and credentials. The whole world is mad about money and there seems to be little room for so many other things and it hits us hard only at retirement. But this blog is about day to day activities by individuals, who are part of this community, possibly outside their monetary world but not entirely disconnected from money.

Is humanity at an all time low? It is a no-brainer, many might say. And I will not mistake them. Things I have experienced led me to this question and here are a few snippets...

Incident 1 - A group of us were visiting a nearby city. We were inside the airport premises and it was around noon. We were trying to figure a way out of the detours when we almost hit a 'dead end' because of construction and stuff. And then we noticed a car 'parked' at the end of the road. On first notice, there was nothing off about the car. It looked parked with its tires turned to the right. No visible damages or scratches, no tire marks on the road, nothing suspicious around the car either. So, everything 'normal' but for its front door being ajar and most disturbingly we could see a forearm hanging 'lifeless' out of that door. A picturesque moment that we all would have seen a 100 times in moives and TV. What happened? Who is (s)he? If not for my friends, I would have walked straight to the car to check out the status. When I suggested this, one of my friends immediately said "No, wait. Let's call 911". Before I could argue or even think of why we should be afraid, whether it is a trap for 'innocent' people and several other possibilities, the 'lifeless' hand moved as a pigeon approached the door. As my friends gasped with a mixture of fear and shock, my thought process got broken. We laughed at ourselves after realizing that the guy was just bird feeding. As we drove back, I asked myself this question again..

There has been a disturbing and decreasing tendency to help directly and leave it to others. Psychological experiments have proved this bystander effect as early as 1968. And it is always a pleasant surprise when I read news like this and bravery awards in India.There was nothing wrong in what my friend did that day. My friend was genuinely concerned about our safety first. Then come other aspects.  Though the fact that there are people who exploit the gullibility and good nature of people to their benefit was not shocking, the consequences were disturbing for me. In broad daylight, close to the airport we had to hesitate to help! Some might call it defensive, some precautionary and some even cowardice. Whatever be the name it is an attitude that is increasingly common. What gives me hope is it is still not 'indifferent'. There is still a reaction.
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Incident II - Today's business world. Having done an MBA and being on the management side, I will be kidding myself if I think of ethics and fairness in business. They are blinded by just one word - 'profits' and all else take a back seat. Yet there were two contrasting episodes I witnessed. There used to be a restaurant called 'Mysore woodlands' in Rochester one of the many Indian restaurants. Overnight they shut down their operations. When I sought answers, I heard that a new Indian restaurant 'Haveli' had bought the chef(s) of Mysore Woodlands. The chef did not even have the courtesy to give his previous employer a notice and when the chef did not turn up for work on a 'fine' morning the owner realized the bitter truth. Forget the inventory and food that went waste because of the sudden shut down of a decently big hotel. It was the way things were done that irked me. Personally I have stopped going to Haveli ever since but everybody seems to see only the large picture. In the long run things will be ok.. Sigh... I contrast it with another incident where my friend and I were searching for a phone. The AT&T shop did not have the model my friend was looking for. After spending a few itchy moments on what is the best way forward and when he almost decided to go for a 'sub-optimal' phone, the AT&T guy referred us to Best Buy which was a store just opposite and my friend got his phone there. Let us pause here. It is likely that by selling a contract to us, the AT&T store and the employee would have earned some commission however small it might be. Yet, he chose to ignore that and acted in our interest. It could be argued that referrals mean a lot in business and he could have acted 'long term'. Yet, his gesture was heartening. So, is there still hope?

There are a number of other incidents I can keep adding. From corruption, international politics, women being ill-treated both in public and within four walls of their house. There is just chaos that I see around us. And mind you not everything has money as the root-cause.

Should we help physically challenged people? A doubt I have always had. Every time I want to help, out comes a flood of thoughts. Is the person already feeling helpless and dejected and warrants help? Or, by means of helping, am I condescending and making the person feel worse? Maybe by ignoring my urge to help, the physically challenged person will overcome the problem and feel happy that (s)he 'conquered' his/her difficulty without others' help. May be by helping, (s)he will feel that after all somebody is out there to help in need. The area remains grey till date. In fact I have heard that the biggest compliment we could give them is to treat them as our equals and show no pity. It is the pity that hurts them most as it reinforces the fact that they are different.

Perhaps, the answer to most of the above is - 'ethics' gets different dimensions and perspectives with time. If your reference point is different then things will appear different. But alas, I thought morality is different than ethics and morality is based on common sense.. Oh yes, I am wrong.. I will stop my ranting by recalling this Gita quote I read recently

kāma eṣa krodha eṣa raja guṇa samudbhavaḥ
mahāśano mahāpāpmā viddhi enam iha vairiṇam 3.37
Desire, anger, and passionate qualities produce
The all-consuming and sinful foe: Known this.