INTEGRITY MONTH: DAY 30: “Above the policies, above the law, above the government, above the constitution, there is a higher principle, that is the principle of individual integrity, without which no matter how much policies and laws we create, we cannot ensure health, safety and sanity in the society.”― Abhijit Naskar
I have spoken about this recently with a couple of people. The horrifying way that social exchanges, interactions, and people in general have misbehaved, according to our long-time social order. It is a dynamic that we see with each generation, becoming more and more permissive, more and more open, with fewer and fewer rules to govern behaviors.
It seems that each generation of older people become horrified at what is happening in the world they inhabited for so long. Social mores and ethics are thrown away to be replaced by fewer and fewer restrictions on acceptable behavior.
I certainly qualify for this group. I find it horrifying that we are living in a time when no one wants to follow basic rules of human decency toward one-another. For my grandmother, the 60s were terrifying with the loosening of moral rules she had followed for a lifetime.
Some of this is just the advent of more public awareness, the advent of media coverage that has no boundaries as to what they will both show and talk about in a public forum. There is no such thing as privacy any longer, so we are subjected to an avalanche of so-called news. I don’t find it to be necessary in my life, so have been a very long-time non-consumer of that.
What I truly see is that the moral fiber of the world I used to live in has shifted in all the same ways my grandparents, and their grandparents, and so on were saddened and horrified by. It is all the same I suppose. But it is so hard to find people who truly exemplify honor and integrity. It is hard to write about this principle in todays’ world. I am hard-pressed to find examples and it feels heavy for me today. It has all month. Perhaps that will shift. I hope so.
Dolphin Hug 