Increasing Modernization and Crumbling Values

by Zeeyah Khan
Values are something that make us a true human being and help in refraining from doing
those things after which we are left with a sense of guilt or resentment AND
Modernization is a concept in the sphere of social sciences that refers to process in
which society goes through industrialization, urbanization and other social changes that
completely transforms the lies of indiiduals!
"ong ago #arl Mar$ made ery bold predictions about the future of modern and
industrial society, such as the rise of labor and the decline of religion! Modernization
produced perasie social and cultural conse%uences, such as rising educational leels,
shifting attitudes toward authority, broader political participation, declining fertility rates,
changing gender roles and growing emphasis on self&e$pression
'ince long societies are talking repeatedly about the drastic shift in social culture and
deteriorating alue systems! Dear readers, we first need to understand what in today(s
world modernization mean to some people) *s it doing things in difference to basic
human alues) 'eeking relationships without commitment or responsibility) Deriing
momentary pleasures without thinking of the after effects and doing things that others do,
to be tagged as +Modern+)
,easons for such thinking are- pressure of modernizing world, lack of communication
with immediate family, lack of emotional support especially from family, lack of self
esteem, loss of alues and the endless desires! 'o this of course leads to the "oss of one(s
dignity and self&respect, .rustration, .urther fall in self esteem, and then the unending
guilt! /hese effects could be life threatening! No mater een if they hae all the fame and
riches and lie beyond the social barriers, yet they go into deep depression and end their
lies and committed suicide! 0hy) 1ecause there are things other than name, fame,
money, glamour and short term pleasures! /hese are- true loe, emotional strength,
courage, family support, self esteem and confidence in all situations, last but most
important, spirituality! *f ones alue systems are strong and communication within the
family is sound, one cannot cross limits!
Modernization has made the people of world weak and unhealthy both physically and
mentally! /oday(s life is full of stress, tension, pressures and worries! /hese begin right
from the stage a child is admitted to school! /he atmosphere of competition, hurried life,
uncertainty of future prospects, doubts about success, possibilities of failure, etc, cause
stress on human mind! * submit that with one(s growth these problems also grow! And
with these growing challenges, and fight for surial, we are forgetting our alues!
0e all know that with modernization our lies hae become increasingly dominated by
technology! 'ome people beliee that technology has simplified our life, but * doubt it!
/echnology has made life complicated, for e$ample the influence of teleision and
computer games! Many young people en2oy these, but hae they eer thought about the
problems that may arise as a result of watching teleision or playing computer games)
/hey are too much) Many teleision programs and computer games contain obscene and
inappropriate contents such as se$ and iolence, which may distort young people+s alues
and lead them to deelop unhealthy attitudes! Also, teenagers will often turn on the
computer almost as soon as they come home from school! As a result, they may hae ery
little face&to&face contact with other people and end up lacking normal social skills!
Members of the same family may hae independent rooms with teleision sets and they
all spend hours watching alone! 3ence, another genuine custom with long history which
brings family, relaties and neighbors together is loosing the battle in front!
'ocial media applications, telecommunications, internet and specially cell phones are
ery popular nowadays! Although they are ery conenient, people lose the opportunity
to simply communicate face to face and become isolated, lazy, unhealthy, and increasing
crimes! *n all of these ways modernization has been slowly but gradually taken us apart
from our core alues!
Modernization has lead to the globalization of communication which has definitely
changed this world into a global illage, which resulted as the threat clash of
ciilizations! Many conflicts are originating and adding to the miseries of the world!
Modernization has a powerful impact on cultural alues! Distinctie cultural traits shape
a society+s political and economic performance! As societies deelop economically
surial comes to be taken for granted, traditional religious beliefs tend to decline!
*n taking up the difficult theme of the ethics of deelopment, there are three important
premises we must keep firmly in mind! .irst, since deelopment is a process or
moement, we must remember it is releant to ask- where hae we come from) 0here
are we now) And where are we headed) /he danger is that ignoring the first and last, we
may focus e$clusiely at where we are now! 0e can make ade%uate ethical 2udgments on
modernization only when we consider all three together!
/he second thing to remember is that change rarely happens piecemeal and in isolation!
Modernization inoles not so much discrete elements as clusters of interrelated attitudes
and alues that are of a piece! 4ne buys what the world calls deelopment or
modernization in wholesale lots rather than by the single item! /his is not to say that a
people on the path to deelopment are doomed to become carbon copies of the western
nations of the world!
Dear readers, * hope you are not surprised to know that een dictionary meaning of
modernization is adoption of current iews, alues, habits, needs, ways etc! and that(s
why most of us take modernization in a wrong way! 4f course, you hae to improe and
upgrade yourself so that you are not anti%uated! 1ut it is not necessary to forgo your core
alues! 5ore alues are the alues that do not change! 3ence there is no %uestion of
moderation on that front!
Modernizing the society may be a popular goal! 1ut the content of the change the
modernization would inflect on the alue system may not be easy to forecast! Definitely
many of the changes would not bad or harmful! 0e 2ust need to realize that
modernization means adancement and not degradation of one(s alues! A few e$amples
of adancement are using a mobile medical an for checking patients and distributing
medicines in the remote illages, haing uninterrupted helpline telephones 6 call centers
for emergencies, free education portals and online libraries, reconnecting with near and
dear ones across the globe at almost zero cost, using huge information aailable on the
internet for the benefit of oneself and others!
As * %uoted at the start, Values are something that make us a true human being and help
in refraining from doing those things after which we are left with a sense of guilt or
resentment! Dear readers, now is the best time to write that fault is not with the
modernization itself, its in the way we take it. So let us be modern in the real sense
with our values intact!