“Economics has displaced the human being from the landscape of human life and has taken its place.”
The common perception of Eastern intellectuals about the modern world created by the Western world is that this is an age that fractures the traditional relations between humans and God, humans and the universe, and the human-to-human relationship. Many Western thinkers have also testified to this with great passion. All such people seem to agree that Western philosophy and science have torn apart all those relationships that have defined the meaning of human life from the oldest times to the modern era, and without which to conceptualize human life becomes impossible.
There is no doubt that the modern era has torn these relationships apart. However, in our view, the matter has moved way ahead of just tearing apart, and it seems that the intellectual systems of the modern era have tried to transform these relationships instead of just tearing them apart, which is more dangerous than tearing them apart. Because it is easy to mend broken relationships but it is difficult to restore transformed relationships to their original form, especially if the transformation is fundamental and essential. And in our view, this era has created fundamental and essential transformations in the nature of these relationships. What are these transformations? Let’s have a look.
The meaning of a person’s entire life is determined by what is the main reference of all his struggles and activities. That is, what is the center around which all its activities are taking place?
There was a time when the central reference point for all human efforts and activities were the same relationships that we referred to at the beginning of the article. It included not only his political, social, civilizational, and cultural activities but also his economic activities. However, in the modern era, the central reference point for all human efforts and activities is not those relationships but rather the activities themselves, especially economic activity. In today’s article, we will discuss the interrelationship between this activity and human relationships and try to analyze it from different perspectives.
In the last five or six decades, the shape of life under the influence of Western thought has changed the basic center of human struggle. Earlier this center was various relations, and now it is economic life or economics. As industrial life expands, this center becomes more complex and important. This means that human psychological, emotional, and sensory needs are changing rapidly. For example, the happiness that was once associated with the sight of a loved one has now become associated with the latest model car. The happiness that was once derived from close human relationships now comes from public relations. There was a time when a memory-filled account was a great pleasure for a person, and now, a healthy bank account is a sign of a person’s high status. That is, every wrong has replaced every right. Long live modern life! As the poet says:
مجھ کو قدروں کے بدلنے سے یہ ہو گا فائدہ
میرے جتنے عیب ہیں سارے ہنر ہو جائیں گے
(By the change of values, I will benefit,
All my flaws will turn into skills)
If you have the ability to feel, you must have felt that whatever prominent symptoms of the modern age we mentioned above, are all necessities or consequences of economic life, and they are the central reference point of our life. And the dreadful thing is that our own life is also a reference to them. That is, we are in economics and economics is in us. It is our Laila and we are all her Majnus. (It is our beloved, and we are all its lovers)
The way the economics of the new age, meaning our Laila, has disrupted the human relationship with God and the universe is something on which our scholarly individuals, Hasan Askari, Saleem Ahmed or Brother Siraj Munir, could have shed light more effectively because of their deep insight. However, how this fairy-faced, a thousand-shaded one has affected human relationships, we too can also shed a little light on it. Whether it’s light or darkness, now there is no significant difference between them… especially in our intellectual life.
Now you take a look at the various forms of human relationships formed on earth. The relationship of parents and children, of sisters and brothers, of husband and wife, of friends and friends, and the relationships that come between the participants of these connections.
Consider for a moment, what element binds these relationships together? Is it love, empathy, or some other psychological, emotional, or aesthetic need? If it is love and empathy, what factors have contributed to the formation of this love or empathy? Is it the case that one individual is more important to another merely as an individual, or is it because an individual is significant due to their economic importance or social status? Ponder whether an individual who is currently important to you due to their economic background would still be as significant if they were deprived of their economic background tomorrow. In my opinion, if most people answer these questions honestly, there will only be one answer – “No”.
In urban society, it has now become a common experience that in a house where there are four brothers, if three are earning then they have more importance and the one who does not earn has no importance at all – or at least not as much importance as the three have – no matter how good he is in terms of personal traits compared to those three.
There was once a time when nobility and family lineage etc. used to be given great importance in relation to marriage. But now only the economic status is considered. If the economic status is satisfactory then the importance of nobility, family lineage, etc. becomes very superficial.
Well, these were some glimpses of situations arising in social life that must be coming across your observation and experience every day. So the purpose of expressing them is not to express them but to determine their meaning. And their meaning is none other than the fact that economics has displaced the human being from the landscape of human life and taken its place. That is, our relationships are actually not human relationships but economic relationships, and the importance of human qualities found inside the human being is no more than that of an additional qualification. This is exactly like when an advertisement is posted for a job stating that an MA degree is required for this work and such and such a diploma will be considered an additional qualification. The regrettable thing is that the additional qualification is just for the namesake. That is, there is a box for additional qualification as well in the form of life which has to be filled perforce whether one likes it or not.
Human life is lived with many safeguards. These include psychological, emotional, sensory, sexual and customary types of other safeguards. All these safeguards are very important in human life. And the absence of even one safeguard creates a gap in human life. Economics has torn apart this system of safeguards in human life as well and has become firmly entrenched in the place of all of them. The protection that all these elements together used to provide to humans, now economics is trying to provide to them. And countless people in the world have also become accustomed to it. That is, if your economics is strong then many people will not demand other support from you. And even if they do demand, it won’t have that intensity that it could have had in the other situation or should have had. However since economics cannot fulfill the deficiency of all those safeguards, countless kinds of disorders are arising in human psychology.
The present age has expanded the scope of human economic struggle to such an extent that it has become the biggest killer of his time. Thus, the time that would once be spent in other human activities now becomes devoted only to economic struggle. In this way, so many emotions, feelings, and thoughts present in our existence do not get the time needed for their blossoming and maturation. This is why in the modern era there is a glut of half-raw emotions, feelings, and thoughts and maturity is nowhere to be found in anything. As a result, the joy derived from mature emotions, feelings, and thoughts that humans once experienced has been deprived. The most regrettable aspect is that we are not even aware of this deprivation.
There are many more things to say on this topic. But then this article will become too long and our readers engaged in economic struggle will not have enough time to read such a long article. Anyway, we also have to go to the office after finishing writing this article, so remaining talk some other time.
Dear TNT Reader,
At The News Tribe, our mission is to bring you free, independent, and unbiased news and content that keeps you informed and empowered. We are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism, as we understand that we are a platform for truth.
Apart from independent global news coverage, we also commit our unique focus on the Muslim world. In an age marked by the troubling rise of Islamophobia and widespread misrepresentation of Muslims in Western media, we strive to provide accurate and fair coverage.
But to continue doing so, we need your support. Even a small donation of 1$ can make a big difference. Your contribution will help us maintain the quality of our news and counteract the negative narratives that are so prevalent.
Please consider donating today to ensure we can keep delivering the news that matters. Together, we can make a positive impact on the world, and work towards a more inclusive, informed global society.
Donate Monthly Subscription Annual Subscription
