Biased Towards a Conscience

About a year back, I was telling my kids a story about 'living by one's conscience', and realised that neither had come across the word 'conscience'. They were twelve and fourteen at that time. I was surprised and more than a bit upset that as a mother I had failed to introduce this important concept to them. It also occured to me, then, that this word was neither introduced, nor nurtured in education systems designed to produce future generations of upwardly mobile, western imitating Indian middle class consumers - 'conscience' was probably outdated, and mostly non-relevant in the present age.

I was reminded of this incidence recently when I came across a vehemently pro-environmental argument by a youngster who worked as a financial advisor to a MNC of questionable integrity; he also stated one of his favourite hobby as playing at the stock market. It was laudable that the person spoke up for saving the natural spaces, forests, rivers, but, did he realise that his environmental interests were probably in conflict with his professional life and hobbies that were so closely tied to developing global markets, finances. It then occured to me that professional choices are seldom governed by enquiry or thoughts of right versus wrong, consistency with personal values, whether this choice impinges on other freedoms- for species to exist, equitable rights to resources, common natural heritage, questions of better livelihood, and further development? The question to ask, "If I gain, who loses?" is rarely pondered. Final choices are made based primarily on financial considerations, and future prospects by the fastest accrument of wealth.

So, have we as parents, and a society failed in someway-not provided a map, a compass, to judge ourselves and our lives by? Are the glittering towers of USA, fancy possessions, heavy real estate become our sole aspirations, a scale on which we measure our self worth? our worth within a peer group? To answer these questions-one needs to step back and ask "what is conscience?", "is conscience necessary?" and only then "why have we failed?"

Conscience, I was taught at an early age, is that little voice, your friend, who tells you right from wrong, good from bad. As a young child, this mysterious, unseen friend, was real-as real as parents' love, home security. When in doubt, I tried to listen to my friend-did not always succeed, since worldly temptations were on the rise even then-but this friend prevented several wrong doings, that would necessarily have changed the course of my life. Now I realise that 'conscience' is a social construct, a conditioning, a facilitator of decision making keeping a social perspective invisibly present. This voice was no doubt introduced and nourished both at home and school, and also the environment I grew up in.

When I was in school, we had a class every week called "moral science"-it consisted of short stories of real people-and via this clearly separated righteousness, from wrong, true from false, conflicts of personal freedom, versus social responsibility-it moralised by real examples, by separating true heroes, acts of courage. I remember both the scoff of the more worldly in the class, but also the deep impression these stories made on me. The present younger generation would no doubt call such classes or stories "lame" but how else does one teach the young to both be socially participative, responsible? Isn't that a necessary condition for the existence of a peaceful, prosperous society-to realise that one is also a strand in a social web? Even if 'conscience' is just a social construct, laying down rules for operation and growth of both individual and group, can purely individual gains suffice in an atmosphere of social strife and conflict? Isn't the larger common good, also good at a personal level-a freedom from fears, insecurities that the 'haves' suffer in societies with severe disparities of wealth and opportunities. While our individual citizens compete to hold global titles of the wealthiest, our society boasts of largest debt-deaths by farmers, shameful infant-mortality, rampant dowry-deaths; lack of drinking water is our bane, sanitation not even a priority, education a means to export children out for dollars-the choice of our enlightened.

We do not have a pause to consider, make a conscious choice-when choosing a bride, a car, a school-market chooses our career, advertisements our lifestyles. Instead of looking outward, all the time, for happiness - imitating fake pictures advertising happiness as wealth, accumulation, power, isn't it time to look closer home, at the world we have made, are a part of, all the way inwards to our heart, to our little voice, our friend?