Editorial

It’s all about money…

It’s all about money.  Heavy tariffs, AI threatening millions of families with starvation due to evaporation of jobs, wars–it’s all about money. Human values and ethics have been blown away in the scientific age. The idea of doing good to others, working for others’ well-being and so on have long been shelved. Everything is weighed with money. What’s more, even the Nobel prize, they say, is all about oil money.

Wars, technology, inventions, all concentrate only on how much we can gain or earn even by destroying others. Friendships are blown away, long-standing relationships are thrown to the wind–all for money. If we give a concrete example, things will become clear. Why are medical researches done? To earn more? No! It’s to remove the sorrow and suffering of human beings by curing their ailments. The principle purpose of medical inventions is to cure and bring health. But soon these discoveries become money-making machines. Let millions suffer, no problem.  Some people will make money and that is important.

Just see the vicious circle. In countries where health insurance is mandatory, doctors and medical shops can overcharge, thinking that insurance companies pay. Insurance companies in turn overcharge the masses. Suppose you are unhealthy and think wrongly that it’s a headache. You make an appointment, and your doctor [huisarts] will only treat the headache. Even if there is some other serious issue, it’s ignored. In the process, if you have spoken to the doctor for just three minutes, your insurance company has to pay a hundred euros.

This is the money civilization we are in. Human beings cannot survive in such a suffocating system for long. They will change. “Not I but you”, not selfishness but other-centered life. This shall be the motto soon. Goodness never dies. Developing and cultivating goodness is our goal.

May Sri Ramakrishna, Mother and Swamiji bless us all.

Swami Sunirmalananda