The power-draining modernity

Many speak of modernity and stress it causes to a man. Many speak of accelerating speed of life and the shallow contact it gives to life itself. In ancient philosophies the speed of life and just external performing of man has never been valued high. For example in taoism is a concept called Te - virtue. The virtue can be understood as a inner personality or strength. Virtue can also be described by an analogue to farm; the virtue of the farm is to produce the crops. Virtue cannot be learned from books but from studying the inner self. As one lives according to his or her virtue, one grows the inner strength.

In Taoism is also another concept: Wu Wei - the concept of effortless action. It's philosophy is to spend only as much energy as is needed to complete the task. All extra energy spent is just an extra stress. For example skilled butcher cuts between the bones, so he never has to sharpen his knife. Even though training a craft takes a lot of effort, mastering it gives you the possibility to do it out of a sheer joy of doing it. Not stressing yourself.

It's also a biological fact that brains shape according to our environment and actions. The most used neuron circuits strengthen and the less used circuits tend to weaken and die. So also biologically thinking the older one gets, the more hard it becomes to gather and learn to master new skills, virtues or ways of life.

But today's world demands sometimes the opposite. Man has to be ready to move his whole life and family after jobs. He has to be ready to train oneself into completely new profession, if markets demand that. Some has even made a lifestyle and dogma of this superficial and shallow touch on life, claiming that man has to renew - to "shed a skin" - in certain cycles of years. Man does need certain kind of renewing, replenishing, but I'm not sure these "prophets" always see the process in positive, empowering way.

Every year we have less time to be quiet with ourselves. Every year there's less people doing our jobs, causing the few do more than before. Every year there's more people without the job, below the average subsistence, forcing one to focus on survival, leaving no time for inner development, growth as a human being. Thus blocking also the development of our societies. Every year we have more social problems, poverty, crimes, diseases and people dropping outside the society. Which nowadays seem often only a society for a few "qualified". For those who sacrifice themselves for nothing. The growth of our economy doesn't equal to the growth of our humanity.