The Age of Mammon?

Meet Mammon. You may or may not know him, but he's been around for a while. Biblical texts describe him as the "false god of wealth", worshipping whom was avarice, one of the "seven deadly sins". Despite Jesus having made himself pretty clear about his stance on Mammon, the guy is still around two millennia later. In fact, I strongly suspect he is  pulling more strings each day in our lives.


This era in history is often described as the Information Age, which of course is true to a large extent. But when historians a few centuries down look back on our era, how will they describe our civilization: its values and culture? Is there a chance they will call it the Age of Mammon?


Shocked? Offended? Well, consider this. When I was working with the UN's World Food Program a couple of years ago, I saw concrete data that says we live in a world today where there is enough food to feed all humans. Yet, we "choose" - whether consciously or by virtue of sheer apathy - to let thousands of little kids die of starvation, which is an excruciatingly painful way to die! Why? Because it does not make "economic sense" to transport the food to where it is needed.

How will history judge us for images like the one on the left, especially in light of the knowledge that the food this child needed was in fact available, as was the transportation infrastructure and technology needed to bring it to him in time? What was lacking was the collective will to do so, and that was because that will was being fully exerted to advance economic interests, and anything that did not fit well with our wealth accumulation goals was simply ignored.


In our day to day lives, there are less shocking, but equally telling examples of how we prioritize Mammon over other things. If media reflects society, I often don't like what I see in that mirror. All those reality shows and contests where people are willing to do anything - injure or humiliate themselves or others, or destroy their relationships - for prize money, tell us something about the world we live in and its priorities.


You might wonder, is this now or was it always like this? I think money was always important, and surely excesses were committed in its pursuit in past eras as well. But it was not a single-minded obsession of mainstream society the way it is now.


Ancient Christian, Hindu and Buddhist societies actively discouraged wealth accumulation as a life goal, describing it as a distraction from the more worthy goals of salvation, moksha or nirvana. Past worlds used to value and celebrate their thinkers, artists, spiritual leaders and scientists much more than rich businessmen. The Greeks celebrated Plato and Aristotle, the Renaissance celebrated Da Vinci and Michaelangelo, not whoever was the richest at that time. By contrast, the heroes of today's world are its billionaires, and success - maybe even self worth - is measured in dollars and cents. Today, we know more about Bill Gates and Warren Buffet than we care to, and most of us won't be able to name the top physicist or the best spiritual thinker of our time.


Similarly, our education system today is mostly geared towards economic goals like employment and entrepreneurship. In other words, we want to train our kids to be money spinners when they grow up. I have seen many parents tell kids not to get "distracted" by other stuff like arts and humanitarian pursuits. Again, this was not always so, i.e. the goal of learning was to understand our broader purpose in life and our role in society was not defined just in economic terms.


Today, we are better described as a collection of individual consumers rather than a society of thinking and caring beings. Consumerism has taken over our collective psyche in this era more than it did in any past era. In fact, the current economic crisis has been caused by greed, or the love of Mammon! Everyone from investment bankers to home owners wanted more, more, more. The bubble burst as it had to, and how!


While we all hate the economic downturn, I hope this shock will give cause for pause. There is some evidence of this kind of introspection starting to happen. Maybe we are meant not just to be employees or employers, consumers or shareholders but also thinkers, artists, explorers, lovers and dreamers. And maybe if these other pursuits don't make money, that's ok. Maybe we need our friends and families more than we need stuff. Maybe we will be respected and seen as valuable even if we don't have huge net worths to boast of. Maybe this age will defeat the designs of Mammon and put money back in its place as a means and not an end, as a tool to be used and not as a God to be worshipped!


Maybe ... or maybe not? What do you think?