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ECONOMICS OF MAHAVIRA
A problem of the present times is that many temptations have emerged and many wrong notions have developed. Among them, the foremost is the false notion of freedom. Among four brothers, three may be weak. In the past, the one strong brother used to take all the three along with him and provide support to them. Today the thinking is different. He wonders why he should carry them along. He wants to make rapid progress and to go ahead on his own. What has he to do with them, he thinks. This selfish mentality has also broken families. Another thought of the present times which is responsible for the fragmentation of the family is that everybody wants to live independently. Nobody wants to depend on or follow anybody. All these are the factors leading to the conditions of disintegration of the family.
Question: Morality is good; everybody wants to be moral but becomes immoral in getting the first opportunity. Why?
Answer: You know that morality is good and man wants to become moral. But by just wanting to become moral, one does not become moral. For being ethical in practice, one has to be devoted to it and to practise it in life. Life Science maintains that merely by reading good things man does not become good. He will become good by practising good things in life. Who does not know what is good and what is bad? But he may not make efforts to practise goodness. You must remember one thing that by reading or hearing good things, a man does not become good. He becomes good by adopting good things in day-to-day life.
Question: With the modern concept of development, character development is not taking place. Are the modern standards of development, responsible for it? What should be done for character development?
Answer: Quantum of production and consumption has become the yardsticks of development. You are, perhaps, aware that even in the very countries where this concept of development was formulated, internal conflicts have started. Discussions about it are taking place continuously. Whether this concept of development is valid is the moot question. It seems clear that the prevailing concept of development will have to be changed. To the concept of development, the element of character will have
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