The self-righteous modern man

By Sadhika on

The moral high ground is overcrowded these days, and the modern man competes with his fellows over “virtue” instead of bread.

In his version of things, modern man is always fighting over injustice of some or the other form. And he always claims, or rather, he takes it as given that he is on the side of the right. In his mind, he is the sole champion of justice, and anyone who stands in his way is less virtuous and stands for injustice.

It doesn't matter who the adversary is. It may be the system. It may be his own family. He sees the system as rigged against him. He sees his people conspiring against his interests. And therein, begins his hate.

The vitriolic hate of the modern man - is there anything more blinding than it? Indeed, it is his most powerful weapon. It slashes and cuts all who stand in his way, and in the end, it brings about his own undoing. 

Good versus bad. Justice versus injustice. Sufferer versus perpetrator. Compassionate versus ruthless. Invariably, he assigns himself a place in the first category in all these binary classifications. More often than not, he believes that he is entitled to his “righteous hate”, even to “righteous revenge”, by virtue of being on the side of justice. 

O you modern one, put aside your teeth gnashing and ask yourself: What lofty ideals do you claim to champion, to elevate your narrative to an exalted status?

“‘Sullen were we in the air made sweet by the Sun;

In the glory of his shining our hearts poured

A bitter smoke. Sullen were we begun;

Sullen we lie forever in this ditch.’

This litany they gargle in their throats

As if they sang, but lacked the words and pitch.”

- Dante Alighieri, Inferno (The Divine Comedy).

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