Looking Back to the Future

Just as Confucius looked to the past for idealized answers, so too can modern society. The nuggets of wisdom that he passed on still hold relevance. A single quote from Confucius can impart much knowledge, when closely examined. Passage three in Book VII of Analects is a prime example. It begins “The Master said, “It is these things that cause me concern: failure to cultivate virtue…” This has proven to be a valid concern, as modern society places no emphasis on this quality. Virtue has become entangled with religion; gone are the days when personal honor and integrity were admired and sought out characteristics.

It continues “…failure to go more deeply into what I have learned…”, which is a continuing and growing problem. It is the Information Age, but that there is almost too much information. In the era of cable, the Internet, cell phones and the intermixing of the three; it has become about quantity instead of quality. Society has become conditioned to accept what they get from these media without question. Many people simply regurgitate sound bytes and news headlines as fact, without researching any of it. Knowledge isn’t so much as gained as it is passed around.

“…inability, when I am told what is right, to move where it is”. Too often in life we know what the right thing is, we simply feel overwhelmed by it or lack the virtue to take action. It concludes “…and inability to reform myself when I have defects”. Instead of seeking personal change and growth, modern individuals seek excuses. All of those defects that everyone possesses are not their own faults; they are due to outside forces. This attitude has overtaken society as a whole and is directly tied to America’s current problems. When the government is always busy pointing fingers in blame, is no surprise that its citizens have accountability issues as well.