We live in a materialistic society and are trained from our earliest years to be acquisitive. Our possessions, “mine” and “yours” are clearly labeled from early chíldhood. When we grow old enough to earn a living, it does not surprise us to discover that success is measured in terms of the money you earn. We spend the whole of our lives keeping up with our neighbours, the Joneses. If we buy a new television set, Jones is bound to buy a bigger and better one. The most amusing thing about this game is that the Joneses and all the neighbours who are struggling frantically to keep up with them are spending borrowed money kindly provided, at a suitable rate of interest, of course, by friendly banks, insurance companies, etc. ..
It is not only affluent societies that people are obsessed with the idea of making more money. Consumer goods are desirable everywhere and modern industry deliberately sets out to create new markets. Gone are the days when industrial goods were made to last forever. The Wheels of industry must be kept turning.
This materialistic outlook has seriously infiuenced education. Fewer and fewer young people these days acquire knowledge only for its own sake. Every course of studies must lead somewhere he is to a bigger wage packet. The demand for skilled personnel far exceeds the supply and big companies compete with each other to recruit students before they have completed their studies. Tempting salaries and “fringe benefits” are offered to them. Recruiting tactics of this kind have led to the “brain drain”, the process by which highly skilled people offer their services to the highest bidder. 'Ihe wealthier nations deprive their poorer neighbours of their most able citizens. While common is worshipped as never before, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
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