Open for Debate:

'Corrosion of character' and the 'Fall of public man'

by Prof. S. T. Hettige, University of Colombo

'Corrosion of character' and the 'Fall of public man' are the titles of two books written by Richard Sennett, well known social scientist teaching at the London School of Economics and New York University. The two books deal with the social and psychological consequences of capitalism during two different periods, one in the early 1970's, the other in the late 1990's.

These two books are useful to understand the social transformation in Sri Lanka in recent years. Hence the title of the present article.

If one observes the behaviour of many Sri Lankans today, one is struck by the fact that integrity, honesty, fairness, justice, compassion and gratefulness, are no longer aspects of their character.

Society is so segmented and atomized that there is little concern for common good. Many people however talk loudly in public and in private conversations about the value of the above character traits but in fact, display no such qualities in their day -today behaviour. The corollary of the above tendency is the latent display of contempt for people who in fact behave in keeping with such values.

Many social scientists have identified the absence of the above human qualities as an aspect of dehumanization of society under impersonal market forces that often destroy interpersonal relations based on honesty, integrity and respect.

Atomized individuals are interested in interpersonal relations to the extent that they can manipulate them for their own personal gain. This ties up with another important tendency in contemporary society, namely the tendency among many people to worship power no matter how illegitimate such power can be.

The character of many people is so corroded today that they display two mutually inconsistent tendencies. While they would readily lament about declining human values in public, in actual day today practice, their behaviour would at best display a clear indifference towards such values.

At a macro- societal level, the above tendency would translate itself into tolerance, or even encouragement of corruption, abuse of power, erosion of collective welfare, etc. The same tendency manifesting at institutional level leads to institutional decline.

Yet, this would not elicit any collective response or an outrage on the part of even a small segment of the institutional membership. The clearest expression of the former tendency could be found in such public institutions as political parties, professional organizations, trade unions and even educational institutions.

At an individual level, the tendency is often rooted in the inner self or the sub- conscious. In fact, the individual displays his or her true character which is often unsuccessfully concealed by a facade of a public lamentation about declining values at an interpersonal level. If this is not the case, how can one explain utterly unethical, immoral behaviour of an individual who would never hesitate to lament about social and moral decline.

Decline of ethical standards

Societies that are in decline in terms of ethical standards and moral values contribute to a clear corrosion of individual character and a degeneration of institutions. The latter tendencies in turn would feed into societal decline, paving the way for a state of anomie or a breakdown of the normative order of society.

Though a few individuals would always come forward to defend the moral and ethical order, the vast majority would display a clear indifference towards it at best. The latter would defend their own behaviour in term of a highly pragmatic, individual morality without any regard for institutional health or collective welfare.

If the institutions can be manipulated to maximize personal gain, the distortion of the institution itself is no concern to self seeking individuals. What has happened to political parties, the parliament, trade unions and universities in the country over the last several decades is testimony to the above trend.

While all these and other institutions display a clear deterioration, personal benefits in terms of salaries, perks, promotions and pension for politicians, public servants and university academics have been steadily enhanced over the same period.

This would not have been possible in the corporate sector. Declining efficiency and profitability of private firms would have invariably resulted in job losses and bankruptcy. On the other hand, personal benefits to politicians and public servants depend entirely on rent- seeking and have little or no bearing on productivity or public welfare.

Those who are in power use the legal system to coerce people to pay taxes which are, in turn largely used to provide material benefits to those who are connected with the state apparatus, both directly and indirectly.

It seems that our unconscious feeling of guilt connected with the enjoyment of unjust privileges leads to an indifferent attitude towards justice, fairness and other ethical standards. This may sound ironical as nobody would in fact admit to harbouring such feelings and attitudes. On the other hand, actual behaviour of many individuals leaves little room for doubting the true nature of their inner character.

The discussion so far might have appeared too psychological. On the other hand, attitudes, values and behaviour are not always social in their expression. There is in fact a close interplay between the social and the psychological. Personal actions and inactions on the part of individuals are individual decisions that people deliberately make guided by the values and standards they have internalized.

There are many psychological tests that can be used to gauge ethical/unethical/pragmatic behaviour of individuals in a highly secluded setting. The behaviour they display in such tests may have little to do with their public pronouncements, the latter being simply a facade to conceal their true character.

True character

History has taught us that those who are committed to higher ethical and moral values such as social justice, fairness and common good are few and far between. The rest are mere mortals adapting to any situation in a highly pragmatic and instrumentalist fashion, while at the same time pretending to uphold such values.

Their true character becomes too obvious when they are put to a real psychological test. On the other hand, those who are truly committed to ethical/moral values of a higher order stand out in time and space, relegating the rest to the dust-bin of history.

It is only the former who stand the test of time, while others disappear into the background even in the context of local folklore, let alone the wider canvass of history.

Those who swim with the current find it enjoyable and convenient but they end up in the ocean and disappear without a trace. Those who swim upstream always remain close to high ground and are often noticed and rescued by the passers-by.

They become true heroes as they display a rare quality. But this is in the long run. Most people have no interest in the long run. They consider themselves to be mere mortals, interested only in their own immediate gain, not the well-being of the others.

What we witness today on a global level by way of rapid climatic change is largely the result of the pursuit of individual happiness at the expense of collective human welfare. Economic development that involved the continuous exploitation of natural resources was considered by the socialist as well as capitalist countries alike as the path to ever increasing prosperity.

This conventional wisdom has been questioned by scientists for several decades now. On the other hand, it is only in recent years that many people have begun to listen when the signs of an impending environmental catastrophe became more evident and tangible.

Yet, the rapid exploitation of natural resources continues unabated as most people in the developed world find it inconvenient to change their energy intensive life styles. Most people in the developing world think that it is their right to adopt consumption patterns found in the developed world.

This is what we observe in both India and China, the two most populous nations in the world. As is well known, China has become one of the largest markets for large and expensive cars.

If our individual actions and inactions contribute to climate change and environmental pollution leading to a decline in collective well-being, such actions and inactions are morally and ethically indefensible.

Yet, we continue to engage in such behaviour in order to satisfy our own desires, even where we are aware of its negative consequences for public welfare.

Again, at an interpersonal level, many individuals would subscribe to moral and ethical values connected with environmental conservation. Yet, not many people come forward to agitate for a change in the way we deal with the environment. This tendency is very much in keeping with dehumanization of society alluded to at the outset of the present article.