Master of the Self

“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still”

Lao Tzu

Social Evils

A report published by The Joseph Rowntree Foundation lists the top 10 social evils in UK society as: decline of community; individualism and selfishness; consumerism and greed, a decline of values, the decline of the family, young people as both victims and perpetrators, drugs and alcohol, poverty and inequality, immigration and responses to it, and crime and violence.

BBC article - Report lists new ’social evils’

It will be interesting to hear what solutions they come up with to tackle these social problems. Change in a society’s ethical values happens slowly and I can’t imagine it can be reversed quickly or easily. Especially if we don’t recognise what the root causes of each problem are. For example how do you deal with the problem of consumerism and greed? A commentator on the BBC website wrote:

“The egalitarian principles of liberty, brotherhood and justice have been consumed by social Darwinist greed”.

Food for thought…