Society has been progressing and improving for thousands of years. The Industrial Revolution in England was history’s great leap forward. Sicnce then the progress in science and technology and in other branches of knowledge has resulted in the betterment of the conditions of life in many countries of the word. The span of human life has been enlarged, the condition of the labouring classes in many countriues has improved, knowledge and education have made great strides, the treatment of children has become more human, feats of engineering have done wonders, democracy and freedom have been granted to most countres of the world and a very much larger percentage of people have become entitled to the good things of life. The subjugation or enslavement of people and countries is fast becoming a thing of the past. All this is on the credit side of modern civilization.
On the debit side, there are many ills and evils which afflict mankind. The mutual fears and the rivalries among nations have resulted in an armament race sucking up a staggering amount of money which should have gone to relive human sufferings in various fruitful ways. Today world peace hangs by a thread. The Vietnam War, a limited war, has cost Americaa an amount of money which would have brought prosperity to several coutnries, including India, which are struggling gainst poverty. Destruction of human life apart this is crimanl waste in complete disregard of human welfare.
There are many trouble spots in parts of the world. Again, while about one-third of humanity has economic security, two-third of humanity remain deprived of economic well-being. Many countries still have corrupt governments under which the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer every day. Crime has registered an incredibly high increase in America and in some other parts of the world.
Coming nearer home, there are distressing conditions afflicting life in India-communal disharmony, corruption in almost all spheres, the police and the criminals in many cases being hand-in-glove with each other resulting in an alarming increase in crimes, the selfishness of the so-called servants of the people, the sorry state of things in our education-all these are causing untold misery to our people.
A perfect world is perhaps a dream world. But our world for all its progress is still an unjust and a hard world for the majorty of mankind. To say that ours is still a very imprfect world is to us a very mild language.