Problems With Modernisation

I hate this world. Well, I don't hate hate this world but I certainly do not like what it has become and what it wants to become. But before I get on with my ramblings I would like to make a few things clear: I am grateful to God for the life I have been given and am thankful that I receive three meals a day, wear clean clothes, and am surrounded by a loving family. I am also not hoping for a big revolution to up and change the times or to be miraculously whisked away into the fantastical world I have idealised in my ponderous little head. No, I am not like that. I intend to live in this world one way or another and I will adapt to the way of life and keep adapting to the ever changing times despite my resentfulness. I know times are changing and that modernisation - no matter how dreaded the word - cannot be stopped and that the world is only about to get shittier. I'm an escapist and, as such, I shall escape into my anger and frustration at the present and ramble all I want here on my blog.

Now, to pick three words to sum up my scorn I would choose the words carefully. Nonetheless, they'd be: industrialism, secularism, and feminism. I will explain each as best I can and I would be grateful if you would stop misjudging me from reading only the words and not reading on about what they really stand for.

Industrialism, or industrialisation, is the name given to that change in society which transforms our way of life into one that is more progress-driven, more individualistic, and more technology-dependent. Ever since the Industrial Revolution the world has seen an immense growth in the usage of technology in everyday life and not just farms and factories and there is now more innovation in the field of engineering and the other sciences than ever before. And while it is true that because of technological innovations we would not be able to cure so many ailments and make better so many lives but the fact remains - we don't really need it. You may think that the world simply cannot work without technology anymore and oftentimes you may have shuddered at the thought of a life without instant communication and mechanised ass-wipers. But that is only what you have been made to believe in. Yes, life is livable without technology and, yes, it can even prove to be better.

Don't get me wrong, though. I understand that times change and since the exile of Adam and Eve mankind has been developing itself to edge out against natural selection. But we were always destined to be the dominant species whether or not you believe in determinism. However, because of unneeded and unnecessary technology we are diverting our time, attention, and resources into something completely useless and doable without. I understand that mechanised transportation has become a necessity, and was perhaps bound to become one, ever since our need to quickly travel to and fro and get the job done. I understand that mechanical help is needed in the farms to mass produce crops to meet with the rapidly growing population. I understand that a man needs his tools and today's tools are technological devices. But the tides are changing and the tables are turning. What we can find in today's modernised world is increased dependency on technology and a gradual decline in our natural prowess. Our reliance on technology is so great that we have created health-related problems that may never have existed had we treated technology as merely a tool and not a medium of everyday life. And even then instead of removing ourselves away from technology or finding natural ways to recover from over-usage of technology we resort to prescription drugs to cure us. We are leaning over a bed of thorns with no support and the chances of falling to our doom are high.

So what is my conclusion? Nothing. There can never be a conclusion to a problem that has no solution unless a huge wind of sensibility sweeps by us. Increasingly more and more people are becoming less outdoorsy and prefer building concrete jungles to litter the earth instead of real jungles. Excuse me while I go outside and breathe in some fresh air. Oh wait... I can't breathe in fresh air anymore because pollution caused by technology has deprived me of this one and true merit good of life.

Now here's something that has been slowly, but surely, creeping its nasty tendrils into society's mind since the dawn of time. Secularism. Originally meaning the separation of politics and religion, secularism has now come to refer to an irreligious society in general. Again, do not get me wrong. Everyone is free to choose what they believe in - whether or not that belief encompasses anything or nothing. And irreligious behaviour is perhaps common among many individuals that hold faith, myself included. There is absolutely nothing wrong in going your way but when society forgets what it was that's when it starts becoming a problem. The fundamental aspect of secularism is to "leave and to be left." According to this a secular person is anyone who could either be a theist or an atheist but leave world-changing or authoritative matters be. It is in the nature of such a person to live amongst like minded individuals and "not comment" on society. But instead what we see is a "movement" of sorts against religious authority and cultural heritages and a change towards the secular life. By trying to bring a change into people's lives or "taking over" secularism (if we can even call it that) is contradicting what it truly stands for.

Secular thought is not something new but the difference between what's happening today and what used to happen in the old days is that secularism was indeed secularised from society in the past. Today, it's trying to take over and bring a "much needed change." It is clearly evident in modern day entertainment how secularism has crept in and is making it's stand against religion. We have cinema and music that focus more on living life to its fullest and individuality instead of remembering religion and culture and partaking in collectivism. Hiding behind the skirts of liberty secular thought has been so well-integrated into the modern man and woman that religious discussions are often avoided even by some religious individuals. Culture and tradition are mainly used as supplements to the tourism industry and religion is generalised into the imagination category so that no one takes it too seriously to give or take offence and to "keep it to themselves."

When in the old days religion, be it monotheistic or polytheistic, influenced politics, education, and entertainment, today it is considered a folly and a disposable part of our lives that is sooner left out due to it's supposedly retrogressive nature. But religion serves mainly as a barrier to human hastiness and a control on our unquenchable thirst to play God. Regardless of which religion is true or false it is an undeniable truth that religious beliefs carve morality and restraint into our minds - something which a secular society would find difficult to accomplish. Morality in a secular society is like hoping your unleashed dog won't run off chasing cars and get lost at night.

How did it ever come to this? Feminism? Seriously? *sigh* I suppose the world needs drama but when society starts to perceive drama for reality things can get out of hand. Feminism, my dear readers, is the radical notion that women are people. What started out as women's liberation, and rightfully so, has ended up into becoming a movement for total female dominance and an end to what we know as "a man's world." Once again, I shall clarify that I am not against women and that gender equality is one of the basics taught to me in my faith (also something that should be common sense). But my problem begins and ends with solely feminism. Yes, feminism used to mean women's liberation, yes, it used to mean equality for women in the workforce. But today, after having its message heard, it has changed into something disgusting.

Backed by governments and, worst of all, the media feminism intends to shun masculinity and replace it with femininity. That's not to say that the elite are creating a powerful ray-gun that would blast every y-chromosome into oblivion. Instead masculinity, the nature of men, is being discarded gradually and absolutely. Labelled as idiotic, unnecessary, and extremely dominating masculinity is perhaps a rare trait among the modern man. Increasingly men are becoming more feminine as the rise of feminism has ensured that the classic man is disposed off. The grit of manhood has given way to metrosexuality as men face difficulties identifying themselves in today's world. While feminism may have given women equal rights to men it has also empowered women with freedoms beyond their handle. Women have literally taken over the workforce as most jobs are given out to women these days because they possess the natural multitasking edge. However, because of feminism women now have several things to identify their womanhood with - as mothers, wives, nurturers, and now as workers. Traditionally, however, men have had only one thing to identify themselves with - as workers. The alpha male is defined as that man with the highest-paying or most respectable career (which would depend on cultural factors). Suicide rates are higher among men and the majority of those suicides are mainly due to either unemployment or dissatisfaction with their jobs. A man lives to provide and work not only for self-esteem but also for his family and when women unnaturally enter the fray and start taking over it only means the classic man has nowhere else to go.

Within that retreat the classic man may delve into the world of femininity and become a metrosexual (increasingly obsessive about fashion, style, clothing, and outer appearance). It is truly a pity to see masculinity die out or convert into femininity. The rate at which female dominance is happening the male gender might even become unnecessary. How? Through In vitro fertilisation of course. Fathers are disposable and not needed as lesbian couples or single mums can birth and raise children on their own. Divorce rates have also seen a sharp incline with the majority of them initiated by women.

Unfortunately, nothing can be done to stop such inevitable dooms. The world is like a tree: tall, strong, lush with leaves and flowers and ripe with fruit. Beautiful. Harmonious. But when feminism tries to replace the fruit with only leaves and flowers the fruit-bearing tree would become useless and counterproductive and imbalanced. When industrialism tries to extend the branches by adding artificial ones to allow for greater space, the beauty and sanctity of that tree is diminished. And when secularism tries to separate the trunk of the tree from the roots to give it freedom it would, instead, only cause the entire tree to fall - the roots are necessary restraints.

Industrialisation aims to deplete the world of it's tranquility and replace it with technology, secularisation aims to remove religion and culture and replace it with individualism and liberty, and feminism aims to disregard masculinity to allow for only one sex to dominate instead of equality. Balance is key. Without the minus the plus is useless. Without evil, virtue cannot exist. Peace out.

Tobacco vs Cannabis

Battle of the herbs!

According to Wikipedia, tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. Cannabis, on the other hand, is a genus of flowering plants. The two of them have various uses in modern society and are consumed in several ways. But perhaps the most notable form of consumption has to be smoking. Both of them are rolled into cigarettes and smoked (a "joint" is used to refer to a cannabis cigarette colloquially). Today I'll be comparing the two forms of cigarettes and giving my final verdict on which one tastes better/is better.

Origin

TOBACCO: The first people to ever widely consume tobacco through smoking were the Native Americans who had the herb instigated into their culture, religion, and way of life. Tobacco was a widely accepted trade item, then, and was often smoked in "peace pipes" in sacred ceremonies (even children were in on the whole smoking thing). However, the tobacco industry faced tremendous growth after European settlers arrived in the Americas and introduced the practise in mainland Europe where it, too, became a readily accepted trade item. Thanks to James Bonsack the tobacco industry tripled in size due to his invention of a machine that produced cigarettes.

In today's world, tobacco has been condemned a health hazard and trends in the developed world are declining whilst in the developing world they're seeing a steady rise.

CANNABIS: The first notable use of cannabis can be found in the 3rd millennium BC in Central and South Asia (that's where I'm from! :D). Cannabis is also known to have been used in ancient China (as evidenced by a 2,800-year-old, mummified, pot-smoking shaman) and also by the Hindus of India and Nepal some thousands of years ago (and was then known as ganjika).

Cannabis has an ancient history of ritual use and is found in pharmacological cults around the world. It was revered for its psychoactive properties by the ancient Assyrians whose shamans burned cannabis flowers to induce a state of trance. Even good ol' William Shakespeare was a pothead as proven by pipes dug up from his garden that contained large traces of cannabis. In today's world, cannabis has not only been condemned a health hazard, albeit manipulatively, it has also been criminalised throughout various parts of the world since the 20th century.

VERDICT: In this category the verdict will be based on which herb had the most diverse usage in its history. While tobacco was consumed on a large scale it was still, initially, smoked only by the Native Americans and later the European settlers. Cannabis, on the other hand, has been smoked by the Aryans, the Assyrians, the Chinese, the Indians, the Nepalese, and various other peoples from Central and South Asia. Thus, the winner in this category is CANNABIS.

Contemporary Usage
TOBACCO: In the days of yore smoking was mainly associated with masculinity and power and women smoking in public were often associated with promiscuity. In fact, in 19th century Europe and Japan prostitutes would approach potential clients by offering them a smoke. Tobacco smoking also became an icon for capitalism after the American Civil War.

Tobacco is widely smoked throughout the world and it's no secret that the once-great phenomenon could be nearing an end. However, despite efforts to reduce smoking via anti-smoking campaigns, no-smoking zones, and even increasing the tax on cigarettes the trend still sees a whopping 1.22 billion people smoking across the globe, with most of the smokers being men in the developing world. Take a look at the following statistics:

The country with the greatest percentage of male smokers is Russia: 70.1%
The country with the greatest percentage of female smokers is Nauru: 52.4%
Tobacco smoking rates from some of the world's greatest nations are:

• United States of America: 23.9%
• United Kingdom: 35.7%
• Japan: 29.3%
• France: 31.65%
• Australia: 24.75%

 The tobacco smoking rate in Pakistan (my own country) is: 21%

CANNABIS: Though prevalent in our society for a long time cannabis smoking never really achieved mainstream success as did it's darker cousin. Tobacco smoking owed its success mainly to doctors, who had a great influence on society back then (and still do). In the old days tobacco smoking was deemed a great stress reliever and healthy for the lungs (oh the irony) while cannabis smoking was almost always associated with either artists (writers, painters, musicians, and playwrights) or pagans. With the rise of the Abrahamic religions (which I'm not saying is a bad thing! >_<) and also the increased awareness of the 'dangers' of smoking cannabis smoking was further shunned.

Today, only a mere 147 million people smoke cannabis annually with the most prominent group of potheads being the Bohemians: a pot-smoking group of writers, artists, musicians, and actors who live only for their work. Despite having had some very famous smokers, cannabis smoking still hasn't gained influence as has tobacco. The following are a few statistics:

The country with the greatest percentage of cannabis smokers is Papua New Guinea: 29.5%

Cannabis smoking rates from some of the world's greatest nations are:

• United States of America: 13.7%
• United Kingdom: 7.4%
• Japan: 0.1%
• France: 8.6%
• Australia: 10.6%

The cannabis smoking rate in Pakistan (my country) is: 3.9%

VERDICT: Based on the number of people smoking each herb, TOBACCO is proclaimed the winner by a huge margin.

Health Effects

TOBACCO: Tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death globally with 5.4 million deaths attributed to the act of smoking alone. Tobacco use leads to diseases affecting the heart and lungs with smoking being a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer. It also causes peripheral vascular disease and hypertension. These effects depend mainly on how much and how long a person has been smoking and how much secondhand smoke that person has been inhaling (though the adverse effects of secondhand smoke are dubious). Tobacco use is a significant factor in miscarriages among pregnant smokers while also contributing to other effects to a child in the womb such as premature births and low birth weight and increases the chance for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome by three times. Tobacco smoking increases the chance of impotence amongst male smokers by 85% more than non-smoking males and is the main cause of erectile dysfunction.

Basically, tobacco is possibly one of the worst things you can consume for your body and it is truly sad to see such a rampant killer legal and running free on the streets of the world. Bhutan, however, is the only country in the world to have banned the sale of tobacco.

CANNABIS: The active ingredient of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which gives the herb its psychoactive properties or the "high." Various scientific studies have proven that cannabis contains little to no carcinogens (an agent that causes cancer) and it's long-term health effects have long been debated but none have actually been proven. Of the short-term health effects cannabis smoking can cause impairment of basic sense (which usually just last for three hours maximum) and can cause temporary memory loss. The adverse long-term effects are highly debated but there is one positive effect of cannabis smoking which is popularly agreed upon: smoking marijuana destroys cancer cells and has no links to lung cancer.

Up till now no reported death has been attributed to cannabis smoking and it poses no real threat to one's life. Despite all this, it is shunned in modern society and criminalised in many places.

VERDICT: On one hand you have the extremely poisonous tobacco while on the other hand you have cannabis: a herb which has been used to cure cancer, glaucoma, and AIDS patients. The obvious winner here is CANNABIS.

Why We Smoke It

TOBACCO: People may have varying reasons for smoking tobacco: recreation, increasing concentration (which is a myth, by the way), or peer pressure. I used to be a regular smoker, managing at least a cigarette a day, but now I only smoke during certain occasions. I had two main reasons for tobacco smoking: whilst among friends I smoked to fit in or stand out as the most masculine (honest confessions) but when alone (especially at night) I used to smoke to achieve a certain 'buzz' feeling in my head. You can call it the cigarette-high but it's not intoxicating like an actual high. It's more comparable to a refreshing buzz one gets from drinking caffeinated beverages. However, with prolonged usage that buzz soon fades away and now I never get that feeling from tobacco smoking no matter how many cigarettes I smoke.

CANNABIS: People have smoked cannabis for varying spiritual and religious reasons. The Bohemians smoke cannabis to invoke creativity and the Rastafarians do so to reach a state closest to their god. But perhaps the number one reason people smoke cannabis in today's society is to tap its psychoactive property - in other words, to get high. Aside from its favourable effects on one's health I personally smoke cannabis every once in a while to get high. During that state I achieve a new perspective on the world around me and, honestly speaking, I think of things that I normally wouldn't. As a writer I need to add creative aspects to what I write and aside from sitting in the toilet and going to the gym and spending time at night in solitude I've found getting high to be another effective way of getting my creative juices flowing.

VERDICT: It's clearly CANNABIS.

And the winner of the battle of the herbs is... CANNABIS! :D It has a more diverse history than tobacco, is not fatal to one's health like tobacco, and provides greater satisfaction than tobacco smoking! It only falls short in popularity which it largely owes to the lack of awareness of the benefits of cannabis to the human body and mind.

P.S. I smoke tobacco only when I'm in a large social gathering (usually of five or more people). Such gatherings are rare as per my introverted lifestyle so that ensures I don't smoke that often. In fact, I rarely ever smoke tobacco. Cannabis, on the other hand, is something I personally enjoy (but not crave) and something I indulge in as much as I can (though I'm not addicted). Due to the cost of purchasing and the lack of availability I smoke 'up' only once a week or fortnight. Not a lot, I know.