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Signs
of Social Unrest
9. At the same time,
social unrest has gradually spread throughout the world. The acute restlessness
engulfing the poorer classes in countries that are now being industrialized has
spread to other regions where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. The
farmer is painfully aware of his "wretched lot." 9
Then there are the flagrant inequalities not
merely in the enjoyment of possessions, but even more in the exercise of power.
In certain regions a privileged minority enjoys the refinements of life, while
the rest of the inhabitants, impoverished and disunited, "are deprived of
almost all possibility of acting on their own initiative and responsibility,
and often subsist in living and working conditions unworthy of the human
person." 10 Cultural Conflicts
10. Moreover, traditional
culture comes into conflict with the advanced techniques of modern
industrialization; social structures out of tune with today's demands are
threatened with extinction. For the older generation, the rigid structures of
traditional culture are the necessary mainstay of one's personal and family
life; they cannot be abandoned. The younger generation, on the other hand,
regards them as useless obstacles, and rejects them to embrace new forms of
societal life.
The conflict between generations leads to a
tragic dilemma: either to preserve traditional beliefs and structures and
reject social progress; or to embrace foreign technology and foreign culture,
and reject ancestral traditions with their wealth of humanism. The sad fact is
that we often see the older moral, spiritual and religious values give way
without finding any place in the new scheme of things.
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