Reality versus Fantasy: The Challenges Facing Modern Society

by Seidu Malik

When a child has all sorts of great ideas to make the world a beautiful place but then realizes with age that those ideas are in fact fantasies, he changes course and embraces the reality of things. If anyone taunts him later on in life as to what happened to those great ideas, the matured child is more than happy to confess that those were childhood days. That is, the imaginary world he is used to is no longer applicable as the reality of things set in with the acquisition of new knowledge and experience.

Such is the cardinal truth that when society or an individual acquires better knowledge, the old dogmas based on fantasies become a thing of the past. Adaption of new technologies or ideas is one reason why society as a whole has moved on from primitive living in the past into the highly sophisticated society of today.

 Ironically, not all the dogmas or fantasies our great intellectual and technological advancement have managed to unravel over the course of several centuries have enabled society and some individuals to see the reality of things. Take for example our ongoing struggle with racism in most countries of the world. The cold, hard truth is that no matter the skin color and geographic location a person may come from, we are all from the same stock with no discernible differences in genetic makeup. But yet due to old dogmas, despite new evidence to the contrary, some sections of society still feel superior to others based on skin color and are unwilling to come to terms with the truth that there is no superiority based on skin color.

Another obvious fantasy that modern society dabbles in is our attitude towards the poor and the needy. Every now and then we give the impression that feeding or caring for the needy during festive seasons alone satisfies the requirement of our unfortunate brothers and sisters. In fact, hunger or caring for the needy does not come to an end on festive seasons but a year-long experience our unfortunate brothers and sisters goes through in life. Our society cannot possibly develop a comprehensive solution or policy to eradicate poverty if we still fantasized that a one-off period of activity for the poor can uplift them from their present situations.

Finally, our current solutions to the biggest refugee crisis in Europe and elsewhere demonstrate the fact that we are still living in our fantasy island and are not ready to accept or empathize with the untold suffering of genuine refugees fleeing the war. The truth is that over the course of time when life becomes dangerous to humans and animals due to famine, war, natural disaster or bad weather we seek shelter somewhere else.  Even today, migratory birds, sea turtles, humpback whales etc move from one geographic location to another to ensure the survival of their progeny due to changes in environmental conditions.

Unfortunately, as genuine and vulnerable people of Syria are fleeing ISIS and civil war in their country, we turn a blind eye to the current situation letting our prejudiced religious affiliations cloud our judgment and policy initiatives. That is, our current comfortable living conditions have made us believe that we are immune from unfortunate incidences forgetting that no one in the world would be a refugee but for circumstances beyond one’s control makes one a refugee.

 For modern society to progress and avoid all the social upheaval that are currently tearing us apart, we must strive to exit from our fantasy world and face the reality that is supported by facts. Believing you are superior than someone based on skin color when in actual fact the other person you think is inferior can donate blood and body organs to you betray the myth of superiority. In the same vein, assuming that one-off assistance to the needy can help them for the entire year when you yourself succumb to hunger everyday of the year contradicts the reality on the ground. Also having apathy to the current refugee crisis runs contrary to the situations our ancestors face thousands of years ago to seek shelter on foreign lands when they were faced with famine, persecution and wars.

 Just like the child changes course when the reality of things or knowledge becomes apparent, modern society should likewise do the same with a vast trough of knowledge on the true nature of outdated ideas which unfortunately still dwells with us and causing all sorts of friction in society.