The Coming Age of Darkness - Why Evil Will Triumph

by Jayaram V

"Note: To understand this article, you may need basic knowledge of Darwin's theory of evolution and the process of Natural selection.

Points to ponder

Let us agree with the atheists for arguments sake that there is no Creator, or as some Hindu traditions believe, even if He is, He may not actively participate in creation but remains a passive Witness.

Let us go with the scientists and accept the theory that life evolved upon earth and Natural selection creates necessary evolutionary pressure upon living forms, forcing them to adapt to the environment and ensuring the survival of the fittest.

Let us also accept the argument that Nature derives its diversity through genetic mutations and makes use of Natural selection to choose the most able among them to further its agenda.

Nature as the Natural Terminator

From science, we also learn that Nature is an open-ended mechanical system which makes use of physical, chemical and biological processes and creates life through trial and error.

In other words, if you combine oxygen with hydrogen there will be water. If you drop some organic molecules in it, eventually by a random process they become concocted into protein molecules, peptides, nucleotides and DNA, resulting in the emergence of life.

Even the Samkhyas, those ancient wise Indian philosophers, who looked at creation in terms of numbers and practiced yoga to subdue Nature, held a similar belief. They argued that Nature was an automaton, which produced nothing new. All the effects were hidden in the causes. When the causes were activated in Nature, the effects were manifested automatically.

Thus, life is very much like a mathematical formula unraveling itself as you decode it or like a process, such as the germination of a seed or the flowering of a tree, that kicks in automatically when certain conditions are created.

According to the theory of evolution, once the forms are created, Nature leaves it to them to fight it out with others, using their own problem solving skills and survival skills.

Those who adapt well to the environment and solve their problems succeed and survive. Those who do not will eventually perish, like the Dinosaurs and the Neanderthals.

Using this Natural Selection, Nature not only ensures the survival of the fittest species but also the survival of the best within each species.

Thus, evolution happens both at the level of the species and at the individual level within each species.

The stronger ones dominate, while the weaker ones submit. The stronger ones corner all the resources and make themselves still stronger and more formidable, while the weaker ones survive by scavenging or perish by starvation and lack of support.

If we accept this premise that Nature is the source of all creation and it does it more or less mechanically according to certain preexisting universal laws of physics, chemistry and biology, then we arrive at the inescapable observation that the future of mankind is going to be anything but pleasant. Here is why it is so.

The Four Brutal and Evil Truths of Life

1. Nature promotes strength and dominance. If Nature has its ways, it chooses those who are fit to survive, who are more chameleon or snake like rather than deer or rabbit like. What it means is it promotes pure strength, brute power, shrewdness, exceptional problem solving skills, viciousness, anger, aggression, dominance, intimidation, deception, competitiveness, ruthlessness, selfishness, self-interest, self-preservation, violence, distrust and similar qualities. The history of our planet shows that these are the most cherished qualities of survival. These are the qualities that ensure the survival of the individuals through famines, pestilence and economic scarcity. Those who do not fulfill these conditions may end up either as food for the dominant species or as a resource or an accessory.

2. Nature does not give much weight to love, morality or compassion. There is a lot of truth in the saying that nice people finish last. From the theory of Natural Selection, we learn that morality is not in Nature's agenda, except as a strategy. Nature does not promote good or gentle qualities such as altruistic love or compassion, because from the perspective of survival such qualities are the least helpful. Promoting morality or humanity is not the aim of Nature, but promoting strength, aggression and dominance is. Nature does not promote good people, but people endowed with best survival and problem solving skills, people for whom morality is not as important as surviving and succeeding. From Nature's perspective, a species may use good behavior (as in case of a dog) or cooperative and collective effort as a strategy for survival rather than as a moral or social issue. In other words, Nature expects that you do not use good for goodness sake or join hands with others for altruistic reasons, but to improve your chances of survival and earn the approval and trust of others. In Nature's agenda, you have to use your good as a survival tactic or as part of your strategy to create the impression that you are trustworthy, dependable and acceptable, whereas in truth your agenda may be how to beat everyone in the game and corner all the good things in life while keeping a close eye on your enemies and competitors. Thus, from Nature's perspective, confirming to social norms or winning the approval of others is a good strategy, whereas going against society or standing out in a crowd is supported only if you have the strength and ability.

3. Nature favors the indiscriminate use of intelligence in survival. According to the principles of Natural selection, we understand that Nature creates intelligence, not because it wants to promote wisdom and understanding but because it wants the species to develop problems solving skills and resolve their problems by all means, whether those means are morally correct, socially acceptable or not. In other words, those who use their knowledge and intelligence solely to solve their problems, with a lot of flexibility and without being burdened by the weight of social and moral issues, stand better chances of resolving their problems, reaching their goals and surviving the competition. Nature perfects the art of deception among the species. It has no issues or moral dilemmas about real crooks, scammers, shrewd people, street-smart types, cheaters, deceivers and the like, who misuse their intelligence, since they fit perfectly into its agenda and play the game of survival better than those who disobey its laws and try to remain honest, righteous, straightforward, truthful and so on.

4. Nature overtakes whenever traditional institutions of family and society decline. Early in the growth of human civilization, our ancestors understood the harsh realities of life and the need for balance and order in society. Therefore, they devised laws (dharma) to govern human conduct and protect the weak from the strong, and the institutions of family and society to protect the individuals from the brutality of Nature and the evils that are inherent in our existence. So long as these institutions remains strong, you can expect certain order and regularity (rta) in the world. However, when they become weak or lose their hold upon people, then you can be sure that Nature will spring back into action and manifests its agenda fully. Of late, we have lost sight of our traditional moral values. The institutions of family and society also suffered a great decline. Thus, today there is no moral compass. There are no institutions to train people from an early age in the virtues of morality. In recent times, some governments tried to venture into these areas and replace them by dictating policy. These experiments are bound to fail, because the governments are largely controlled by Nature's preferred children and their primary goal is to remain in power and control the resources rather than help the common people with an altruistic motive. Governments promote the fittest with the help of the weakest. That is the sad truth.

Why things are getting worse

These four points should make it abundantly clear to the readers by now why it is such a constant struggle for us to live in this world and face numerous problems not only from the elements but also from our own kind.

We actually live in a dog-eat-dog world. The community in which you live, the people you see in the streets and public places are not actually your friends or well wishers. For them you are a total stranger who may fit into one of their stereotypes based upon your looks or your accent. Your welfare is the least of their problems.

The government that controls you is interested in regulating your life and making you subservient to their agenda rather than really helping you.

Your friends are not your true friends. Your relations are not your true relations. You cannot really trust any stranger. Nowadays, you cannot even stand safely on a railway platform because someone may push you from behind on to the railway track, just for fun or because they do not like your skin color or your religion.

You cannot travel safely to many places in the world because there are rapists, cheaters, pickpockets and kidnappers.

These are happening because people are gradually bartering away their humanity and morality to ensure their survival, thereby coming increasingly under the influence of their survival instincts promoted by Nature. In their anxiety to secure their lives, most people have lost their only protection against Nature, which is their humanity and their essential good nature.

A dispassionate observer will not fail to notice that Nature is winning and mankind is losing. We might have destroyed all the ancient forests in the world, but we are unable to do away with the forest that thrives in our minds. As a species we have lost the high moral ground. In our struggle for survival, we have failed to transcend Nature and manifest the qualities of our higher nature, such as altruism, humanity and spirituality. To ensure our survival, we have plundered the earth and destroyed many aspects of Nature, but not the seed of self-destruction that is deeply ingrained in us.

We could have been the guardian angels of this earth and the entire solar system, protecting all life forms, since life is precious and we have yet to detect any life on any planet we know.

Instead we chose to follow the path of least resistance.

With the wealth that we have, we could have eliminated poverty and built large space ships to explore the universe. Instead we chose to spend over 50% of our wealth to build nuclear missiles, huge weapon systems and large armies, thus playing out Nature's agenda that a species is secure when it is strong,

The signs of darkness

We are clearly heading in the direction of a dark future. We are probably on the verge of entering into a great age of Asuras, if we have not done it already. From now on, asuras will rule the earth. They will dominate every sphere of our lives including our religions. They will be our spiritual, political and economic leaders. They will shape our destinies and control our lives. They will dominate our thinking, ideologies and philosophies. The norms of asuras (asura niti) will become the universal norm. This will be the twilight age of humankind, in which darkness will be mixed up with light until light will slowly fade away leaving only darkness.

Here are a few indications of this.

1. Increasing number of people are indulging in the most heinous crimes.

2. Most people just do not care whether their actions and decisions impact the lives of other people.

3. The present day leaders are mostly interested in their power and position than in the welfare of the people. Most of them live and act by survival instinct and excel in the art of deception and duplicity. So is the case with sportsmen who cheat, celebrities who lead double lives and smart media types who manipulate us with false propaganda and selective reporting.

4. Most of the successful business organizations and the multinationals today are managed and dominated by Nature's corporate stereotypes who excel in the game of survival. They silence their hearts and rule with their minds. They are ruthless and relentless in the game of winning. For them winning and succeeding by all means alone matters. They do not care whether you are creative or talented, unless you fit into their culture of leadership and get along with their mission and values.

5. There is a gradual and overall decline of religious and moral values. Religious people are increasingly judged as prejudiced, chauvinistic, narrow-minded, repressed, communal or even dangerous.

The coming age of darkness - the rise of Atlantis

Envision a world with triple the size of current population and one third of current resources. Imagine the extent of competition it will kick in, the number of wars it will unleash and the amount of destabilization it may cause.

Imagine how intense and competitive life is going to be in the coming years and decades.

The world population today is over seven billion. In 1900 it was about 1.5 billion. It means in a hundred years the population went up by more than four times. By the same rate the population should be over 25 billion by the beginning of next century. However, current projections show that the growth may slow down and the world population will be around 12-15 billion by that time.

Whatever may be the actual numbers, the growth in population will coincide with a great depletion of natural resources. What it means is more people will have to compete for lesser and lesser resources, including food and other essential commodities.

This in itself can unleash a very dangerous and high stake game of survival and competition not only among individuals but also among nations and vested groups.

Today, in some countries like India, if a student earns less than 90% average marks in an examination, it is very difficult for her to secure admission into a good college or university. Imagine what will happen when the world population goes up to 12 billion or more and the average cut off marks is going to be about 98%.

If Nature prevails and humanity fails to rise above its agenda, we can expect the following to happen, though not with 100% certainty (because who can predict future with 100% certainty?)

• Nature will bring out the worst in humanity
• People will ruthlessly try to outwit each other to survive and succeed.
• A majority of people will increasingly become aggressive, brutal, and violent and use their knowledge and intelligence to survive and succeed against all odds.
• Religions will become weak and lose their hold. They may even become tools in the hands of the selfish and the fraudulent.
• There will be clamor for releasing criminals and passing laws to show leniency for certain crimes.
• The traditional institution of marriage will broadened to include other forms of marriage.
• Families will become less significant as people seek freedom through non-binding relationships.
• Good people become an endangered species as they fail to compete effectively.
• Leaders will perfect their art of survival and deception.
• The world will witness an intense power struggle among various nations competing for limited resources.

Conclusion

We have a higher nature. It is the only way by which we can rise above Nature and stay clear of its aims. With spirituality we can rise above our selfishness and show our humanity. It is the best way we can bring order and regularity to our lives and to the world in which we live. The eternal tradition, known as Hinduism, is difficult to practice, because it very emphatically declares that if you live selfishly for yourself, you become an asura (demon) and if you live selflessly to uphold the creation and the order and regularity of life, you become a god, or a divine being.

Our people knew the designs of Nature. Our ancient seers, who lived amidst forests, and observed it very closely, knew intuitively what Nature was up to. Therefore, they suggested that we should live our lives as a sacrifice.

If we live our lives according to the ideals of Nature, if we weaken our family and social institutions, if we forget God, if we lives solely for ourselves, if we loosen the hold of our collective wisdom upon our lives, you now know what you can expect from the world in which our children and their children are going to live. If Nature is our only recourse and if we choose to promote decadence in the name of progress, this is the scenario that will eventually emerge upon earth.

If you have any doubts, please consider the following.

Who are the role models for people today?

Who appear mostly in the news stories?

Who occupy the primetime news in the television channels?

Why is the present world so obsessed with the lives of cheaters, liars, deceivers, rapists, criminal gangs, politicians with charisma and shrewdness (rather than intelligence and values), drug mafias, mentally insane, sexually perverted and morally depraved human beings?

Why do we make movies about them and then give them awards?

Why our literature, movies, television serials are mostly about the vicious and evil characters?

Why are we glamorizing crime and criminals?

Why do we want to protect the rights of criminals, but make light of religious people?

Why do we give so much attention and even pay admiration to a terrorist, a cop killer, a child killer, a child molester, a rapist, an illegal immigrant who crosses the border with drugs or an arsonist?

When was the last time you heard about a person who lived righteously, believed in God and tried to help others?

When was the last time you really helped a good person to do more good?