The Test of a Civilised Society is How it Treats the Minority

In some countries, it has happened that the majority there set about annihilating the minority class. This is known as "ethnic cleansing". The minorities are the weaker members of the society. From the point of view of humanity, it is not just to oppress a human being, let alone kill him. One should not kill a man whatever ethnic group or religious group he may belong to. But ethnic cleansing or systematic of the minority class has happened in many countries of the world, for example in Bosnia, in Africa. The Nazis tried to annihilate the Jews. Actually they succeeded in killing six million of them when it came to the notice of the world. It was only then that the world decided to interfere. Such atrocities are heinous, and civilized society would not do that. Civilization means giving due dignity and value to every human being. If a country violates this moral principle, that country cannot be considered a civilized country. Really the best test of a civilized society is the way it treats its minority.

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In Proportion that a Workman Improves the Man is Degraded

A man can do his work with singular dexterity if he works unceasingly and exclusively in the fabrication of one thing. But at the same time he loses his human quality; he loses the general faculty of applying his mind to the redirection of the work. Everyday he becomes more skilful but less industrious. As a man he becomes more and more degraded. Suppose a man has spent twenty years of his life making heads for pins. The man has a mighty brain, but it cannot be applied by him to any nobler work than making heads of pins. When a man spends a good portion of his life in making a particular thing, his thoughts are forever set upon the object of his daily work. His body will take up some fixed halts. He can never shake off those habits. He no longer, so to say, belongs to himself. He belongs to the calling that he has chosen. The laws and manners are meant to level all the barriers round such a man and to open to him a thousand different paths to fortune. But go all in vain. The theory of manufacture more powerful than customs and laws confines him to a craft and to a place. In society, he remains unchanged. He becomes degraded as a man.

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In Democracies, Servants are, in Some Sort, Equal to their Masters

In democracies, servants, besides being equal among themselves, are in some way, equals of their masters. The conditions prevailing in democratic countries create this condition. A servant may become a master at any moment. And actually a servant aspires to rise to that condition. The conditions induce a servant to think that he is not a different man from his master. A master has the right to command and the servant has the willingness to obey, only on the basis of a temporary covenant of both of them. By nature one is not inferior to the other. The servant is not inferior to the master, by nature. They become superior or interior to one another only by covenant. A covenant is purely a temporary thing. Only within the terms of this covenant, the one is a servant, and the other is a master. And since a covenant is a temporary thing, one becomes servant to the other, or one becomes a master to the other, only for a short, limited time. Only within the terms of this covenant, one is servant, the other a master. But beyond the terms of the covenant, they are only two citizens of the state — two men, on a democratic basis.

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Avoiding the Unnecessary Talk is a Moral Beauty

When men have recourse to unnecessary talk, they go far away from moral beauty. For example, suppose you are surrounded by some people, and you are narrating your story of your foreign travel. You are describing to them the hills and mountains, and forests and cities of the country you have visited. You are also describing the conditions in which you passed your days in a foreign country. You are narrating and describing things with extreme fidelity. But all these are unnecessary. Even if you had not described them, the hearers would not have been a loser in any way. Similarly, you may meet somebody in the street, and ask some questions to him. He may give some answers. The questions and answers may both be of no use to you or him. Still more, sometimes, you may ask somebody some questions the answer to which might mean some trouble for the man. To avoid such trouble the man might have recourse to some lie. If he does so, you will be partly responsible for the man's sin of lying. We should all avoid unnecessary talk; it creates moral beauty for us. Indulging in unnecessary talk may create moral nastiness.

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Ambition is Neither Good nor Bad

Ambition in itself is neither good nor evil. It is, therefore, a neutral entity. The motive and object of any particular ambition makes it good or bad. That is, if the object of an ambition is good then it is good. If the object and motive of an ambition is bad, then it is bad. For example, in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth we find that Macbeth was ambitious in a bad way. His ambition urged him to commit one murder after another to achieve his purpose or objective of becoming the king of Scotland and remaining as a king. On the other hand, the ambition of king Arthur was good. He wanted to establish a kingdom founded on justice and mercy. Ambition is a powerful emotion or desire. It impels one man to fight and strive for his own glory. It impels another man to fight and strive for the good of his fellow men. It is like steam in a steam-engine, if the engine is on the right line, it will draw the vehicle to its destination. But if the engine gets on to the wrong line, it will drive the vehicle to its So, ambition is neither good nor bad in itself, but objective makes it so.

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