culture shock / future shock

For starters, I am back at writing after a few weeks' break...

An online acquaitance wrote very strongly about the decay of moral values with regards to the incident of Ram Sene attacking girls in Mangalore pub. I have been trying to find answers to the same. I'm reading Alvin Toffler, starting with Future Shock. I intend to read The third wave & Powershift after this one.

Alvin Toffler talks about the culture shock that America experienced in 60s / 70s due to accelerating rate of technological change, which resulted in drastic change in culture & society. One of his statements is: "Evidence strongly suggests that overstimulation leads to bizarre & anti-adaptive behavior." He explains the situation of soldier's during world war 2. They were so overwhelmed that some of them used to fall asleep during battles, a way of shutting oneself down. Others used to become hyper-sensitive, over-reacting to every small movement & noise, imagining it to be the enemy. 

Most of us will have seen Vietnam war movies, where soldiers are found to be guilty of unthinkable atrocities on locals. Such events are also increasing in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Somalia, Congo, etc.

This, for my understanding, also explains the root of terror. Most of us take technological revolution & change casually. But for many people, who are not in sync with the current pace of the world: things are moving TOO fast. The world is non-comprehensible for them.

For them, there are 2 ways of dealing with it: shut-off, or go on an offensive. The second reason is, I believe, the core of the problem why such activities as those of Ram Sene are increasing all over the country. The perpetrators' agendas are misunderstood or misinterpreted by themselves. They seem to be angry at changes happening, where they are either not included, or they do not want to be included.

These people do not try to push back the wheel to its original position. The results of the same are beyond even their control in the large run. The victims of change become the reason for change itself!

I remember this dialogue from the movie Main Hoon Naa  (hero to villian) : " Tum itni nafrat karne ke aadi ho gaye ho ki tumhe amaan se dar lagta he. Nafrat ki aag mein tum wohi hevan ban gaye, jis ke saamne tum jung ladne nikle the!" (this is not the exact dialogue, but something to that effect).