Acharya Prashant: You may argue that in spite of being needy, we still see many well-structured, well-oiled, well-ordered societies. A lot of forceful alignment takes place there. To fulfill the superficial needs, deeper needs are often curbed. To fulfill the needs of a few, the needs of others are compromised. And to fulfill the needs of man, the needs of jungles and animals and ecology are compromised. And to fulfill the needs of one section of society, the demands of another section of society are either curbed or negotiated or postponed or made conditional. ThatтАЩs what gives us a semblance of order. I am talking repeatedly of order because our needs are so very impossible and contradictory to the otherтАЩs needs that fulfillment of needs is an impossibility.
We often talk of harmonious coexistence. If you will look at it, you will see what an absurd oddity it is. You need one woman; he too needs the same woman. What is meant by harmonious coexistence, then? The Earth does not have infinite resources. You need the same building that he does. What do you mean by harmonious coexistence? And you do not know where desire departs from need, so you do not want a portion of that building, you want that entire building. Sharing the building appears so much like a compromise on the need; it appears like injustice.
That is why a society that is based on needs will necessarily have to have duties. That is why all the morality becomes so important: because needs will always be in disagreement with each other and with the otherтАЩs needs. Then you need a mechanism to control the needs: that mechanism is called duties, that mechanism is called moralities. And that is why kids have to be taught morality since an early stage: because we are a people deeply invested in our needs, we are a people deeply identified with our needs. Therefore, we have to be given a break because we are already wedded with one foot to the accelerator. And then that is what life becomesтАФaccelerating and braking. Needs tell you to accelerate, duties tell you to brake.
