Acharya Prashant addresses the question of why unrighteousness (Adharma) is disguised as righteousness (Dharma) and why revolutions are suppressed. He begins by stating that today's revolution is of a peculiar kind. He gives the example of rape videos going viral, explaining that people watch them not out of concern for the atrocity but out of a perverse jealousy, wishing they were part of the act. This, he says, is the nature of today's revolution. People even commit suicide out of envy, for instance, after seeing their friends' honeymoon or new car photos on social media. This is why, he argues, superficial changes are no longer sufficient; we have reached a point where the very center of man needs to be changed. He refutes the idea that revolutions are suppressed. Instead, he claims they are allowed to reach their conclusion. To explain, he uses an analogy of a grand party offered to distract people from their misery, a party filled with all kinds of intoxicants like money, food, shopping, and relationships. The 'revolutions' that occur at this party are not about questioning the party's existence or the misery it conceals. Instead, the protest is about why someone else received more intoxicants. Such revolutions, he asserts, are not suppressed but encouraged to their conclusion, which is simply to give the complainer more intoxicants. This is not a true revolution. Similarly, many modern protests and movements are just demands for a larger share of the loot, not a questioning of the act of looting itself. Acharya Prashant further illustrates this with the example of climate change summits. The conflict is not against the lifestyle causing climate change but over who should bear the cost. Nations argue about who should reduce emissions or pay compensation, essentially fighting over their share of the right to pollute. Today's revolutions, he says, are about getting an equal share of the spoils. The modern man's suffering is not because he is distant from the divine, like Krishna, but because he is distant from sensual pleasures. Today's ideal is consumption, and even knowledge, including that of the Gita, is sought for the sake of consumption. He contrasts this with the ideals found in the works of literary figures like Tagore, Premchand, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky. Their characters were often misfits who rejected the world's ways on a fundamental level, not just because their desires were unfulfilled. Such characters, who are indifferent to the world's offerings, are absent today. The modern 'misfit' is merely someone who couldn't get the right-sized pants on sale. The problem, he concludes, is at the very foundation. We are dealing with a snake in the house but are focused on a dead mouse. Most people lack the courage to face the real, fundamental problem of their existence.
