Acharya Prashant addresses the question of how cunning people and mischief-makers are able to devise systems that seem to work in the world and bring them success. He begins by questioning the very definition of what it means for something to "work in the world." Using the example of a car manufacturer, he explains that the entire process, from the extraction of raw materials that consumes energy and causes pollution to the creation of a product with questionable and dubious utility, is fundamentally flawed. He points out the absurdity of a single person driving an eight-seater SUV, which occupies a large amount of space, and how such products are sold through tempting marketing and advertising that project them as essential for a good lifestyle. The speaker then asks rhetorically, "Would you say the whole thing is working? Working for whom?" He posits that such a system is only "working" if its very objective is to promote misery, because that is what it successfully achieves. He asserts that there is no real distinction between the exploiter and the exploited; there is only the "exploited and the exploited." When you sell an unworthy, misery-furthering product, you are not just fooling the customer, but you are also making a fool of yourself. By helping others, you help yourself, and by sinking others, you sink yourself. Acharya Prashant explains that the thought to exploit someone can only arise from one's own suffering. A joyful person does not want to exploit others. Therefore, the so-called successful people are not really free, do not know love, and do not have the simple happiness of life available to them. He uses the example of a tobacco seller, who knows the harmful effects of his product more than the smoker does, yet continues to sell it. This act stems from his own inner suffering. The moment you go out to cheat somebody, you have already created suffering for yourself. He concludes that the system is not working for the evildoers at all. It is a lie that their methods are working. When people claim, "This is how the whole thing works," they are cheating you. The speaker questions whether the system works at all, suggesting that if it moves, it moves only in the reverse gear, leading to misery instead of happiness. The happy faces and festivities of such people are a facade to hide their inner suffering and to exploit more people. This entire show is to further their cunningness, but it cannot make them happy.
