Page 67 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

Living between Idealism

and Pragmatism



hilosophers and reformers in every age have been obsessed
Pwith the concept of idealism. Some have wanted to establish
an ideal government, but they have failed. Some have tried
to establish an ideal society, but again they have failed. Some
have wanted to establish ideal justice in society, but in spite of
all sacrifices they have failed.
What is the reason behind this general failure? It has rightly
been said that the ideal cannot be achieved. The reason is that
man is born with an ideal thinking mind, but the world we
live in is less than ideal. Man is consumed with the desire for
the ideal, yet is bound to live in a world that is far from being
ideal. As an eminent scientist once rightly remarked that it
appears that man has strayed into a world which was not
made for him.
1
Almost all the unrest in human society is traceable to this
fact. All men and women want to live in accordance with
their own thinking which is based on idealism, but the law of
nature being as it is, they fail to achieve their goal. It is this
difference between our sense of the ideal and reality which
creates problems. People as a result become frustrated, then
they begin to register complaints and protests, and finally turn
violent, opting all too frequently for fighting as a means to
achieve a goal which will always remain elusive in this world.

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