The Future of Our Social Values is Risky
Feb 15, 2026 - By Ashutosh Roy PoliticsSociety
Key Highlights
- Social values are steadily collapsing, and society has largely accepted this decline also in silence.
- Family relationships are weakening, turning emotional bonds into transactional arrangements.
- Rapid technological growth and rising consumerism are accelerating moral erosion.
- Social welfare schemes are increasingly linked to political loyalty, thus turning rights into rewards.
- Political polarization has entered households, dividing families and communities.
- Fear-driven local strongmen flourish as society fails to resist intimidation.
- Administrative systems and police forces appear politicized, weakening public trust.
- Mafia networks and opportunistic leaders thrive, switching parties to retain power.
- Social media normalizes cruelty and indifference, as abuse is recorded but not resisted.
- History proves authoritarian rule never lasts, but its collapse often become highly painful.
Are We Normalizing the Collapse of Social Values?
Social values are gradually declining today. In short, we all know this reality. However, most of us have quietly accepted it.
Over time, social values have reached a stage where they are now affecting close family relationships also. As a result, even the relationship between husband and wife is slowly turning into a give-and-take arrangement rather than an emotional bond.
Moreover, the bond between parents and children is becoming weaker day by day. The growing concept of Nuclear families has triggered of the loosening such social values also.
For instance, a mother no longer hesitates to attend parties after leaving her child behind. Similarly, a capable son does not hesitate to send his parents to an old-age home. In fact, some even boast about placing their parents in the most expensive old-age homes. Thus, this attitude reflects a serious shift in our moral priorities.
However, our country has not yet become a Western society. Still, this behavior seems to be the result of blind imitation rather than thoughtful progress.
Therefore, the real concern is not modernization, but the loss of our core social and family values.
Is Social Media destroying Social Values?
There are multiple reasons behind this decline.
- However, in reality, we clearly see that rapid technological growth and rising consumerism are the main drivers.
- Moreover, weak family and social structures combined with inadequate moral education are accelerating the erosion of social values.
- As a result, today’s world has tilted so heavily toward materialism that many people now view social values as outdated ideas.
- Additionally, the collapse of traditional and collective moral frameworks is creating a more self-centered society.
- People increasingly prioritize personal comfort over shared responsibility also.
For example, even when elders see a younger person doing something wrong, they often remain silent. In essence, this silence comes partly from an unwillingness to take responsibility and partly from the fear of disrespect or confrontation.
At the same time, social media is promoting unrealistic lifestyles at an alarming rate. Consequently, people of all ages, from children to the elderly, often drift away from reality because of lucrative and provoking advertisements in the Social Media.
Even more disturbing, people upload videos of harassment or abuse on social media. However, society does not consider it a duty to intervene or help the victim. Therefore, the problem is not technology itself, but how society has chosen to disconnect morality from progress.
When Welfare Depends on Votes, Is Democracy at Risk?
That is why today leaders like Saokat Molla can openly say on a public stage that people who do not vote may lose benefits like Lakshmir Bhandar. In other words, a government’s social welfare scheme becomes conditional on voting for the ruling party.
As a result, welfare turns into a political reward, not a social right. People stand there, listen to such statements, watch silently, and even consequently applaud. However, no one protests.
Moreover, there are reports that many government development schemes do not reach areas where opposition influence is strong.
This selective delivery further weakens trust in governance.
Of course, Saokat Molla is only a symbol. We have heard similar threats many times before.
How Did Politics Enter Our Homes and Families?
When political polarization enters household kitchens, what else can the outcome be? Besides, politics begins to divide families, relationships, and daily life.
It must also be said that this culture is an inheritance from the Left era. From disputes between two brothers to family property matters, political parties often tried to interfere.
Furthermore, when both sides support or work for different political parties, the divide becomes even sharper. For this reason, at that point, “us versus them” dominates everything.
Therefore, politics no longer stays in public spaces, it reshapes personal relationships and social harmony.
When a society continues to decline, it often falls into a strange silence. In other words, people stop knowing what to do or how to respond.
Clever rulers take advantage of this silence to expand their power.
Why do leaders like Saokat Molla Change party colours?
That is why figures like Shahjahan or Saokat Molla can continue to dominate local areas for years without resistance. Such leaders are extremely opportunistic also. As a result, they switch political parties without hesitation or delay.
For example, Shaukat was once an active CPM worker. Today, he is a Trinamool leader from Bhangar–Canning and hence a source of fear for ordinary people.
When social values hit rock bottom, creating fear becomes much easier. This happens because the voice of protest never rises. At the same time, the ruling party needs such figures to ensure vote control in specific areas. In fact, they become the magic tool behind record-margin electoral victories.
When society fails to bind individuals within discipline and moral limits, such people benefit the most. Thus, chaos creates opportunity for intimidation.
Consider this disturbing reality: a local strongman ties up a young boy or girl and beats them publicly with sticks.
Meanwhile, a crowd gathers and watches in silence.
What else can we call them if not representatives of a mute and deaf society? Their silence reflects the complete collapse of social conscience.
Are Bureaucracy and Police Losing Neutrality?
Social values begin to collapse when a section of society becomes dependent on favors from the ruling power. This dependency marks the first visible sign of moral decline. If we look closely at certain regions of West Bengal today, the pattern becomes clear.
The bureaucracy and police administration have almost turned into party cadres. At the same time, a powerful class of mafia has grown rapidly. As a result, even an ordinary panchayat member can now afford luxury vehicles.
Why Do People Watch Injustice but Say Nothing?
This entire system works as a combined network. Consequently, common people slowly forget how to raise their voices against injustice. Instead, they focus only on protecting their personal interests in this increasingly selfish society. Indirect favor from the ruling authority becomes more valuable than relationships with one’s own brother or neighbor.
Therefore, silence replaces solidarity. People choose convenience over conscience. The outcome is deeply disturbing.
Despite repeated incidents of violence against women, theft, extortion, and corruption, society remains unmoved. Even the intellectual class, once seen as the guardians of social values, shuts its doors and stays silent. This collective withdrawal reflects a complete breakdown of moral responsibility.
Ultimately, when fear and self-interest dominate society, social values lose both their voice and their defenders.
We live in a state where the Chief Minister becomes an accuse in the Supreme Court in various cases like I-PACK vs ED case.
Does History Warn Us About the Cost of Silence?
However, history clearly shows that no authoritarian rule lasts forever. From Hitler and Mussolini to Sheikh Hasina, every autocratic regime eventually collapsed.
Yet, the fall of an authoritarian ruler is often extremely painful. It usually comes with deep social, political, and human costs. Therefore, the lesson from history is unmistakable. Power built on fear, control, and silence never survives in the long run.
For those who understand, a hint is enough. Wisdom lies in reading the signs before the damage becomes irreversible.
Social Values: Key Takeaways
- Have we quietly accepted the erosion of family bonds, morality, and social responsibility as the “new normal”?
- When silence replaces protest, are we unknowingly empowering fear, opportunism, and authoritarian control?
- Is social media amplifying moral decay by rewarding spectacle over conscience and apathy over action?
- When welfare depends on political loyalty, does democracy lose its ethical foundation and social trust?
- If society keeps choosing convenience over courage, who will speak when injustice finally knocks on our own door?