Social media are exposing at least one unsocial aspect of many individuals - a selfish motto of their dreams and demands - that remained largely hidden earlier. While expressing their views, they are often proving who they are and what they can do in connection with norms, culture, service, or moral stance on social issues.
One of the easiest things they would do is, for example, lament the capital city's traffic congestion and air pollution. They want, deservingly, freedom from hazards of movement in the megacity. But in most cases, gentleman commuters just don't notice they themselves are dumping polythene bags or tissue papers in the open space.
Using horns of his luxury car more often than not, one would complain about use of loudspeaker by a neighbour at dead of night. Another one looks utterly disturbed if children play at the alley (there is no playground as such). Making fortunes from unseen business, one rues the presence of beggars in public places. While using footpath to overtake others, motor cyclists get angry at mobile shops opened by street vendors.
The officer who returns home with a bundle of Taka 1,000 notes as kickbacks is so upset that some 'transgender' persons called hijras extorted money from his son in broad day light. The man who is not paying electricity bills is cursing his friend for failure to return personal loans on time. The certificate holder who can't correctly write a few lines says quality of education has gone down nowadays.
The elite who never stands for the commoners' cause, regrets that people have no patriotism. The beneficiary of the establishment is avowedly concerned about erosion in social values. As if nobody is responsible for the degradation!
Such grievances are spelt out through their social media posts with carefully crafted words on select issues that highlight their own needs, importance and desires devoid of any duties and collective responsibility to hate crimes and corruption. Some of the posts indicate the authors' pious wishes that, maybe, some actions would be taken by the authorities.
The expectation is: only the road s/he would use cannot be plagued by congestion, the school of her/his children must offer the best education, the hospital or office s/he would visit would provide the best healthcare services in the world and the area they live in should be free from drugs and various criminal incidents.
Why would they bother either about welfare of all others if their privileges are assured? However, when they are disappointed, they can at best turn to the social media platforms to lodge a complaint, in a meek voice though. In fact, opportunists do refrain from raising voice with strong words, lest their faults are pointed out by others.
Some others don't want to antagonise (powerful and moneyed) men and women. Still, they wish to see improvement in service delivery and governance only to the extent that their comfort zone is secure somehow. It doesn't matter to them if the whole system goes astray. These people never ask themselves if partial solution to problems of life and society is possible.
Addressing national issues depends on pattern and state of governance and when coteries of citizens are offered --or a number of them seek -- services exclusively for them, it shows how collective interests get defeated. But unwilling to accept obligations of citizenry, selfish minds can't see merit in serving common interests.
All the service providers have been well aware by this time that individuals are dwarfed. Overconfidence in their capacity to show resilience leading to continuous compromises has made them cornered in their own yards.
