The impoverishment of the human soul. Spiritual impoverishment of Dr. Startsev in a story

SPIRITUAL IMPOSURE OF DOCTOR STARTSEV. In the story "Ionych", written in 1898, A.P. Chekhov turned to a topic that had long been studied by Russian literature - the spiritual degradation of the individual. It was painful for Chekhov to see how everyday vulgarity and dullness cripple human souls, gradually entangling a person with their networks, depriving him of activity, purposefulness, and interest in life. In his work, he described the fall of a man, visually depicting his "road down."

The story "Ionych" is the story of the life of a talented young doctor who came to the provincial city of S. to work. They tried to dissuade all visitors who saw boredom and monotony in the everyday life and customs of this city, and as proof they were introduced to the Turkin family, “the most educated and talented” in the city.

This family really shone with "talents". The owner of the house, Ivan Petrovich Turkin, entertained the guests, speaking "in his unusual language, worked out by long exercises in wit and, obviously, which had long become his habit ...". His wife, Vera Iosifovna, read her tiresome novels to the guests about "what does not happen in life." And the daughter of the Turkins, whom everyone affectionately called "Kotik", was rumored to be going to become a great pianist and "surprised" the guests with her ability to "hit with all her might" on the keys. Against the background of this extremely "intelligent" and "gifted" family, the life of the rest of the inhabitants of the city of S. flows monotonously in idleness, idleness and empty talk while playing whist. However, peering into the way of life and the inner world of the Turkin family, we see how small, limited and vulgar people really are. Under their destructive influence, a young doctor Dmitry Startsev falls.

At the beginning of the story, we have a nice young man, active, full of strength and energy, passionate about his work. He perfectly sees the stupidity and narrow-mindedness of local residents, they annoy him with “their conversations, views on life and even their appearance”, because he himself has quite serious interests and high aspirations, is interested in literature, art (music). He was looking for an interesting company and therefore reached out to the Turkin family, believing that he would be able to talk with them about art, freedom, and the role of labor in human life. Soon, however, Startsev understands what the Turkins are, but does not run away from them, on the contrary, he remains and soon becomes one of the inhabitants.

The first sprouts of degradation appeared, oddly enough, in Startsev's love for Kotik. He watched how Kitty, playing the piano, "stubbornly hit everything in one place, and it seemed that she would not stop until she drove the keys into the piano." But Startsev was pleased "to look at this young, graceful and, probably, pure creature." And he stopped noticing the home-grown entertainments of the Turkins.

During love for Kotik, Startsev experiences the only emotional upsurge for himself: he admires nature, loves people, endows Ekaterina Ivanovna with the best qualities: “she seemed to him very smart and developed beyond her years.” He admires the girl's erudition, considers her intelligent, worthy of respect, but fright is mixed with his "tender, joyful, painful feeling ...". Where will this novel lead? - Thinks Startsev, having received a note from Kotik; and besides, “what will the comrades say when they find out?”. Going to propose to his beloved girl, our hero thinks not so much about the joys of family life, but about the benefits, that the Turkins for the daughter of a dowry "must give a lot." The received refusal does not lead Startsev to despair, but only offends. “Three days” Startsev “didn’t eat, didn’t sleep,” and then he began to forget his love, only occasionally lazily remembering how much trouble she gave him: “how he wandered around the cemetery or drove around the city and looked for a tailcoat.” We see that Startsev's love was in fact shallow, although it was only love that kept him from spiritual degradation.

As the material well-being of Dr. Startsev grows (at first he walks, then he has a pair of horses, and then a “troika with bells”), his spiritual development stops, and by the time of the final meeting with Ekaterina Ivanovna, he falls completely. Now the inhabitants of the city of S. no longer see him as a stranger, their interests become the same. Continuing to complain about the environment, Ionych, as they now call him in a relative way, lost everything that distinguished him from other residents. “We are getting old, we are getting fat, we are sinking ... life passes dully, without impressions, without thoughts ... During the day we make money, and in the evening the club, a society of gamblers, alcoholics, wheezing, whom I can’t stand. What's good? - he complains to Ekaterina Ivanovna, who, having matured, has become smarter, more serious.

The hero's attitude to work is also indicative. We hear from his lips good and correct reasoning “about the need to work, that it is impossible to live without work ...”. And Ionych himself at first works every day. However, his work is not inspired by the “general idea”, the purpose of the work is in one thing - “in the evenings, take out the pieces of paper obtained by practice from the pockets” and periodically take them to the bank.

Chekhov makes it clear that the hero's spiritual development did not just stop, it went in the opposite direction. Ionych has a past, a present, but no future. He travels a lot, but on the same route, gradually returning him to the same starting point. His whole existence is now determined only by the thirst for enrichment and hoarding. He fences himself off from space and from people. And this leads him to moral destruction. In fact, Startsev does not even resist these disastrous circumstances. He does not fight, does not suffer, does not worry, but simply concedes easily. Losing at the same time his human appearance, soul, Ionych ceases to be a good specialist.

As you can see, activity, devoid of a lofty goal, very quickly had a detrimental effect on Startsev. Only four years have passed, and he no longer regrets youth, love, unfulfilled hopes, he is no longer embarrassed by the vulgarity and meaninglessness of life around him. "The bourgeoisie is a swamp" finally sucked him in. Everything died for him, even his only poetic memory died. But inversely proportional to these human losses, the degree of wealth increases, interest in money and real estate becomes the main content of life. Now only money received from patients can please Ionych. And he continues to work only for the sake of "papers". The rest of the time he plays cards and conducts "secular" conversations with other townsfolk. There is absolutely nothing positive left in Startsevo. His appearance is also deformed: Ionych “has become even more stout, obese”, acquired an outward disgrace, and when he, “chubby, red”, drives by on his troika with bells, “it seems that it’s not a man who is riding, but a pagan god.”

In the story "Ionych" A.P. Chekhov, with his characteristic skill, showed how detrimental a gray philistine environment affects a person if he refuses to resist it, follows public opinion, lifestyle, his own weaknesses and does not strive for spiritual growth. If the inclinations, high aspirations are not realized, then there is a wormhole in the person himself, which means that such a person did not have inner strength and firm convictions, which means that he was initially ready to come to terms with the outside world and merge with it.

It seems to me that the problems that Chekhov touches on in this story will always remain relevant. The writer warns of the dangers of philistinism and worldly vulgarity. After all, imperceptibly for ourselves, each of us can fall into the "case" of our own prejudices, ceasing to think and work, love and dream, seek and doubt. And this is really scary, as it leads to spiritual devastation and degradation.

In what works of Russian writers does the theme of the spiritual impoverishment of the individual sound, and in what ways can these works be compared with M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom"?

Read the text fragment below and complete tasks B1-B7; C1-C2.

Luke (leaving the kitchen). Well, did you beat the Tatar? Are you going to drink vodka? Baron. Come with us!

Satin. See what you are drunk!

Luke. Not better than sober...

Actor. Let's go, old man... I'll recite couplets for you...

Luke. What is it?

Actor. Poems, do you understand?

Luke. Poems-and! And what are they to me, poems? ..

Actor. It's funny... And sometimes it's sad...

Satin. Well, coupletist, are you coming? (Exits with Baron.)

Actor. I'm going ... I'll catch up! Here, for example, an old man, from one poem ... I forgot the beginning ... I forgot! (Rubs forehead.)

Bubnov. Ready! Your lady is gone... go!

Medvedev. I went the wrong way... shoot her!

Actor. Before, when my body was not poisoned by alcohol, I, an old man, had a good memory... And now... it's over, brother! It's all over for me! I have always read this poem with great success... thunderous applause! You... don't know what applause is... it's like... vodka, brother! (Becomes in a pose.) I'll get up... and... (Silence.) I don't remember anything... not a word... I don't remember! Favorite poem... is it bad, old man?

Luke. Yes, what good, if you forgot your favorite? In the beloved - the whole soul ...

Actor. I drank away my soul, old man... I, brother, died... And why did I die? I didn't have faith... I'm finished...

Luke. What? You... get well! They treat drunkenness now, listen! They treat them for free, brother... such a hospital is set up for drunkards... so that, therefore, they can be treated for nothing... You have recognized, you see, that a drunkard is also a person... and even - they are glad when he wants to be treated! Well, here you go! Go...

Actor (thoughtfully). Where? Where is it?

Luke. And this ... in one city ... how is it? It has such a name... Yes, I'll name the city for you! Refrain... pull yourself together and - be patient... And then - you will be cured... and you will begin to live again... well, brother, again! Well, decide... in two steps...

Actor (smiling). Again... first... That's good. Y-yes... Again? (Laughs.) Well, yes! I can?! I can, can't I?

Luke. And what? A man can do anything... as long as he wants to...

Actor (suddenly, as if waking up). You are a freak! Farewell for now! (Whistle.) Old man... goodbye... (Exits.)

M. Gorky "At the bottom"

Depicting the "bottom" of life, M. Gorky followed the traditions of the literary movement, which reached its peak in the second half of the 19th century. Specify its name.

Explanation.

This literary movement is called realism. Let's give a definition.

Realism is the main method of art and literature. Its basis is the principle of life's truth, which guides the artist in his work, striving to give the most complete and true reflection of life and preserving the greatest lifelikeness in depicting events, people, objects of the material world and nature as they are in reality itself.

Answer: realism.

Answer: realism

Igor Usatii 30.01.2017 20:48

Your answer: socialist realism. Correct Answer: realism

Doesn't this count as a correct answer?

Tatiana Statsenko

No, to talk about socialist realism, which reached its peak in second half of XIX, it is forbidden. The question refers us to this period. If we were talking about the 20th century, then one could also name such a literary movement as socialist realism, because this concept was generally accepted in literary criticism for a long period of time. Now many literary scholars agree that it is inappropriate to single out socialist realism, since it does not differ significantly from critical realism. In any case, the concept of "socialist realism" cannot be used specifically to answer this question.

Name the genre to which M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom" belongs.

Explanation.

This play belongs to the drama genre. Let's give a definition.

Drama is a literary (dramatic), stage and cinematic genre. It gained particular distribution in the literature of the 18th-21st centuries, gradually replacing another genre of dramaturgy - tragedy, opposing it with a predominantly everyday plot and a style closer to everyday reality.

Answer: drama

Tatiana Statsenko

You are wrong, drama as a literary genre stands out. For example, Ostrovsky considered his "Thunderstorm" to be a drama.

Elizaveta Komarova 25.11.2016 17:44

Types of Literature: Epos, Lyrics and Drama. BIRTH. The genre is drama

Tatiana Statsenko

Well, there are few explanations for you that have already been given to this issue, read at least this then: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama_(genre)

The above scene, like other scenes of the play, is based on the communication of the characters with each other. What is this type of exchange called?

Explanation.

This exchange of remarks is called a dialogue. Let's give a definition.

Dialogue is a conversation between two or more persons in a work of art.

Answer: dialogue | polylogue.

Answer: dialogue | polylogue

Your answer: polylogue. Correct Answer: Dialogue

Tatiana Statsenko

corrected

Indicate the term that denotes the author's remarks, explanations in the course of the play ("rubs his forehead", "suddenly, as if waking up").

Explanation.

This term is called remark. Let's give a definition.

Remarque is the explanation with which the playwright precedes or accompanies the course of action in the play. Remarks can explain the age, appearance, clothes of the characters, as well as their state of mind, behavior, movements, gestures, intonations. In the remarks presupposed to the act, scene, episode, a designation is given, sometimes a description of the place of action, the situation.

Answer: Remark | remarks

What is the name of the short sayings found in the fragment (“The whole soul is in the beloved ...”, “A person can do anything ... if only he wants to ...”), which carry life generalizations and are characterized by brightness and accuracy in expressing thoughts?

Write your answer in the singular.

Explanation.

Such short sayings are called aphorisms or catchphrases.

Let's give a definition.

An aphorism is an original complete thought, spoken or written down in a concise, memorable textual form and subsequently repeatedly reproduced by other people. In the aphorism, the ultimate concentration of the direct message and the context in which the thought is perceived by the surrounding listeners or the reader is achieved.

Answer: aphorism | aphorisms | catchphrase

The same words are found in the Actor’s remark: “ Again...first... That's good. N-yes... Again? (Laughs.) Well... yes! I Can?!. After all Can, A?" What is the name of this technique that enhances the meaning of the statement?

Explanation.

This technique is called repetition. Let's give a definition.

Repetition is the repetition of one or more words in one sentence or in neighboring sentences, which enhances the emotional expressiveness of the text. Repetition can emphasize the key meaning of a particular word to characterize the state of a person or his attitude to something, emotionally highlighting or strengthening it. Sometimes repetition emphasizes different shades of meaning in a word.

Answer: repeat.

Answer: repetition | lexical repetition

It seems that our church leaders care about many other things, or only struggle to do social and charitable work. It cannot be said that this is an unnecessary matter, especially in our difficult time, but it is not the primary and most important matter of our Church. Bread can be given by others, but can others give meaning and purpose to life? Who can save the soul, save it from the terrible egocentrism that misleads, enslaves, torments young and old people? The life-giving and grace-charged church body can become a compass of hope, a warning of an accident, an antibody to chronic illness, a shield against melancholy, a support in climbing the mountain of truth. Only the Church can balance a tired and very disappointed person.

Only the Church can speak clearly in the hearts of people in order to comfort and reassure them. Change in society can only be brought about by sacred and tested laws. Church leaders are responsible for their silence. The time has come for words and deeds, for example and consolation. Who's to say that we don't live just to eat? What is more blessed to give than to receive? What is more valuable than a clear conscience? Are we all managers, not rulers? We don't have a permanent city? It is known that it is very difficult to change the mentality of a society that has been prepared for the deification of eudemonism for many years, but it is never too late, and in any case, something can always happen. The twelfth hour has not yet arrived.

Despair that dominates, clouds, darkens and kills. But, the truth is, this can be a great opportunity that no one else can give you. Thus, we can speak of privileged despair. A person must see in the mirror that he was not created to be an insatiable animal, which the only thing that can be done is to rob, ruin, overeat and get fat in every possible way. It is necessary to follow his gaze, because his eyes do not see well, his vision is weakened, he does not see far, in general, he does not rejoice at the good, sacred and beautiful. Who will be talking about all these things? Only the relationship between love, peace and the unanimity of church communities. The joy of their members, their purity, kindness, brotherhood and mutual respect. The meaning of life is given in traditional worship and especially in the excellent Liturgy.

If selfishness, stress, haste, superficiality and spiritual shallowness pass to our cassock-bearers and believers, then it is better to cry silently, and may God have mercy on us. We have already said that the real crisis is the spiritual crisis, then comes the economic crisis. Decadence lies in greed, dishonor, lies. And the decline lies in personal gain, individualism, great and "inflamed" egoism. Greece is already in a state of spiritual impoverishment. The Church speaks of poverty, abstinence, simplicity, humility, fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Poverty can bring wealth, bring calmness, equanimity, an authentic and ascetic ethos...

In what works of Russian literature does the theme of the spiritual impoverishment of society sound, and in what ways can these works be compared with the proposed fragment?

An old two-story cream-colored house was located on the boulevard ring in the depths of a stunted garden, separated from the sidewalk of the ring by a carved iron grate. A small area in front of the house was asphalted, and in winter a snowdrift with a shovel rose on it, and in summer it turned into a magnificent section of a summer restaurant under a canvas awning.

The house was called "Griboyedov's house" on the grounds that it was once owned by the writer's aunt, Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov. Well, owned or not owned - we do not know. I even remember that, it seems, Griboedov did not have any aunt-houseowner ... However, the house was called that. Moreover, one Moscow liar said that allegedly on the second floor, in a round hall with columns, the famous writer read excerpts from "Woe from Wit"

to this same aunt, sprawled out on the sofa, but, the devil knows, maybe he read it, it doesn’t matter!

And the important thing is that at the present time this house was owned by the same MASSOLIT, headed by the unfortunate Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz before his appearance on the Patriarch's Ponds.

With the light hand of the MASSOLIT members, no one called the house "Griboedov's house", and everyone simply said - "Griboedov": "Yesterday I pushed my way through Griboyedov's for two hours", - "So how?" - "I got to Yalta for a month." - "Well done!".

Or: "Go to Berlioz, today he receives from four to five in Griboyedov..." And so on.

MASSOLIT is located in Griboyedovo in such a way that it is better and more comfortable not to think of.

Everyone entering Griboedov, first of all, involuntarily got acquainted with the notices of various sports circles and with group and individual photographs of MASSOLIT members, with which (photographs) the walls of the stairs leading to the second floor were hung.

On the doors of the first room on this upper floor one could see a large inscription "Fish and cottage section", and right there was a picture of a crucian caught on a hook.

Something not entirely clear was written on the doors of room No. 2:

"One-day creative tour. Contact M. V. Podlozhnaya."

The next door carried a brief, but completely incomprehensible inscription:

"Perelygino". Then a random visitor to Griboedov's eyes began to dazzle from the inscriptions that were full of walnut aunty doors: "Entry in the queue for paper at Poklevkina", "Cashier", "Personal calculations of sketch artists" ...

Having cut through the longest queue, which was already beginning at the bottom in the Swiss one, one could see the inscription on the door, into which people were bursting every second:

"Housing problem".

Behind the housing question, a luxurious poster was opened, on which a rock was depicted, and a horseman in a cloak and with a rifle over his shoulders rode along its crest. Below - palm trees and a balcony, on the balcony - a sitting young man with a tuft, looking somewhere up with very, very lively eyes and holding a self-writing pen in his hand. Caption: "Full-length sabbaticals from two weeks (short story) to one year (novel, trilogy). Yalta, Suuk-Su, Borovoe, Tsikhidziri, Makhinjauri, Leningrad (Winter Palace)". There was also a queue at this door, but not excessive, about a hundred and fifty people.

Then followed, obeying the whimsical curves, ascents and descents of the Griboedov House, - "Massolit's Board", "Cashiers N 2, 3, 4, 5", "Editorial Board", "MASSOLIT Chairman", "Billiard Room", various auxiliary institutions, finally , the same hall with a colonnade where the aunt enjoyed the comedy of a brilliant nephew.

Any visitor, if, of course, he was not completely stupid, having got into Griboedov, immediately realized how good life is for the lucky ones - members of MASSOLIT, and black envy immediately began to torment him. And immediately he turned bitter reproaches to heaven for not rewarding him with a literary talent at birth, without which, naturally, there was nothing to dream of owning a MASSOLIT membership card, brown, smelling of expensive leather, with a wide gold border, known to all Moscow ticket.

Who will say anything in defense of envy? This is a feeling of a lousy category, but you still have to enter into the position of a visitor. After all, what he saw on the top floor was not all, and far from all. The entire lower floor of the aunt's house was occupied by a restaurant, and what a restaurant! In fairness, he was considered the best in Moscow. And not only because it was located in two large halls with vaulted ceilings painted with purple horses with Assyrian manes, not only because a lamp covered with a shawl was placed on each table, not only because the first person with streets, and also because the quality of his provisions Griboedov beat any restaurant in Moscow, as he wanted, and that this provision was released at the most reasonable, by no means burdensome price.

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In many works of Russian literature, the theme of the spiritual impoverishment of society sounds. For example, in the story of A.P. Chekhov "Ionych" and D. Fonvizin's comedy "Undergrowth".

In the work of A.P. Chekhov's "Ionych", the main character - Startsev - comes to one of the provincial cities as a young doctor. He is interested in art, literature, he seeks to comprehend his life. But having become rich, Startsev is engaged only in the accumulation of money. The hero becomes rude and greedy. This story can be compared with the novel The Master and Margarita. In both works, the characters under the influence of money become vulgar, ignorant and cynical. In Chekhov's story, they are Startsev, and in Bulgakov's novel, they are members of MASSOLIT, who Literature is not as important as spending your time in the restaurant, the desire to benefit from the organization.

Criteria

• 4 of 4 K1 Inclusion in a literary context and persuasiveness of arguments
• TOTAL: 4 out of 4

Anna Gennadievna Maslova

To satisfy the highest needs of a person, in order to differ from animals, first of all, it is necessary to satisfy physiological needs: food, drink, shelter, warmth and other primary organic needs (Maslow's pyramid). As the saying goes, you don't think well on an empty stomach.

But our life shows that in a consumer society a person needs more and more not only goods and services, but also luxury goods. Here the question immediately arises: where is the line and measure - and how much is this value?

Do you need children's makeup products, children's beauty contests or SPA treatments for dogs, dog sitters at offices, on-the-job massages for managers? Why, in the so-called sales (or, as they are also called, "Black Fridays"), in the pursuit of things, ordinary people, losing their human appearance, show aggression towards other people? With the advent of a huge number of goods and services, it becomes more and more difficult for manufacturers to sell a product, to convey it to the consumer, than to manufacture it.

Some scientists talk about all this as a disease - the so-called "consumer syndrome". This is when “consumption turns into a pathology, since its importance grows and grows in direct proportion to our diminishing sense of satisfaction,” says G. Daly.

To meet all these needs, which can hardly be called organic, the consumer spends more and more working time. He devotes his free time from work to the acquisition, consumption and maintenance of goods. Burdened with materialism, he seeks false comfort in egoistic hedonism - all this leaves practically no possibility for satisfying higher needs.

Consequence one - overeating

This kind of lifestyle gives rise to many health problems. Many people are overweight and some are obese. In the US, more than half of the citizens are overweight. “In the countries of the WHO European Region, 30–80% of adults and up to one third of children are overweight,” reports the WHO (World Health Organization). Globally, according to the same organization, as of 2005, “More than one billion people in the world are overweight and obese. If nothing is done, then by 2015 this number will increase to one and a half billion.”

Some types of entertainment industry generate interest in harmful, unnecessary needs. If the level of alcohol consumption has recently remained at the same level in developed countries, then the fight against smoking leads to an increase in drug consumption.

Gluttony, addiction to addictions cause physical illness, and the pursuit of money (or, in the biblical language, the love of money) for ever-increasing appetites that are not always satisfied, contributes to nervousness and depressive states.

“In our time, the level of depression in the United States is ten times higher than that which existed before 1945,” write John de Graaff, David Vann, Thomas H. Naylor. And according to data published by the European Commission in the "Green Book" (Gruenbuch), 30% of EU citizens suffer from a mental disorder.

Chronic non-communicable diseases, for example, in the WHO European Region, according to Dr. Martin Moreno, account for more than 85% of the total burden of disease, the causes of which are rooted in human passions, vices and lifestyles (approximately the same situation in other developed and developing countries ).

In particular, non-communicable diseases are characterized by the following risk factors: high blood pressure, tobacco and drug use, alcohol abuse, high cholesterol, overweight, lack of physical activity and household psychogenic tension.

The rapid development of medicine and the improvement of living conditions can no longer have such an impact on public health. According to David E. Bloom, David Canning, and Dean T. Jamison, citing World Bank data, the increase in life expectancy in developed countries over the period 1960-1990. was 2.3%, and for the period 1990-2001. growth has already fallen to 1.8%.

Another very surprising point is the effectiveness of financial investments, taking into account time. “If at the beginning of the 20th century an increase in health care spending by 10% led to an increase in public health indicators by 12%, then later this ratio constantly decreased, and in the 1980s an increase in health care costs by the same 10% led in developed countries to improvement of public health by only 1.8%,” write O. Shchepin and E. Tishchuk.

And only a change in lifestyle, on which, according to WHO experts, the improvement of health depends on 50%, will not only reduce the problems with financing health care that all countries face, but will also reduce the social costs associated with early retirement, payment of sick leave etc.

The expansion of organic needs and the rapid growth of wealth without the development of new forms of social relations led to an increase in the need for security. Now we can say with full confidence: the richer we become, the less security in the world.

So, for example, in the United States, according to F. Fukuyama, “per capita income increased, adjusted for inflation, between 1965 and 1995 from $14,792 to $25,615, while personal consumption expenditure increased from $9,257 to $17,403".

Consequence two - crime

Simultaneously with the increase in incomes, both in the United States and in all developed non-Asian countries, from the 60s to the 90s, there was an increase in crime. “Americans may not realize that exactly the same increase in crime in approximately the same period of time took place in almost all other non-Asian developed countries,” says F. Fukuyama.

Increasing crime rates are only one aspect of the inconsistency of rapidly growing wealth with social development and governance.
With this kind of discrepancy, involving more and more countries in the process of enrichment, humanity has expanded the very forms of security. It makes no sense to list what threatens a person, since security penetrates almost all areas of life.

Because of the inconsistency of rapidly growing wealth with social development and in the absence of the development of new norms governing social relations, we are faced with "huge gaps" between poor and rich sections of the population, between poor and rich countries, as well as with huge differences in worldview - all this gives rise to security problems.

After the terrorist act committed by Breivik, not a single country in the world, no matter how high the level of material well-being it may have, can say that the problem is there, far away, and everything is calm here. And all this rearmament (as A. Arnoldov writes, if all the nuclear weapons in the world are converted to conventional explosives, then about four tons of conventional explosives will be released per person) not only does not inspire a sense of security, but also slows down economic development.

At this time, security is not a problem of law enforcement agencies. The only threat to human security is established only in himself. The desire for “possession”, and not for “being”, according to E. Fromm, deprives a person of a free and safe world.

Third consequence - celibacy

The decline of various kinds of relationships, and in particular family relationships, the sharp increase in divorces in almost all post-industrial societies in the period from 1960 to 1990 are largely related to the current economic situation. Thus, referring to the data of the World Values ​​Organization, R. Inglehart and K. Welzel write that “from 1960 to 1990, the number of divorces increased sharply in almost all post-industrial societies, except for Ireland, where divorces remained banned until 1995.”

In the transition from the industrial age economy to the information age economy, the increasing need for enrichment in the labor market required greater involvement of women. “The increase in the number of divorces in developed countries, according to Becker, is caused primarily by the increased activity of women in the labor market, which has sharply reduced the costs for them associated with life outside of marriage or with attempts to re-create a family,” writes R. Kapelyushnikov.

“Marriage is interpreted by Becker by analogy with the creation of a partner company: people marry if the expected volume of output of consumer goods produced by them together exceeds the arithmetic sum of outputs that they can produce separately ...” - reports R. Kapelyushnikov.

If we develop the interpretation of G. Becker, then marriage is defined as a kind of transaction based on external factors: beauty and money, position and youth, the addition of one fortune to another. Thus, the need for love is more and more distorted through the evaluative side of a person, perceived not by what he is in essence, but by what he has.

We can say that a person strives for some kind of “possession”, and not for “love”. Of course, the category of "owners" at first has some feelings, or rather, it can be called passion, but when the passion cools, one of the participants in the transaction finds a new, more profitable party - in order to conclude a better deal.

It should be said that there is a category of people who want to love, but because of the formed way of life they simply do not know how. In this case, this category of people does not have time for spiritual development, which allows not only to find a compatible partner for themselves, but also to build these relationships.

For the most part, all obstacles have been removed in order to "possess" in a relationship. Interfering elderly people, who spend more and more of their old age in boarding houses, are already becoming the norm. And the declining birth rate suggests that it is no longer a person who has become the measure of all things, but a thing has become a measure for a person.

Consequence four - childlessness

Beginning in the 1960s, the birth rate began to fall in almost all developed countries. “Many countries, such as France and Japan, faced a decline in fertility even before the 60s,” writes F. Fukuyama. By the turn of 2000, for the first time in the history of mankind, population growth slowed down on Earth. This kind of phenomenon is called a demographic transition, which, as S. Kapitsa proved, is not associated with a lack of natural resources, but has exclusively internal causes.

The dominance of external factors in personal relationships not only distorts the very need for love and deprives a person of a full sense of life, but also affects the economic state of society.

People experiencing emotional turmoil from separation suffer from depression, are prone to mental illness, and one of the main causes of suicide is a personal separation. People who are divorced or single are more likely to get sick and more prone to chronic illness than people who live happy married lives. In addition, divorced people lose their ability to work, are not as collected and mobile as people who are married. A child brought up by one of the parents not only does not receive much, but also becomes a heavy burden for both the parent and the state.

The decline in family values ​​led to a decrease in the birth rate, which caused a rapid aging of the population. This circumstance, of course, is reflected in the economy, in particular - in the provision of the pension system. The later emergence of serious family relationships in developed countries, as well as the decline in maternal instinct, is explained by the fact that people have shifted priorities in favor of recognizing career growth.

Regarding the need for recognition, F. Fukuyama writes: "The urgency and fundamental nature of this need make it, in fact, one of the main engines of the entire historical process."

The author continues: “In the early stages of history, it was realized on the battlefields, where kings and princes waged their battle for supremacy, sparing neither their own nor the lives of others. In the modern era, the struggle for recognition has moved into the economic sphere, which is why society as a whole has only benefited: now this struggle no longer contributes to the destruction, but to the creation of material wealth.

There is no doubt that it is better to prove one's worth not on the battlefields, as was done in the Middle Ages, but in the economic sphere, increasing the level of material well-being. But if you look deeper and understand the motives of human activity, then after centuries they have undergone little change, and perhaps in recent decades they have become less human.

According to one study, "In 1967, two-thirds of American college students said that 'forming a clear philosophy of life' was 'very important' to them, while less than one-third said the same about 'making a lot of money'." In 1997, these figures were reversed,” write John de Graaf, David Vann, Thomas H. Naylor.

The motive of almost any labor activity is reduced to the possession of material goods or to the satisfaction of pride and vanity. Popularity and material wealth have become so important that a person's ability to maintain self-respect depends on them. Such trends have deprived the woman of creative self-realization in the upbringing of children.

“Young people who go to law and business schools in droves, laboriously filling out their résumés in the hope of maintaining the lifestyle they think they deserve—I think they are far more in danger of becoming the last men than they are of reviving the passions of the first.” person. For them, the liberal idea of ​​filling life with material gains and safe, permitted ambition is all too well suited,” says F. Fukuyama.

The insane passion for the result, which society evaluates, deprives a person of the joy of the creative process itself - the growth of his hidden abilities, the emergence of new ideas. The prestige of a certain number of professions forces many people to engage in a business alien to them, thereby limiting their human and creative capital.

Fifth consequence - lack of culture

The general enthusiasm of people for economic activity has led to the fact that economic power simply did not correspond to social development and social management. This discrepancy comes primarily from the modern education system.

Modern education is utilitarian in its essence, it does not focus on self-knowledge, it makes a person a specialist - a cog in the system, which is very easy to manage. “The specialist serves us as a vivid, concrete example of the “new man” and allows us to discern all the radicalism of his novelty ... He cannot be called educated, since he is a complete ignoramus in everything that is not included in his specialty; he is not an ignoramus, since he is still a “man of science” and knows his tiny corner of the universe to perfection, ”writes Ortega y Gasset

Having separated spirituality from science, and intelligence from creativity in cognitive needs, a person was deprived of an integral, free perception of the world and limited the manifestation of his human essence, his capabilities in any kind of activity. As E. Fromm rightly wrote, “the human brain lives in the twentieth century; most people's heart is still in stone."

The utilitarian system not only does not cause a desire for self-education, but also because of the limited outlook, a person becomes helpless in the intricacies of informational and cultural chaos. Many scientists call this time the era of excessive information load. A person is literally overwhelmed with unnecessary information, propaganda, pseudo-culture, where it is very difficult for him to figure it out.

Having turned culture, aesthetic needs into an instrument of material well-being, we have ceased to be concerned with our inner world. We have ceased to be interested, in the words of Dostoevsky, "new information about the nature of man." Slogans are replacing poetry for us, and all this glamor, which is considered almost the standard of beauty, I think, is unlikely to be able to save the world.

There is no one to shake the world with personalities of the scale of L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov, B. Shaw, I. Bunin, M. Bulgakov, E. Hemingway, Remarque! The now living R. Shchedrin is one of the last great composers. Classical music is practically no longer created, but only performed.

The so-called "artists" try to show themselves, no matter how, but the main thing is to express themselves. The mustache drawn by Duchamp on the painting of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci or the exhibition by D. Beldassari, which exhibited the ashes of burnt canvases, are all manifestations of harmful pseudo-art.

Most of the film production is also malicious. Through a direct impact on the subconscious, horror films, catastrophes create tension and inspire fear, and the so-called "hero of our time" in cinema fights evil exclusively with the same method - violence. This is completely contrary to the Christian law - not to respond to violence with violence. In general, we have many new religions in which there is little faith in God, but only solid promises of happiness and success.

I was told an interesting story about a "cultural event". One day, while thinking in public transport, the person who told me this story suddenly saw people in masks. The first thing that came to his mind was a robbery. Of course, you wouldn't wish this experience on anyone. After some time, it was possible to find out that it was teenagers who “took fun” in a “cultural event” - Halloween in a new way.

And all these survival TV shows make us perceive each other not as partners or colleagues, but as competitors in salary, on the career ladder, etc. This kind of show, in my opinion, pushes people to display “bestial competition”.

So, the owners of some American auto repair shops hired hooligans to smash windshields, unscrew wheels, and tear out music systems. As a result, frustrated car owners turned to the nearest workshop. And there are many such cases.

The purpose of culture is to look for new forms of interaction that suit everyone, which are hidden only in the person himself. Increasing the level of material well-being through culture - its commercialization - contributed to the crisis like nothing else.

Already in Illarion's "Sermon on Law and Grace" and Vladimir Monomakh's "Instruction" there are thoughts that material wealth cannot be evaluated in isolation from spiritual principles. And only a culture aimed at self-knowledge, self-actualization of a person can reduce many economic costs and give impetus to economic development.

What is self-actualization

Of course, within the framework of the article it is impossible to give a complete definition of the need for self-actualization, but it seems possible to give some characteristics in the context of this topic.

Exploring self-actualizing people, A. Maslow notes that, being successful and in demand professionally, these people are less concerned about the problems of survival - they just live and develop. Organic needs require satisfaction in order to move on - this is primary, a kind of “foundation on which the temple will be erected,” writes A. Maslow.

But if they fail to fulfill themselves professionally, they, unlike an ordinary person, will not experience discomfort and succumb to self-flagellation, because thanks to spirituality, a sense of duty causes them pleasure and joy. These people are not characterized by any state of frustration, which is the source of depression and mental illness.

In love, they do not set any goals and intentions; for them, love is a kind of state for the sake of the state itself. Mutual compatibility is practically the norm, since feelings are friends with their mind. They have amazing qualities - the ability to recognize lies and the ability to maximize concentration.

“A self-actualized person builds his life not according to the laws of society, not according to the laws of culture, but rather according to universal human laws and the laws of his own human nature,” writes A. Maslow.

Dr. David Levy once said that in the Middle Ages such people were called divine or holy people. And according to the results of studies conducted by Asch and McClelland, in the United States, from five to thirty percent can be attributed to self-actualizing personalities.

Of course, such a small number of self-actualizing people is not enough for any cardinal changes, but the very fact of their existence gives us hope for the best, allows us to look to the future with optimism. And who knows, maybe in the near future a self-actualizing person will be an average person.

As a conclusion

Despite the fact that we are now experiencing the deepest crisis, it can be said with full confidence that living conditions in developed and developing countries have increased rapidly over the past two hundred years. Life expectancy has increased by about two times, infant mortality has decreased, epidemics have decreased, and the availability of education has increased. Many have decent housing.

But there is a very important point here. Thanks to scientific and technological progress, the rapid increase in material well-being was not accompanied by a corresponding spiritual development, that is, a “huge gap” formed. “In Western Europe, per capita income has grown by now more than ten times compared with the middle of the eighteenth century,” writes F. Fukuyama. But how much "grew" morals? I think the answer is clear to everyone!

All higher needs worked for organic needs and their expansion, that is, this can no longer be called natural needs, but fictitious. Higher needs were either distorted, misinterpreted, or not needed at all. This kind of approach created disharmony and created an economic crisis.

The cessation of quantitative development and the transition to qualitative development is prompted by the very history of mankind. If S. Kapitsa generalized the positive scenario by saying that “if we count on an optimistic future, we need to think about making everything better, not more”, then Arnold Toynbee concretized and formulated the law of the development of civilizations as “the ability to shift energy costs from the realm of the material into the realm of the spirit, aesthetics, culture and art.

This does not mean that material wealth will disappear somewhere. Just in order not to lose all the benefits and build a harmonious development, a new person should not constantly worry about the problems of survival, he also needs to develop new hidden internal abilities, develop the so-called spiritual capital, which will not only reduce the costs associated with crime, health , corruption, shadow economy, rearmament, but also bring the economy to a new stage of development.