A 13 year old killed for a phone sends a chilling message as to how mercenary this society has become.
If someone wanted the phone, they could have just taken it by force or, in a worse scenario, tied down the boy and fled with the gadget.
But they killed him.
The police have reportedly made several arrests but it has been ascertained that taking the phone was the motive.
But why the savage act of taking the life of a teen?
Perhaps the perpetrators thought that if they let him live, he would be able to identify them later on.
Several probable causes of the killing have emerged but what is most disconcerting is that this killing paints a damning picture of the decadent time we live in.
We have waded so deep into a materialistic culture that in almost every human to human connection, material issues become the main deciding factors.
Who owns what, who lives where and who comes in the flashy car or whose parents throw lavish parties dominate discussions and debates.
Erosion of values, rise of greed
The spread of greed has happened almost insidiously for a period and then, blatantly right before our eyes.
Forty years ago, materialistic instincts existed but they were politely and firmly sidelined to give preference to aesthetics, humanity, morality and righteousness.
It would be wrong to say that society was never swayed by avarice or material possessions but alongside the glitz and the glamour, old world ideals of moderate living and high thinking also existed.
Today, values only remain in rhetoric and platitudes while social dynamics are determined by materialistic instincts.
The thirteen year old teen who was killed and the expensive phone belonging to his mother taken, is but a victim of social avarice topped with the desire for instant gratification.
If the other person has something nice then I must have it too and if I can’t afford it via legitimate means then any vice adopted to obtain is acceptable.
So many times one has heard the line: must have wealth, hook or by crook!
Regrettably, such unscrupulous beliefs eventually become the sole guiding force for some.
Sadly, one hardly hears the line: will be a better human and enrich critical faculties and whatever I earn will be enough.
What happens after the killers are caught?
The police are on the case, so far, several arrests have been made and in time, the whole crime will become clear with perpetrators put behind bars.
But is that the end of it?
This death demands much more than conventional punishment, it requires a deep soul searching by society lost in a whirlpool of glitz, glamour gadgets and fast fame.
A thorough assessment of the perpetrators becomes essential because the intense desire to forcibly take an item belonging to someone else ought to be deconstructed and analysed.
How come we have become so rapacious that an acquisitive tendency has come to vitiate all ages?
About a year ago, there was a social media debate over the snob value of a high end phone compared to the regular smart phones.
There were insinuations that for such devices many young would be willing to offer special privileges.
I am sure, an elaboration is not needed.
This speaks of a very predatory culture with humans becoming nothing but commodities.
If it’s not a top end phone then it’s possibly a luxury vehicle or maybe, in some cases, a flat at an upmarket area.
Whatever the object of desire, the inherent toxic driving force remains the same: it has to be mine whatever the cost, any route adopted to get it is kosher.
The vicious killing of a teen for a phone is but a damning indictment of the decadence we have allowed to seep into our lives.
Just putting the killers behind bars, handing out a compensation to the parents and lamenting the heinous act won’t change anything.
In about two weeks, life will fall into the same old track, the greed factor will return after a respite and thus, humanity will again be intoxicated by the inner demon which craves more.
This death asks us to pause, and open up a serious conversation about what we are celebrating, the values we are teaching our children plus how in our obsession with gadgets are feeding into a vicious social outlook.
