The past century has been the most turbulent in man’s history. That is undeniable. Fifty million people died in the two World Wars alone. Additionally, there have been millions of deaths due to racially or politically motivated massacres in Africa and Asia. Violent revolutions subjected more than a third of the world’s population to totalitarian political rule and, to this day, constant human rights abuses take place in many developing nations. It doesn’t take much imagination to think that some change has occurred in man, something that turned him into a violent, uncaring and dangerous being.

Something caused a deterioration in man’s sense of community. The United Nations reports that more than one hundred million people lead isolated lives, without ties to family, work or community. Something affected society’s attitude towards marriage and divorce. In 1895, there were fifteen marriages to every divorce. In 1990, there were two marriages for every divorce, a drastic change.

Something has caused this disregard for the earth itself. More than two-and-a-half million square miles of forest have been denuded. With every passing second, an area of rain forest the size of a football field is cut down. And hundreds of species of birds, mammals and other creatures have become extinct, never to be seen again.

Something has led man to spend more money on drugs today than he does on food. More and more people depend upon drugs to relieve their ailments, escape boredom and prop up their ability to face the day. Even children now take drugs. Something has sparked a sharp increase in man’s violence towards his fellows. The something, whatever it is, has affected the ways in which man thinks, and the ways in which he behaves.