Happiness and postmodernization

Postmodernists treat all scientific laws as narratives with little distinction between fiction and non-fiction. As far as their action orientation is concerned they aim at advocacy of specific disadvantaged groups rather than revolution or change of social structure. They show that application of modernity (i.e. science and technology, differentiation, specialization and analytical thinking) itself has led to several complex problems and risks, and they are looking for solutions to these problems. We do not know how the concept of happiness has undergone change in different epochs. In ancient society it might mean a state of absence of visible causes of unhappiness such as shortage of food, war, sickness, old age, etc. Happiness of one was associated with happiness of many. It appears that in traditional Indian society happiness was defined more in inner or religious terms. In modern societies happiness is individualized and it becomes a state of striving for success defined in material terms – in terms of wealth and power. To look for happiness is to compete. However, in the postmodern times it becomes a matter of choice. It depends on how you define yourself. Now the concept of happiness becomes fuzzy and there are multiple and borderless ideas of success. Some theorists say that man is defined more in terms of consumption rather than production. The implication of this is that for man to be happy is to consume more. Postmodernism is the epoch of consumerism in which consumerism has entered all aspects of life, market, social relations, religious and spiritual matters, and politics. One has to work out the implications of this for quality of life and for building a just society. However, if you do this you run the risk of getting labeled as a traditionalist or at best a modernist because you are looking for something which is polysemous and contextual. In a postmodern society the criteria of happiness and morality are to be defined by local groups and distinct identities which are in flux. We do not ask questions about universal morality or universal peace anymore. For a just and moral thinking you need to go beyond postmodernism.