Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith says addiction to mobile phones and modern technology has contributed to the breakdown of family life and human relationships in contemporary society.
Speaking at a religious event in Seeduwa, the Cardinal said consumerism had intensified following the introduction of the open market economy, creating artificial desires among people and making the pursuit of profit a dominant force in society.
“The open market economy has created desires that people never had before. This is what we call consumerism, the constant desire to acquire more and more,” he said.
Commenting on the growing dependence on smartphones, the Cardinal said mobile phones have become the centre of people’s lives.
“Today, the phone has become one’s entire life. People go to bed and keep looking at their phones throughout the night. They do not sleep and continue watching programmes until dawn. Parents, children and families no longer have family lives, and values are being lost,” he said.
The Cardinal further argued that modern market economies are driven by the creation of artificial wants rather than meeting genuine human needs.
“The market economy creates desires that do not naturally exist within people and then profits from them. That is what drives society today,” he said.
He also cautioned against arrogance stemming from education and social advancement, saying that people often assume they fully understand the world once they become educated.
“We think we know everything about the world because we are educated. As people rise to higher positions in society, they can become arrogant,” Cardinal Ranjith said. (Newswire)