In the world we live in a problem exists that is threatening social peace and harmony in every nation big or small: moral degeneration. In other words, people have forsaken moral qualities like being good, righteous, honest, forgiving, just, compassionate and honourable, in exchange for immorality and have chosen amorality as a life philosophy. How this problem (at the bottom of which lies egotism, greed, ruthlessness and carelessness) will be solved represents one of the biggest issues of the twenty-first century.
Actually, many people are aware of the existence of this problem without having a solution for it. Family values are championed in most countries as an important source of morality and there are efforts being made to protect the young, who are the most affected section of society, from decadence.
Education projects, seminars and campaigns, run by either the state or various non-governmental organizations aim to curb the effect of moral degeneration. However, these efforts have mostly failed to have a lasting effect. Moral degeneration is gaining momentum by the day because solutions are being sought in the wrong places and therefore these efforts end up in a vicious circle.
The most important reason for this vicious circle is that those groups or individuals seeking to combat decadence fail to appreciate the degree to which it is being purposely encouraged and directed. The common view, which is true to some extent, that moral degeneration is an inevitable occurrence caused by the bad living conditions prevailing in society, does not provide a clear picture in relation to the causes and solutions to the problem because it fails to take into account a fundamental reality. It views social collapse as an independent phenomenon governed by its own internal processes, whereas the moral degeneration experienced in many countries of the world is deliberately directed and supported by a powerful body of people held together by a complex network of intricate relations and nefarious connections. These people use every means of propaganda, which is particularly effective in societies where spiritual values are weak and where lifestyles are not underpinned by religious morality. It even manages to infiltrate state bureaucracies (some Latin American countries present a shocking example of this as will be seen in the chapters to follow).