Rockets have been used since ages for fireworks and entertainments. Yet the same rocket technology is now used to drop nuclear bombs, launch satellites in the orbit of Earth for telecommunication and weather forecasting. A rocket can travel in low atmospheric pressures and even in vacuum since it is driven by the propellant filled inside its various chambers. The most interesting part of the design of the rocket is that its chamber gets disconnected one after another automatically after their utility is over i.e. its propellant is discharged. If this is not done, rocket cannot reach high since most of its energy would be spend in carrying the dead weight which has outlived its utility.

There is similar dead weight in every society. There are millions of men and women who cannot contribute to the growth of the nation as they are old, sick, unemployed, crippled or suffering from terminal disease. Every person, if taken as a human resource, has a limited period of utility which usually coincides with his youth when his physical and mental faculties are at its best. The youths have to, however, support lots of people who are not contributing to the income of the nation. The list of unproductive people includes the children too in addition to old and crippled. Yet expenditure on children can be treated like an investment as they shall contribute for the growth in future. However, the old, sick, crippled and unemployed have nothing to contribute and they act like a dead weight.

A country can grow fastest if it can discard all its dead weight and focus all its energy on the useful human resources. If they are not able to discard the dead weight, it is because of the love for other human beings which we call compassion. Compassion is so common that a compassionate person is often called humane.

Adolf Hitler, who transformed Germany into world power with years of taking over has said,

Many mistakes have been made. Be ruthless. Life doesnt forgive weakness. This so-called humanity is priests drivel. Compassion is an eternal sin. To feel compassion for the weak is a betrayal of nature.

Hitler, who was the firm believer of the “Survival of the Fittest” theory of Darwin knew that sympathy and compassion can only make a person emotionally weak and stop his progress towards prosperity and power.

It is a fact that the countries that are the richest and the most developed have learned to abandon compassion not only for the other people but also for their own people. The laws are implemented with utmost ruthlessness and the life of a man is nothing more than a number. History is witness to this truth that these countries have risen fastest and became the richest and most powerful when they were ruthless. In the battle of prosperity and power, the more ruthless you are, the more you are likely to succeed.

Yet compassion is the inherent human nature and no person can live peacefully and happily if he loses compassion and gains the entire wealth of the world. Hence even the most ruthless people cannot help feeling compassionate and that is the beginning of their fall from the wealth and power. Yet losing all power and wealth, he enters in the kingdom of God where a rich man can never enter. Jesus said this many thousands years ago in the following words,

"I tell you the truth; it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Mathew 19: 23-24)

We all have to therefore balance compassion and ruthlessness. A compassionate country soon disintegrates as everyone start following their self interest. However, a ruthless country soon loses all happiness as people lose faith in each other. The answer lies in following the middle path.