I keep seeing things about us that disquiet me, in one form or another. We are changing; but then we have always been changing. Are there causes or is it just the way humans evolve? Some human offshoots of the evolution tree are extinct, did you know that? But that’s another subject.
Let me illuminate some of the changes I think I see.
The thirst for fame, even momentary, seems to be an increasingly driving factor. Three quarters of our population (statistically) are now members of face book (but then 60% of families own dogs – what does that tell us?). And that seems to be driving some things. For example the new “game” in town in for small gangs of people to look for someone to terrorise. One confronts a properly non-threatening target and begins punching him or her. If he falls to the ground the rest kick him and leave. If he resists the entire group starts punching him until he falls and then they kick him. Several of the group have cameras, and they are often girls, who film (usually video) the event – and post it on Facebook where they (the videos), I am assured, have become quite popular in terms of “hits.” Getting attention on Facebook is IMPORTANT.
Which leads to communication technology, headed by personal access communication. It seems to dominate our waking hours. That’s beyond computers and television; it is personal hand held machines that allow us to talk to anyone anywhere any time, and apparently they are very active little devices.
We profess to be politically correct but can agree on very little, and have less interest in discussing things about which we disagree. This leads to put-down criticism (whether we understand why or not) and develops very firm opinions of very superficial subjects about which we seem to love to pontificate – or argue (more like railing that arguing actually). Often they include the word hate, which we also profess to abhor.
Relativism is rampant too, if one can believe those that delve into such things. It’s less anything goes, than no one has the right to question someone else’s positions on morality; there is no right and wrong per se. You notice inconsistencies here? No wonder our young and other limited knowledge population are confused.
This extends, as I have said, to politics. But look at how we have skewed that. The most important thing in politics today is money; money to buy ads to propagandize the voting public (and those that don’t vote as well). The upshot seems to be the one with the most money, tends to win. Oh, and it is alleged that congressmen allocate 2 days per week to do nothing but talk to constituents; who are trying to convince them of something, ususally, I suspect, to give them something – not bribes, but something they think we should have that benefits them. And at the same time we have concluded that all politicians are corrupt, without really defining what we mean by that word.
Sports and entertainment absolutely dominate the thinking of a major portion or our population, and we are desperate to know what they are thinking, what they are doing, what they expect to do and any other tiny element of their lives that might titilate us. Including where they live and where they go: pure voyeurism, but especially where they live. We adore big houses in exotic places. You might have noticed that we particularly like to beat up on them: movie actors in uncompromising situations, athletes screwing up, deliberate mayhem (that we seem to love). We adore violence – vicariously, of course (on a personal level we can’t even distinguish between pain and discomfort – and take pills for all of it).
Automobile traffic is bad and will get much worse, but much of the problem is caused by drivers that are unconcerned with laws, especially speed limit laws, but also following too close, cutting in and out of traffic; we all know all about that. Has it always been so? Well, there hasn’t been the volume, or the power of vehicles, or the restricted roadways due to volume. And we seem to be attracted to violence there too – NASCAR? Isn’t the violence there an important attraction?
And on top of all this our law enforcement minions are highly restricted since anything they do is criticized and attacked. Law enforcement is the enemy, and the culprit if anything happens that effects us in a negative way. But teachers are similarly restricted with the same result. And the perpetrators? Drivers? Burglers? Students? It’s not their fault; it’s “our” fault. And speaking of students, has anyone noticed the blatant lack of motivation demonstrated by many of them, and their rejection of rules intended to support the process?
It seems to me there are common threads among all this, and I know that’s not all of it, just what came to my mind as I rattled it off. I think there is a pattern here, but then others may see other than what I see. The importance of it is not to sit and crticize, or even feel sorry for ourselves and moan a lot. It is to determine how we are to deal with it. Things are changing and we seem (my view) not to be dealing with them well; so what should we be doing? The approaches that seem to be developing are not very productive; where do we go from here? This, after all, is who we seem to be and what we will be living with; or isn’t it? Who are we?
