Survival. To people in a world without technology, it means something quite different than to people of generations X and Y.
To survive one had to be a hunter or a gatherer. All of human labor used to be directly related to basic needs: food, water, and shelter.
But, in a society that has focused its energies on minimizing labor, maximizing entertainment, and enhancing comfort, an entirely new extension of reality has been created. Some would even say that since the Industrial Revolution, humanity as been removed from reality (reality in this sense meaning nature). In this version of reality, everyone is always comfortable, always entertained, always happily sedated (or happily caffeinated, take your pick). Many of the jobs available to our generation today are jobs that are dedicated not to basic human needs, but amusement and emotional highs. We’ve got fast food, its addicting taste giving us a feeling of euphoria, drinks to lower our inhibitions and helps us relax, cell phones and computers to keep us laughing or crying as we please: and lastly we have coffee to help get us through the jobs that enable others live the Dream.
Though these jobs exist to uphold the type of culture described above, people do them without thinking. But what can we do when many of these jobs are where our next paycheck comes from: the paycheck that pays our bills and leaves us a little extra money to spend on medicating our apathy?
It’s no mystery that people of the generation of which I am a part often appear to be lazy compared to previous generations. Something in us dreads going to any job that we know deep within our hearts is meaningless. What are we doing really when we feed donuts to children so obese that they have trouble moving around? What are we doing really when we sell television to our beloved Inactive Society? Beer to the addicted? Or brand name clothing to the image obsessed? People in my generation, especially those that think about these sorts of things, tend to get caught up in moral dilemmas or fall into the static state of not caring.
I don’t consider myself a capitalist or a socialist, nor a communist or an anarchist. I consider myself an idealist. Everyone is so concerned with keeping themselves occupied. The key word here is themselves; individuals laboring for individuals. No one seems to care much about the well being of the person sitting next to them, just about their stations in life. Why not let there be more communities where we help each other eat and live and get to know the souls of one another? Isn’t that what love is supposed to be about? I sometimes think that the problem is that no one ever dares to dream about the way things should be because they’re too concerned with the way things are; too cynical to ever believe that things could be different.
I propose that we do what we can within our limitations: with the decision to love dictating all of our choices. So, next time we work ourselves to the bone so we can have things we don’t need and produce things that others don’t need, let us think about, in everything we do, what it means to love our neighbor. To live a rich life, I believe that everyone should take care of both themselves and their community.
I hear the word "Lazy" and "Entitled" more and more frequently as I listen to the discourse between generations. And while there is ultimately at least a measure of truth to these claims, I don't see these labels are at the heart of the problem. The questions, i think, should be more along the lines of " Why are we/they lazy?" Rather than finding people with a preference for inaction I think we would find people who are exhausted.
ReplyDeleteMore than exhausted, I find people are generally afraid. Afraid to lose what little comfort and peace they have and not about to take a risk to actually do something only to lose what little one has in the process.
Fast food, video games,sex, and drugs and alcohol seem shallow to those of us who have the privilege to know life can be much much more. But for some, these things are all the good life has to offer. With that mindset, it is really really difficult to be motivated achieve more for oneself or for others.
The solution then, is like you say: to live a truly rich life in all its fullness. To show the world that life is endless growth, mystery and wonder and not merely a race to see how much dopamine we can squirt into our brains.
I feel there is not much I can add to this comment other than an expression to agreement. I don't know the solution to all of this country's problems and I don't pretend to. But I believe that consumerism is our biggest problem: it trickles into every aspect of our lives. I often find myself wishing that more people cared about the problem.
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