Modern day madness


Modern society is connected in more ways than ever. With more channels for information than we know what to do with, society is less informed than ever. How is that possible? How can we, as a whole, have more but know less. This question has been running rampant through my mind lately.

Over the course of the last month, a major nuclear reactor in Fukushima unleashed over three hundred tons of radioactive water into the ocean. Soon after that, it was suspected that Syrian forces unleashed biological weapons (which is against international law).

In the United States, both of these stories took a back seat to Miley Cyrus’s twerking hind quarters and her tongue. Ask yourself this question — “Why is that?” Many would like to blame that on the media. They are, after all, the system pushing that information into our jelly-like brains. I would argue, however, the media only pushes what they assume we want to read about.

As a whole, the country is more interested in celebrity gossip, who was voted off what island, the size of the average Kardashian butt…

What is it with this country and butts?

As I was saying…as a whole, our priorities are twisted. We are more concerned with issues that have no bearing on mankind instead of the big, looming picture. People do not want to get involved, be informed, or go beyond. What should be a glorious time to be alive is actually a frightening period of existence.

  • We know more, yet we do less
  • We have more, yet we waste more
  • Technology has jumped light years, yet our compassion is stuck in the past

Society has become disposable. As trends, fads, memes, technology arrive the old is cast aside as useless. Take a look at computers. Each year the next best thing arrives and we shrug off the old as if it were a useless hunk of garbage. Smart phones are cast aside the second the newer model shows up. Technology should be making us smarter — when, in fact, it’s doing quite the opposite. Google brings information to us 24/7. No one needs to be memorize facts or even study — not with Google around. You need to know something, google it and be enlightened. Need a phone number? No need to thumb through a phone book or commit a set of digits to memory — just whip out your smart phone and find it. Everyone can be a temporary expert on anything. This fuels us into standing up for issues we have no basis for backing. Think politics. Everyone seems to become an expert on the subject, when election time comes around. The truth of that painful period is that very few truly understand politics. Same thing with the healthcare industry. Those that shout at the top of their lungs against “Obamacare”, mostly likely are doing so simply because they don’t like Obama — not because they fully understand what that particular piece of legislation means. The majority of people are too busy watching Miley shake her stuffed bear groove thing for an event that has held no meaning or measure since the death of the King of Pop.

Seriously — it’s MTV. Who gives a cold, hard poo? When was the last time they produced anything of value?

I know, my words are a bit harsh; but it seems too many people are turning their minds and hearts off to what is important in the big ol’ grand scheme of things. Does that mean I think everyone should forever forego fluff and entertainment? Not at all. What I do strongly believe in is that people should have a good balance in their lives — that balance should include swims in both shallow and deep waters. Without that balance, we chance drowning in a swamp of ego and banality.

At some point you need to tune out the social stream and tune into the truth. Just make sure you flip back and forth between the two so you don’t wind up wallowing in tragedy. That is the danger — once your eyes are opened, you’ll see just how horrible the human condition can be, so it’s tempting to turn it all off and permanently set your monitor on fun. Modern day madness makes this easy. I would suggest that everyone take a moment out of their day and read up on what really paints the big picture. Be whole, be complete, be informed.