I blame Paris Hilton.
Let's talk for just a moment, and I do mean a moment, about the perceptual differences between Want and Need. I have no desire to delve into this topic to it's fullest potential, as that would lead into a lengthy and quite dull philosophical debate. What I want to address is the 21st century perception of said states (or do I NEED to address it? Oooooooo).
Our culture is one one of immediate gratification. Our access to virtually any kind of luxury (within a given budget) has confused our sensibilities. It has convinced us that much of what we want, we actually feel we NEED. My generation and the one just below me are most guilty of this crime, as we are the Microwave Generation. We do not wait for anything. Like, could there BEEEEEE anything more heinous than patience? It like, totally wastes my time. Gaw!
But to a certain extent, all of American culture breeds these ideas. We know we need food. But we want to super-size it. We know we need clothing. But we want Hilfiger and Prada. We know we need shelter. But we want a 41 room mansion with a gym and tanning machine so we can look GREAT sitting with champagne in our jacuzzi after already swimming in a pool that's heated, well, for the hell of it.
It confuses our sensibilities.
And this confusion is dangerous. Why? Lots of reasons. But tonight's reason is DEPENDENCE. Dependence on things. Things which are ephemeral. Things which are replaceable. Things that are making us stupider as a species as they continue to isolate us behinds walls of materialistic junk. Walls that isolate us from each other as we feed our INDIVDUAL "needs". "I don't care about Joe Blow, I need this!"
To get off subject a little, I bring all of this up in an unrelated fashion. I got very angry with myself today. I lost the internet for several hours (turned out to be some kind of f'ed up font conflict, so whatever. Still love ya' Macintosh!), but I while I was disconnected, I started to think about how much I thought I needed the Internet... and my computer...and my car...and the flushing toilet...and the TV... and the microwave... and electricity to run all of it! I lost the Internet for a few hours and felt helpless! Disconnected. Out of touch with the rest of the world. The God-damned Internet!!! When did this happen?! When did my dependency become so severe? When did I lose sight of a life without all this junk?
What the hell would this world, and specifically this society, do if we were to lose all of this?
Dependency makes an individual weak. It clouds judgement. It makes one susceptible to compromise and self-destruction.
If that is its effect on the individual...
What does it do to a culture?
Ah, well. I'm sure we'll be fine.
Our culture is one one of immediate gratification. Our access to virtually any kind of luxury (within a given budget) has confused our sensibilities. It has convinced us that much of what we want, we actually feel we NEED. My generation and the one just below me are most guilty of this crime, as we are the Microwave Generation. We do not wait for anything. Like, could there BEEEEEE anything more heinous than patience? It like, totally wastes my time. Gaw!
But to a certain extent, all of American culture breeds these ideas. We know we need food. But we want to super-size it. We know we need clothing. But we want Hilfiger and Prada. We know we need shelter. But we want a 41 room mansion with a gym and tanning machine so we can look GREAT sitting with champagne in our jacuzzi after already swimming in a pool that's heated, well, for the hell of it.
It confuses our sensibilities.
And this confusion is dangerous. Why? Lots of reasons. But tonight's reason is DEPENDENCE. Dependence on things. Things which are ephemeral. Things which are replaceable. Things that are making us stupider as a species as they continue to isolate us behinds walls of materialistic junk. Walls that isolate us from each other as we feed our INDIVDUAL "needs". "I don't care about Joe Blow, I need this!"
To get off subject a little, I bring all of this up in an unrelated fashion. I got very angry with myself today. I lost the internet for several hours (turned out to be some kind of f'ed up font conflict, so whatever. Still love ya' Macintosh!), but I while I was disconnected, I started to think about how much I thought I needed the Internet... and my computer...and my car...and the flushing toilet...and the TV... and the microwave... and electricity to run all of it! I lost the Internet for a few hours and felt helpless! Disconnected. Out of touch with the rest of the world. The God-damned Internet!!! When did this happen?! When did my dependency become so severe? When did I lose sight of a life without all this junk?
What the hell would this world, and specifically this society, do if we were to lose all of this?
Dependency makes an individual weak. It clouds judgement. It makes one susceptible to compromise and self-destruction.
If that is its effect on the individual...
What does it do to a culture?
Ah, well. I'm sure we'll be fine.
posted by Sean Corley at 9:22 PM
1 Comments:
That porcelain bowl will last for thousands of years, and the internet has just gotten started. It is us, you and I, who are ephemeral. Our stuff will outlast us.
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