There are many reasons to be excited and even positive about the future, yet to me, social entropy seems to be stealthily making its mark. People often see a small change and think little of it, but taken over time you can see the deleterious effect.
Curse words for example. People think there's little wrong with overt use of sh*t. Thirty years ago, it was very impolite to use the word. And now it's even acceptable to use the F-bomb in everyday speech. The C-bomb is becoming an everyday word too. And kids think nothing of calling each other a mother-f***** now. I hate the last two. Both are underhanded derogation of women.
Curse words aren't the only evidence of us being on the slippery slope downhill. And the pace of change makes everyone scurry to look after their own stuff and care less about others.
Here's just a few reasons why we are more isolated these days:
Technology replaces human contact and human activity.
The market is all about making a buck out of everything that moves.
The extrovert ideal means we have to sell ourselves rather than be real.
Relationships are now brief and intense rather than long and deep.
Looking after number one means we are more fickle, and less communal.
Want it now / get it now, means we don't value things as we once did.
We rely on 'agencies' to do all the caring, social work.
The corporation is about dividends to investors, not social responsibility.
Corporations fail, directors walk away with zillions, investors lose.
There are fewer dreamers to take us forward because we're in survival mode.
People only care about own survival these days.
But.....
They can't breed the humanity out of us that easily. I still see moments of humanity in people, where we are made to remember just who we are and brought together in support. After 9/11 I saw that. After the siege in Sydney, just the other day, I saw the outpouring of the human spirit. They say tragedy and adversity brings out the best in us. Sometimes prosperity and progress just makes us socially lazy and more selfish. But sometimes it just takes an act of kindness to renew our faith in people.
One thing that helps me feel better is to commit a random act of kindness. It really does help, and both sides of the act gain something positive.
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I'm not blind to your facial expression - but it may take me a few minutes to comprehend it.
A smile is not always a smile.
A frown is not always a frown.
And a blank look rarely means a blank mind.