In the interest of full disclosure, I’m on Facebook, but I won’t get into all the things I hate about it. That’s not the point. The point revealed itself to me last night whilst swimming in the swill that is cable “news” opinion “journalism.” Yes, I love scare quotes, perhaps a bit too much, but those words in scare quotes demand them.
I'll take the automobile over social media any day.
Anyway, one of the guests on the show said that you can see cultural and economic progress in the rise of the young entrepreneurs who started Facebook and Twitter. I see the exact opposite. I see a culture that no longer makes things, but rather engorges itself in meaningless, shallow entertainment.
Most of the innovation we’ve seen in the information age has had little to do with making our lives easier or better, but has instead provided new and better ways to be social-media zombified couch potatoes.
While past generations were busily perfecting jets, rockets, the combustion engine and instant coffee, this generation is trying to figure out how best to get the latest scoop on Lady Gaga or Casey Anthony in 30 characters or less. You might say America is entertaining itself to death, and it very well may be. History is littered with great civilizations that imploded from the sheer weight of their decadence.
Perhaps I sound like each generation’s grumpy old man, though I’m not that old, but admittedly somewhat grumpy. Every generation likes to bitch about the generation that follows, and for good reason. It is quite likely that progress is a bell curve that cannot be sustained. At least that’s what history has taught us. Therefore, older generations may have a point about previous generations, possibly starting around the time of the Civil War.
My theory is that America has already reached its potential and is on the right (or wrong, if you prefer) side of the bell curve. The culture has objectively declined in recent years. While parents in the ‘50s were aghast at the pelvis of Elvis, just imagine what they’d think of (insert name of just about any pop star). The juvenile and prurient nature of today’s pop culture does not represent progress toward higher forms of art. Rather, it represents regression to tribal, animal-like forms, a regression that has been ongoing for years.
And while we revel in the ingenuity of iPhones, iPads, Androids, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and whatnot that ensure we’re constantly immersed in regressive pop culture crap, what the hell are we making? Absolutely nothing. We’re becoming less connected as we become more connected, and more distracted from the things that really matter.
In the process, we become more willing to cede our independence and liberty if it will buy us precious app time to play with our doodads. This is not a recipe for a healthy and progressive society.
Here’s a question. Would you rather be living in 1969 or 2009? By almost any economic measure people in the U.S. are richer than they were forty years ago. This applies to all levels of income. Carpe Diem has all the boring details.
I should add that cell phones, computers, microwaves, the internet, air conditioning, HD TV, and every other device Americans can’t seem to live without are products of our free market. The government didn’t create these devices or make them cheaper. Government intervention only leads to stagnation which kills innovation and progress.
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