Folly
Concert ticket sales last year declined by over 12%. Yet, I have heard one report that Bon Jovi concerts brought in 200 million dollars in 2010. In the worst economic environment in eighty years, human beings spent 200 million dollars on a single entertainment event, collectively. In this same year in the U.S., voters supported candidates who vowed to balance budgets and cut taxes. Slashing of public services, including public education and public health, has already begun.
The continued public support of celebrity culture and accompanying public condemnation of public institutions are symptoms of a mentally unbalanced society. These regressive phenomena do not bode well for America's future. Choosing pleasure over responsibility is a human tendency, based in our animal brains. Unfortunately, our animal instincts for survival, which would balance pleasure seeking behavior, have been suppressed by technologically devised comforts developed with the aid of our frontal lobes.
We are still animals in a limited ecosystem. Our frontal lobes could be used to address overpopulation, energy needs and environmental degradation with the full support of human society. Our frontal lobes could be used to override our animal aggression, which fuels our monetary greed. Our frontal lobes could be used to understand that cheapening any human life cheapens all human life. Our frontal lobes should be able to grasp that the money that goes to support the inflated lifestyle of a celebrity when buying an expensive concert ticket could go to support human progress in the form of public or private funds.
I struggle in my humanist practice against misanthropy when I examine this kind of human folly. Having worked to help homeless and disenfranchised people during most of my nursing career, I have seen the worst of human indifference and selfishness. However, I still believe that there is a basic human will to do what is right by other human beings. As long as society is guided by materialism and hedonism, that will to further the greater good will be challenged at every turn.
The continued public support of celebrity culture and accompanying public condemnation of public institutions are symptoms of a mentally unbalanced society. These regressive phenomena do not bode well for America's future. Choosing pleasure over responsibility is a human tendency, based in our animal brains. Unfortunately, our animal instincts for survival, which would balance pleasure seeking behavior, have been suppressed by technologically devised comforts developed with the aid of our frontal lobes.We are still animals in a limited ecosystem. Our frontal lobes could be used to address overpopulation, energy needs and environmental degradation with the full support of human society. Our frontal lobes could be used to override our animal aggression, which fuels our monetary greed. Our frontal lobes could be used to understand that cheapening any human life cheapens all human life. Our frontal lobes should be able to grasp that the money that goes to support the inflated lifestyle of a celebrity when buying an expensive concert ticket could go to support human progress in the form of public or private funds.
I struggle in my humanist practice against misanthropy when I examine this kind of human folly. Having worked to help homeless and disenfranchised people during most of my nursing career, I have seen the worst of human indifference and selfishness. However, I still believe that there is a basic human will to do what is right by other human beings. As long as society is guided by materialism and hedonism, that will to further the greater good will be challenged at every turn.
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