HYPOCRISY



 

This is the Age of ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder. The media flood under which we live has accustomed us to instant results from machines which create the illusion that we are participating in a global reality. The recent water crisis in California is a wake-up call. Those of us who still have plenty of water are not participating in the California reality. Nor are we prone to do so, given a choice.

 

Religious strife in the Middle East is another example. While I may keep abreast of the news from that region with video and audio media, I am not living the reality of that region. Nor would I choose to do so, given a choice.

 

The illusion of participation in such matters which do not concern our own daily lives is problematic when it is translated into military or political actions. "We are one." slogans and songs are bullshit. They are the contrivance of those who are most insulated from pain and starvation. It is lip service to ideals which are often based in a misguided religious sense of guilt. Often these slogans are used to collect money which in part supports those who collect it in a manner far above anything the recipients of their charity will ever see.

 

Those who present a politically correct and conformist image while living privileged lives are the vilest of hypocrites. Those who preach social equality while maintaining a corporate stock portfolio are not worthy of the respect due to those who have true integrity. Virtual morality or ethics are not real morality or ethics.