Dear Huff,
"What is the world coming to"?
I would like to answer this question from a personal perspective, as I
think that this is one of the features of the post industrial society
in which I live in (in Germany): individualisation rules the processes
in which we think and act.
This doesn't mean that the world is becoming less social or political
but on the other way round - as the French philosopher Foucault once
observed - our body, our intimacy, our selves, all become part of th
public. We have no privacy anymore, and in the disguise of giving us
"freedom", the government, and the hegemonial powers, just control us
more.
This is one of the problems of the world. In the age of totalitarism,
just less than 15 years ago, we had no freedom of mind. However,
actually, we did. We could always try to think of ways to trick our
governments. Look at current Chinese or Iranian films: aren't they the
peak of originality, of innuendo?
Here I get to another problem in post industrial societies: lack of
originality. People live in what seems like freedom, but is actually
another sort of totalitarian condition. No-one thinks in original
terms anymore. No one tries to think "outside their box". Everybody
wear H & M, eat at McDonalds and have Ikea furniture. You want to be
"original", a "rebel". Don't worry, the current culture gives you a
great opportunity to be "different" - have Rasta! Go to attac or
anti-globalisation demos. You'll be a rebel like all the other rebels
you meet there. You'll dress like them, listen to the same music as
them, and read the same "No Logo" as them. The anti-corporative
culture is a corporative of itself.
This also reflects on our creative abilities. The development of
technology gives people the opportunity - which the unfortunately use
- to cheat, steal, plagirise other people's works. The Internet,
instead of bringing alternative thinking modes, sets the ones that
already exist further. Everybody use the same sources of information.
Till now I was somewhat negative, wasn't I?
It is important to clarify two points by now. My rants about the
post-industrial culture, does not reflect any nostaligia for the happy
totalitarian days, believ me. Collectivism is bred by totalitarianism,
and democracy at least gives us the chance to improve ourselves.
The Third World, suffers in my opinion of several serious problems.
First is materialistic - being poorer than the West; the second is the
lack of freedom; the third is sometimes, wanting to be like the West.
If the Third World will be more creative, it might reduce its
dependency on Western thought methods. If Nigerian scammers will stop
thinking that the solution to their problems is materialistic, to
cheat and steal from Westerners through email scams, we will not only
have less spam, but also many more happy people, freed from the chains
of materialism.
That is why I am optimistic. If more people will try to break the
frames that limit their minds. To think beyond the collective
individualism, they'll succeed. If less will steal, cheat or copy, and
more will create, a better world is forthcoming.
I hope this helped.
Opinions and Approaches
=======================
All taken from Google Search: "What is the world coming to?"
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22%27what+is+the+world+coming+to%22>
Bully Magazine "What Is The World Coming To When You Can't Have Sex In
A Public Toilet?" <www.bullymag.com/6.15.03/toiletsex-061503.asp> - On
the constraints of conservative thinking (when I'm talking about
conservative here, I am refering to non-original thinking, the literal
meaning of conservative, not to the political right, although in this
article it goes well together).
A humorist attitude:
"The People's Republic of Seabrook: What is the world coming to?" -
<http://intellectualize.org/archives/001853.html> -
"Signs that world is turned upside down:
The best rapper in the world is white,
The best golfer in the world is black,
France is accusing the US of arrogance,
Germany did not start the war"
Enigmous "What is the world coming to?"
http://www.enigmous.com/index.php?viewid=506 - on the problems of
truth in media, journalism, etc. Echos, more or less, what I wrote
about it.
InterLink - "what is the world coming to?"
<www.interlink.org.nz/projects/resman/respas.html> - The problems of
the environment. Basically, a claim that the problem is environmental.
As I said, I believe that the problem is first and foremost in the
human nature.
MishMash: "What is the world coming to" -
<http://hamish.blogs.com/mishmash/2003/03/what_is_the_wor.html> -
claiming that the problem is loss of morals. As I said.
Please contact me if you need any clarifications before you tip/rate the answer. |
