Checking out on Pop Culture
Monday, January 09, 2006
American Pop Culture-Too Rushed!
So here's me latest diatribe on the insanity of modern pop culture: The pace of life in America. I know this is not an indicator of insanity for me. I've read several books on this growing phenomenon. The first one is "Margin" and the second is "Overload" both by Richard Swenson M.D.
The thrust of these books is that life is going too fast for the human soul in western culture. By 'going too fast' I mean our mental expectation of 1. responses from other people in business or basic social interaction 2. expectations of answers from any level of business 3. the time it takes to get across town to take 'care of a matter'. All of these and so many more are indicators of a rushed society.
Franticness (is that a word?) , anxiety, frustration seem to permeate our minds when we let the invisible, morphous pop culture determine our pace.
Now lets change our vista- for centuries man went at a remarkably slow pace. Desert living, rural wooded living imposed a slower (saner?) pace on people. One's pace depended on the horse, the cart, our own feet. Now we have cars that can top 100 miles an hour easily.
If we want to really wack our systems good we jump on a jet and go to another time zone in a matter of a few hours. It is my considered opinion that 'jet lag' is nothing more than the body's natural rebellion to an insane expectation!
Some years back I was in outside corporate sales. Never was life more stressfull! Demands for paperwork, time crunched reports, "Have you called your prospect in the last five minutes?" expectations, the end of month close out. All these modern, corporate tidal waves deestroyed so many young men and women. I saw coutless people go from vibrant, energetic people to beaten, numbed automatons. Eventually they were knocked off by the Corporation in some fashion. In my case I was on top of the world one quarter. Going to the carribean on a cruise tour for selling enouph corporate products. The next quarter I was fired because I had not sold enouph of a particular financial package. Oh well...Corporations have no soul or higher functioning morality.
Last year our family started a garden. After we decided what to plant and the method of our system, I noticed that we were a bit behind the optimal time to plant. We planted any way. In a few short months we noticed little sprouts peeking through the surface. In another few weeks we were eating the 'friut of the land'. No one was rushed or hectic about getting this stuff done. God and the ground did their jobs on the seeds. We helped things along with weeding, composting and watering, but much of the job was done by the system God set up thousands of years ago. The only thing that got me rushed or angry was that stinkin' phone!
Oh well...I feel better now. ¶ 10:28 AM 0 comments
The thrust of these books is that life is going too fast for the human soul in western culture. By 'going too fast' I mean our mental expectation of 1. responses from other people in business or basic social interaction 2. expectations of answers from any level of business 3. the time it takes to get across town to take 'care of a matter'. All of these and so many more are indicators of a rushed society.
Franticness (is that a word?) , anxiety, frustration seem to permeate our minds when we let the invisible, morphous pop culture determine our pace.
Now lets change our vista- for centuries man went at a remarkably slow pace. Desert living, rural wooded living imposed a slower (saner?) pace on people. One's pace depended on the horse, the cart, our own feet. Now we have cars that can top 100 miles an hour easily.
If we want to really wack our systems good we jump on a jet and go to another time zone in a matter of a few hours. It is my considered opinion that 'jet lag' is nothing more than the body's natural rebellion to an insane expectation!
Some years back I was in outside corporate sales. Never was life more stressfull! Demands for paperwork, time crunched reports, "Have you called your prospect in the last five minutes?" expectations, the end of month close out. All these modern, corporate tidal waves deestroyed so many young men and women. I saw coutless people go from vibrant, energetic people to beaten, numbed automatons. Eventually they were knocked off by the Corporation in some fashion. In my case I was on top of the world one quarter. Going to the carribean on a cruise tour for selling enouph corporate products. The next quarter I was fired because I had not sold enouph of a particular financial package. Oh well...Corporations have no soul or higher functioning morality.
Last year our family started a garden. After we decided what to plant and the method of our system, I noticed that we were a bit behind the optimal time to plant. We planted any way. In a few short months we noticed little sprouts peeking through the surface. In another few weeks we were eating the 'friut of the land'. No one was rushed or hectic about getting this stuff done. God and the ground did their jobs on the seeds. We helped things along with weeding, composting and watering, but much of the job was done by the system God set up thousands of years ago. The only thing that got me rushed or angry was that stinkin' phone!
Oh well...I feel better now. ¶ 10:28 AM 0 comments
