I suspect it might be. I think that, generally speaking, western civilisation has produced its best artists and musicians and poets. Where once western society produced Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Dickens, Shakespeare, Blake, Milton, Wordsworth - artists whose works are deep meditations on the human condition and continue to this day to communicate something about the ecstasy and agony of existence, in contrast the popular arts of today are produced by corporations and designed only to make money. Whether it's the glut of pop bands who don't play any instruments, don't write their own songs, and don't even sound in tune without autotune software, or countless identical superhero movies, I can't help but feel the best is over.
And it runs much deeper than just the arts. I think we're living in a spiritual void; that, having fallen out of love with the old gods but having no new gods to replace them with, we've taken to worshiping money and materialism and celebrity and the self in their stead. I sometimes feel we're living in the century of the self; an idea I suspect was propogated and encouraged to take root in our minds quite deliberately by advertising companies. 'My hopes', 'my dreams', 'my wants', 'me, me, me'. 'Who cares if what I want is detrimental for the community and harmful to the environment. I want it and that's what matters'. We've lost our reverence for something bigger than us, be it to God or Nature or community. Our newfound purposelessness and meaninglessness and fear of boredom (which is an incredibly valuable feeling and a source of great creativity) has given birth to narcissism and an obsession with technology and entertainment which has cut off our connection to the Earth and with it our respect. Consequently we watch the planet being raped and poisoned and pillaged in order to make toys and gimmicks that flash and beep and distract us and it doesn't trouble us one bit. Consumerism is the new religion. Fantasy is the new reality. Conformity is the new social system. Numbness is our new collective consciousness
If this sounds depressing, it isn't. It's just the natural process of things. Everything has its end. The ancient Chinese civilisation, the Babylonian civilisation, the Ancient Greek civilisation, the Roman civilisation, they all met their end. Western civilisation will too. Nothing last forever. The old must die to make way for the new. I just wonder whether this is the beginning of the end? It feels like it to me sometimes.
What do you think?
And it runs much deeper than just the arts. I think we're living in a spiritual void; that, having fallen out of love with the old gods but having no new gods to replace them with, we've taken to worshiping money and materialism and celebrity and the self in their stead. I sometimes feel we're living in the century of the self; an idea I suspect was propogated and encouraged to take root in our minds quite deliberately by advertising companies. 'My hopes', 'my dreams', 'my wants', 'me, me, me'. 'Who cares if what I want is detrimental for the community and harmful to the environment. I want it and that's what matters'. We've lost our reverence for something bigger than us, be it to God or Nature or community. Our newfound purposelessness and meaninglessness and fear of boredom (which is an incredibly valuable feeling and a source of great creativity) has given birth to narcissism and an obsession with technology and entertainment which has cut off our connection to the Earth and with it our respect. Consequently we watch the planet being raped and poisoned and pillaged in order to make toys and gimmicks that flash and beep and distract us and it doesn't trouble us one bit. Consumerism is the new religion. Fantasy is the new reality. Conformity is the new social system. Numbness is our new collective consciousness
If this sounds depressing, it isn't. It's just the natural process of things. Everything has its end. The ancient Chinese civilisation, the Babylonian civilisation, the Ancient Greek civilisation, the Roman civilisation, they all met their end. Western civilisation will too. Nothing last forever. The old must die to make way for the new. I just wonder whether this is the beginning of the end? It feels like it to me sometimes.
What do you think?
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